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Homemade Bitters

It's my real pleasure to introduce our last instructor, but certainly by no means the least. We've got some really exciting things. We're going to learn from Genevieve today. I'll just give you a cook introduction General, We've actually got the cocktail bar managing the bar at Jack Falstaff here in San Francisco, and she was challenged to come up with 10 new drinks every single month. And so after she'd been experimenting with fresh fruits and infusions and ingredients no often found behind the bar, she found that she really had a love and passion for all of these different techniques. So now she's about to launch the bitter housewife off aromatic bitters into the world. She's not bitter. It'll actually she's really adorable. And she's building a brand that educated people on how exciting cocktails could be. And I'm really excited to welcome Jennifer Brazleton Theo way. Come on, where did the bitter housewife you know? Hi, I'm actually not that bitter, but it started with actually a b...

lawg that I did about 23 years ago, called on becoming a housewife when I found myself for the first time in my life, being supported by my husband and time on my hands needed to do something creative and also a little tighter money. And I started talking about it because it was just or writing about it, I should say, because it was a very new experience for me. But I know one that's not unusual to a lot of people. Then ah was making the bidders just for us around the house and really started to think that there might be a business in there. And, uh, better housewife just kind of seemed the natural name. So we're really delighted to have you with I'm gonna get out of your way. Let you get to it. All right? We're looking for this very much. Take it away, Genevieve. All right. Thank you so much. Thank you. Hello, everyone. Um, so I will start three actual making part of this is fairly short. So I'm going to start with just some background about bidders, how you use them. Ah, bidders are also really easy to customize, even though you guys all have your recipes in front of you. Um, and please interrupt with questions at all, because to me, this is second nature. But I know many people have really no idea what bidders are or how you would use them. Um, if you have ever had a Manhattan or an old fashioned, you have drink bidders though they are in Well, I should say there, in any good old fashioned or Manhattan it is possible you had a bad one that was left it out. Angus Tora is the most common one that people are most familiar with. They've been making it for literally hundreds of years on the recipe is very well guarded. What a lot of people have, uh, kind of taken their time. Teoh come up with their version, which is what I'm gonna teach you guys. How to make. Today is my version of the Angostura bitters, which is also called in aromatic bitters. There isn't necessarily one flavor that stands out the most, but you will see some other bidders called like an orange bitters. That is because orange is the most prominent flavor or a Citrus bidders. Or even nowadays you're getting all of these small batch, ah, handcrafted bidders. You'll see rhubarb, cardamom, lime, all source of different flavors. But the aromatic is kind of the classic. It's meant very much to go with your darker booze is a name aged rum, bourbon, whiskey. They tend tohave a lot of warm baking spices to them and and bring out the holidays. It's kind of perfect that we're doing it now. Um, most specifically, bidders. The best way to think about them is the spice rack for cocktail making, um, to take the analogy further. If you were to make a soup, say you're making a carrot soup, you put all the ingredients in. One of the last things that you do is spice the soup to really bring out the flavor of the carats of sweetness, maybe even a little bit of the earth Penis. If you've got onions in there, make sure you get a little bit of the savory. That's what a bidders can do for a cocktail. It brings out certain flavors. It mellows out others. It brings flavors together, two of sometimes. Maybe you have a really sharp Citrus note, but also something a little softer and sweeter. The bidders can kind of mellow them out so that on your palate you're not getting all sorts of spikes of different flavors. It's much more smooth and brought together the As I mentioned before, there are many different kinds of bidders, depending on what it is that you're doing, what kind of cocktails you're making. And I always think of pairing the different bidders with the base alcohol that you're making so at home, I also make a ah lime coriander bidders and a grapefruit bidders that go really well with tequila and vodka there much later, you really get the fruit flavor out of them. But they would never work with a, um, a bourbon or whiskey, because that would just overwhelm the flavor. And I've even seen recipes for, um, like a coffee bidders. Actually, I played with once had a hard time with the coffee. It's a hard flavor to infuse. It gets acidic and really hard to take really quickly if you let it sit too long. So I'm still playing around with that. You can. I've even seen chocolate bidders. Um, I've seen Apple maple bidders. I'm sure someday somebody's gonna figure out of bacon bitters to given the way everything's going these days. So but going back to the aromatic bitters that that I make most specifically my favorite drink is an old fashioned on, and that's what I want it. I wanted to make bidders that I thought would make the best old fashioned. So I started with a recipe actually that I found in Bidders Book, and I made that it was actually quite awesome. I was really surprised that it turned out that well, but it still wasn't quite what I wanted. I wanted something a little spicier. I also wanted something that was a little almost a darker for lack of a better word may be nuttier. Um, So I started playing around with recipes. I went totally in the opposite direction and got something made another bidders that I ended up calling more of the woods e bidders because it was really bitter. Kind of green, earthy, almost even a little bit of kind of juniper wet forest taste to it. That was too much for what I wanted in the cocktail. But, um, so then I actually just to see mixed those two together to see how they worked together as one bidders, and that was much closer to what I was looking for us. And then I started refining the recipe even more and came up with a version that is more or less what you guys are gonna make today. I didn't put all of the ingredients in, um, but I'll definitely talk through what everything is as well as why I chose it. Um, and other ideas, too, because bidders, it's it's not like baking. It is more like cooking in that, you know, it's not precise at a little bit more of this take out bad. If you don't like it, definitely personalize it. So, um, we'll go ahead and start with the recipes that you guys have in front of you, and I'll kind of walk you through all of the different ingredients. Bidders is really simple to make. Really. You just put everything in the jar and you wait. It's a lot of waiting. So So you guys all have jars with your bourbon already in it. But for the Internet audience, I wanted you to just mostly see the ratio beforehand. So, uh, this particular bidders, I start with dried Cherries really easy. Did you guys I'll just get the whiff of the booze? Is you open the top? Actually, I'll start there. So dried Cherries. Uh, you'll see dried sour Cherries. Dried bing Cherries actually tasted them all. They're pretty similar. I really couldn't tell the difference between the sour and the being. Once they're dried, it's a person. It's probably more about what you can find easily. Ah, we're blessed here in San Francisco with great farmers markets. So that's what I would do was just go down in the farmer's market and by my walnuts, which is another ingredient and the dried Cherries from the farmers. But, um, most of this you can find in your regular old grocery store. So you guys were doing about an eighth of a cup, uh, or, say, two tablespoons of dried Cherries. Go ahead and dump that in, um and eso yeah, you guys have double the ingredients, so just kind of half them roughly in. Like I said, it's certainly not scientific. Oh, I love all the planks of you noise to uh, yeah, Why are we using cherry fresh cherry? Great question. So the dried fruits, because you'll actually see if you do look up recipes for bidders, you'll often see orange rinds, dried orange rind, dried fruit. Rhines the dried gives you actually more of a concentrated flavor because all of the water has been pulled out. So you're not adding the water to the bidders. You're getting much, much more of that fruit flavour. So, um, you could Although a lot of recipes are made with fresh fruits to it just depends on what the end result is that you're looking for. In this case, I wanted that concentrated Ah, little bit of bright sweetness that you get from the Cherries. Um, then walnuts. If you're allergic to nuts, you certainly, uh you certainly won't. You won't lose anything if you don't put them in. Um, I love the just the extra bitterness and, uh, just it even ads, you know, it just adds that depth, and there's even a little bit of oiliness that comes from the walnuts. You can toast them also beforehand these air not toasted. But if you do the toasting beforehand, you'll just get a little bit even more of that pronounced nutty flavour. So then fresh ginger is another one that I really love. It was something that I never actually saw in any of the recipes, but I wanted to play around with, and it does just add. It's almost more for the smell than the taste. It's in there subtly, but that's what when the bidders air done when you open that jar, that's what you're going to smell this, this fresh ginger and it just it's a nice addition. Andi. This is just skin on and everything just sliced. Don't worry about peeling it. You certainly can if you want, but it's not necessary. Is there any specific quantities to these things, or does it really just depends on your taste? It does depend on your taste for this. For this batch, I'm using pretty small quantities because we're only using a cup of booze to start off with eso. I did 1/4 cup or two tablespoons of the dried Cherries, the same of the walnuts, the ginger I. It's easiest to measure ginger when you see the route in just like inches. So for this portion size, you're doing about an inch of the ginger just sliced up. Um, the bidders also scales up really easily. So, um, you know this You're gonna end up with this recipe with a little more than a cup of bidders, which is actually about this much, which for most people eyes gonna last you a couple months of making cocktails. However, this is all about giving gifts. So think of it that way. Also, you know, smaller bottles definitely work, Teoh. So the next ingredient, cinnamon stick. And generally you're looking for about a three inch size cinnamon stick. Just Rohit in whole. You don't need to do anything to it. Um and then also, vanilla bean is the next one and what I recommend doing with the vanilla beans, and I believe this has all been done for you. You'll see this brown goo at the bottom. That's all the seeds from the inside of the vanilla bean. So what you want to do at home is your gonna take your vanilla bean and just caught down the middle, and then you open it up and take a knife, or even just your fingernail and scrape out of the inside and then you'll get this brown goo here that that is really where all the flavor of the vanilla is. But you are gonna throw all of this into your bidders. Christina's really enjoying. Oh, yeah? Well, use your fingernail to scrape out all this stuff. Make sure you, you know, sniff your hands afterwards and even just washing with soap and water, you're gonna have a hint of vanilla for a couple hours. It's a lovely thing, the how my house smells like Christmas often when doing all of this. So the next is Ah, whole allspice eso these air the for you guys, these air the larger round ones. If they're not easily identifiable, you can actually do this two ways. You can throw them in whole. If you want more of a pronounced all spice flavor, go ahead and crack him with the mortar and pestle. We don't really have that ability here, but if you're at home, you want to do that. That'll just infuse more. But all spices a pretty strong flavour. So don't go overboard on it I'm using. I'm gonna use about half of this actually for about 1/4 teaspoon of the allspice and then next is your whole clothes. You don't need to do anything to them, but just throw them in. Whole cloves is a flavor. I'm not a huge fan off. I think for a lot of people, it's kind of a lover hate. It adds a dimension to the bidders that I think is worthwhile. I want it there, but I don't want it over the top. So I really only put in, like, three or four whole cloves in something this size. Your recipes do, say, like, eighth of a teaspoon, which, you know, if you try to pull that out, you'll see you're probably gonna get about two or three clubs in there. Um, if, however, you like cloves, feel free to throw more in all of these things you can throw a little bit more in, you know, an extra cinnamon stick. Ah, little bit more walnuts, all of that kind of stuff. So then the maybe slightly surprising ingredient Black peppercorns. I like spice in my old fashions. I purposely use rye Ah, lot in bourbon or rye. But because I really like the spiciness rather than more the smooth PT nous of, say, a whiskey. Uh, so, um, the peppercorns really just helped to bring that out of whatever spirit you're using to make your drinks, Jennifer, what do you mean by PT nous? What does that mean? So if you've ever sniffed or taste in a Scotch. Um, that that smell or flavor that I best can describe as musty basement. That's Pete. What it actually is is like a mosque that they, uh, smoke the the grains with. So it infuses the grains that become the mash that turn into the whiskey. It's a long process. I won't go into totally how they make whisky. But that smoke from that wet moss is Pete on, and it really does to varying degrees, depending on who's making and what they're there. And, uh, desire is, you get this really smoky but also wet Murphy flavour. So, as you might be able to tell, I'm much more of ah, bourbon uh, American whiskey fan than I then I am a Scotch whisky. But everything has its place. Thanks for the description. Yeah, kind of hard to paint a picture of what something will taste like unless you can understands that the death of the words. So yeah, the peat is definitely something. Um, yeah. Working in the way. Alright. So back Teoh, throw peppercorns in there. About another About an eighth of a teaspoon on this and all of these portions Air so small because what you're doing is you're letting this city for weeks, and all of the flavors are just going to infuse. If you start getting too much, then you do get just way too much infusion. One flavor or another is gonna take over. But this makes a nice melding. All the flavors come together. Uh, the last of kind of the general spices. More, more stuff that you would see in your kitchen eyes. The cracked cardamom. Um, so cardamom again is, ah, spice that you might not see all that often, but does have a really strong flavor. It should look almost like a brown pod that's been smacked. Yeah, I think that's it for you guys. Yeah. Um, should we crush it, you can crush it a little more. I know the ones I have are already cracked, so it'll also infused quite a bit on its own. Cardamom is a really strong flavor, but it has its this nice bridge between sweet and savory. You'll see it a lot in Indian food. Middle Eastern food Cardamom is often used. Yeah, I usually is green Cardamom with a lot of my site is whether, like, this is just a different variety it is, Yeah, and the flavor is very similar, and I actually often use green cardamom to this is what they found for me. So it works the same, and actually, it's more the you'll see in there. There's some small little seeds. The pods will give you some flavor, but it's actually the round little seeds that look like really teeny peppercorns that are what most of the flavor is coming from. So so go ahead and throw that in there. And then we get Teoh the bettering agents. This is what it's really all about. So I'll take a step back here and say that, um, kind of the general, um, Formula Four bidders is, too. Start with a base spirit. In this case, we're using bourbon. Ah, but rum is often used or a neutral spirit like vodka or even ever clear do water that ever cleared down a little bit. But it really that is kind of determined by what you choose, Teoh what you're kind of going for with the end goal, what you want to use it for mostly, but also the flavors that you want to bring out when I make my great fruit or my line, something light and refreshing like that. I use a vodka or never clear in this case, you know, I want the the bourbon And I even went so far as to make the same recipe both with ever clear and bourbon and taste it side by side just to see how much of a difference it made. And I was surprised by the ever clear. Actually, the neutral grain spirit version of it was smelled awesome on, and I put it in soda water, which bitters and soda isn't just a great way to enjoy bidders if you don't want a cocktail. Um and, uh, it tasted fabulous much better than I expected. Much better than the bourbon version of it. However, then I made an old fashioned, and the bourbon bidders just worked so much better within the cocktail. It it blended better, and it actually was. The bidders was easier to taste in the cocktail than the neutral grain spirit version was much. It was sharp and and kind of harsh and didn't really blend very well. So there's ah, you know, there's definitely I mean, these were subtle differences that you know, having not been side by side, I probably would have been hard pressed to tell, but you know, if you go on to experiment with your own recipes at home, uh, definitely play around and and I think all of it is, you know, it's a game of what you like. And I have tons of little bottles of different stuff that I've you know, made tinctures of so that I could taste all of the different things. So going back to what I started the formula for bidders is a base spirit in this case, bourbon. Then you do want to kind of think of what is the main ingredient two or three that you really want to focus on. In this case, it is the ginger, the walnuts and the dried Cherries. Those are the main, like the most flavorful ingredients and kind of what I'm building off of. In the great proof version, it is obviously grapefruit. Then you select ah, bunch of spices and botanicals to that really work with that to heighten that flavor. In this case, it is all of those warm baking spices again, the cinnamon and the the clothes on the vanilla in the case of the the grapefruit bitters. I believe I did. I did coriander. I did a cardamom, the green cardamom because it is a little, ah, little more savory. I did some white peppercorns on another spice called grains of paradise, which is like a slightly sweet sour version of black peppercorn. Um, And then you add the bettering agents. The main ones that I work with are ah, black walnut leaf, which is the on your table is the one that looks like leaves in a inaudible, Um, and it is the least bidder out of the three, um, and surprisingly, actually has more of a sweet flavor to it. Um, and then you have the gentian, which is the one that looks like it's the darker, dried, bark looking thing there gentian root as actually what it is. It's not embark, and it is the most bitter out of all of them and has a very dusty, almost earthy bitterness to it. And then the last one that I use is Kwasi a chips, which is the bark of a South American tree. Uh, and it has a very it is also quite bitter, probably comparable to the gentian root, but a much cleaner flavor to it, almost like fresh cut grass or hay. Um, and I use all three of them because they definitely add a depth. You know, the three of them together all balance each other out in a way that just using one wouldn't necessarily. However, if you do like bidders, but you want something that's not quite as bitter, you know, maybe you don't put it much of all of these in or you back off on the Gentian because that's the strongest flavor. I dio have some bidders that I don't use the gentian in it all because I want something that's later and cleaner. Um, and there are other things that you can also add that add some bitterness to it, Teoh like for the grapefruit bitters. Actually, the white the pit of the peel of the great fruit is extremely better, as many people know, that can add some bitterness to it. I also put hops in there, which is also the better part of beer, and that adds just another layer of bitterness that's not quite so overwhelming because it's a much later bidders. So all of these you want to go pretty easy on, um I say about an eighth of a teaspoon a little bit more of the black walnut leaf about 1/4 teaspoon, because it's not quite as bitter. But again, you know, you start playing with it, and I trust me and that you probably still in this amount of giving you you could put all of this in. That's in front of you and you're not gonna You're not gonna go overboard. No throwing of jars way. Do have a question about the liquid part way. Move on quickly. Michelle B is asking where you can get Ever clear she was under the impression ever clear is not available in the U. S. I get it a bad move. It's available. There are my understanding, and I'm not totally, uh, totally certain of this. But there are different proofs of ever clear. And so there are some higher proof versions that you can't get in the States. But you can get a 1 60 proof of ever clear at Beth Mow, at least in California. So I'm familiar with clear is it's a neutral grain spirit. It's made out of basically whatever they have around that they can distill. It doesn't taste like anything other than jet fuel has no actual flavor. It's just hot and it's alcohol. It's kind of a huge yes it is. It's or or moonshiner. It's meant it is not meant to be Drink. It is meant to be used to make other things, but and and it is neutral. That's why they call it a neutral brain spirit so that it doesn't impart any of its own flavor and what you do. So now the best part you guys have already you got your jars with the booze already in there, but at home, we're gonna add, um, a cup of, um I use Ah, wild turkey 101 Ideally, what you're doing is getting 100 proof spirit for any of your bidders that you want to make. Um, and I use the wild turkey only because it's one of the few 100 proof bourbons that is easy to find. You can I believe written house also makes 100 proof rye a little bit different flavor, though not quite a sweet, a little more grassy and sharp. Um, but again, it depends on what your your end result is. Vodka is pretty hard to find proof, but you know, 80 or 90 still will work. What you want it for is the 100. Proof just is gonna pull more of the flavor out of the ingredients. So the less proof that you have, you're not going to get as much flavor. And you can compensate for that either by adding more of your ingredients or letting it sit longer also. So you condemn finitely play around with it, depending on you know, if you make it, you do use vodka, you try something, and it's just not quite as, ah flavorful or concentrated as you'd like. Then you know either try adding a little bit more or try letting it sit for another week. So So now we're just gonna add this on in, and that is pretty much it for the moment. And then I will walk you guys through the next steps because here here is the waiting game. You have this. Go ahead and put your top on. You can shake it up a little bit. Um, but what you really want to dio is just take this and ah, yeah, And the cheesecloth it you don't necessarily need to use. That was more, I think, to make them look pretty so and to give you chief cough to take home for the next step. So, um, so this what you want to dio is let's sit for two weeks roughly again, not science. So if you like a cool, dark place or do you want it like directly in the sun or on top of a heater? But, you know, I leave mine in on a unused countertop in my kitchen. So or sometimes I move them into the bar in the living room, cause yes, I have a bart home. No refrigeration, non in the refrigerator, No room temperature is definitely what you want because that's what's gonna, um, you know, bring out the most flavor so you can see you know, you can still pretty much see all of the different ingredients that are in there. This has been sitting for about two weeks, so it gets much darker, pulls out a lot of the color from the Cherries from the different herbs and spices, and you get a much thicker, darker looking liquid. So about two weeks. Your jar is gonna look like this. And then what you want to dio is you're gonna do step to which I have the magic of television. I can show you very quickly. So Step two, you're gonna strain. Actually, I'll pull this back. You're gonna strain all of these solids out. You can use the cheesecloth. Something like, uh, this works really well, just, ah, small city or even a funnel. Line it with cheese cough and just dump it in all the solids air going to stay in there. And then you can squeeze out as much juice as you can. And then you will have just a dark brown liquor And that you're gonna again, Um, you're just gonna let this set this aside where you had this sitting for two weeks and then you're going to take all of the solids and put that in a small saucepan with 1/2 a couple water, or if you're scaling the recipe up, you want half assed much water as you use booze. Um, and you're gonna simmer it, and for 10 minutes, just very barely bubbling. You don't want to cook off a lot of the booze that still in the solids. But what you're doing is pulling another layer of flavor out of all of the ingredients. And you're gonna get kind of messy little, uh, little concoction that looks like this. The water will get cloudy. It's not gonna cover all of the dry ingredients. That's fine, because what they're doing while they're sitting in the booze, is there. They're all expanding. Um, and you are when you put the water and you are gonna cook off a little of it, you can't help but have some of it evaporates, so as little as you can, but it will happen. But go ahead and and cap this and let it sit for another week, and that's gonna pull more flavor out. It's also gonna pull some of that leftover booze out then. So now we're at about three weeks. You've got your two separate jars. You want to take this milky kind of gross looking one, and you're gonna strain it again just the same way you did the 1st 1 So you can kind of see, I'm just pouring it directly into my cheesecloth, scrape out all the goodies and you got most of the liquid in the bottom, and then we're just gonna squeeze out as much of this is we can, because that's all the good juice. But no need to get, you know, hyper vigilant about it. So do that. And then then the final step is you'll take it and add it back to this dark liquid that's been sitting for a week. But lose part of it, you're gonna add these together. And the one thing that we forgot to prep you're also gonna add a simple syrup, um, which is, actually should say, a rich syrup, which is two parts sugar, one part water. Um and really, you're doing that mostly toe add as little water as possible. Ah, but to have the sugar very easily dissolved into the booze, it does sweeten it. Just a touch brings out the flavor is almost just like adding salt to, you know, any bit of food. It just brings out the flavors a little bit more, but what it also does, you can see that this is pretty cloudy in here. The sugar actually binds with all of the particles and filters this out so that you get, ah much clearer. See if we can see that just a much clearer No, that's right. I have labels on the back to a much clearer liquid, so there's not a lot of of sediment and Flutie stuff, So you want to let this sit for at least three days because that will really help filter all of that out. But if you forget about it for a week or whatever, the flavor at this point is not going to change. It is completely stable, so you're not gonna overdo anything. So no worries if you, you know, get caught up in stuff and it takes a few more days for you to get to it. And honestly, the longer that you can let it sit, like if you can let it sit for a week, you're not in any hurry for it. It'll be that much easier to filter. So what you want to do is filter again through this cheesecloth, and you might even want to do it twice, and you most likely will get ah, very kind of thick, viscous sediment at the bottom. It will be like a Jell O that didn't set um, and that's perfectly normal. It looks kind of disgusting, but it's perfectly normal. It's going to smell like cinnamon and vanilla, so it's not a bad thing at all. Um, and just the more of that that you can pull out the, um the just clearer the liquids gonna be. But, um, when I make it at home before I really started working on a bunch of filtering techniques, I always had sediment in the bottom. It doesn't change the flavor of the bidders. Uh, and if you just shake it up a little bit, nobody's ever gonna notice, Um, and especially once you put it in a cocktail, you're really not gonna notice. So yeah, Questions related to trigger the 1st 1 is how much simple sugars you want to add for this size batch, which you're using a cup of booze and, you know, roughly a eight or so teaspoon of all of the various ingredients you're going to use a tablespoon of the rich syrup. Um, and again not just kind of keeps going up as you do the recipe, but a tablespoon for a whole cup of booze. That kind of shows you how much it's really not much, but it's meant more defined and just bring out the flavor more than anything. And then the other one was You talked about molecular stability off of the simple surf, which is sugar? What about sugar substitutes like Davia or honeys or anything like that? I haven't played around a lot with substitutes, but I have used honey. I've used molasses also for various bidders, like my grapefruit bitters. I use honey. It just It has a nice, earthy tone to it that is really subtle, but it it definitely is different than using sugar. Ah, and when I made more of the coffee nut bidders, I used molasses and not also for the same reason it has the same texture. Um, I would I would be leery that stevia would be able to give you the texture to filter it, because it's not, uh, you're part of it, I think is that you need this syrupy thing to kind of bind with all the particles and help filter it out. But if the filtering isn't important to you and you don't mind the the cloudiness, but you want to use ah substitute than it's certainly gonna work the same Teoh. Just bring out the flavors a bit more. So should just because there is some confusion. The chat room. It's not simple syrup, is it? It is not. Your classic simple syrup is actual equal parts sugar and water. The rich syrup is two parts sugar, one part water. I have actually gone to start using the rich syrup in making my cocktails, also for two reasons. One. It is a much more shelf stable. I can make a big batch of it, and it will actually last for about a month. UN refrigerated. You throw it in the refrigerator two or three months. Um, and I do that often by infusing flavors into it to I'll do in the summer. Do a basil syrup rosemary syrup, and it just allows you to have something that's much more shelf stable than a regular simple syrup. Otherwise, you know it is roughly the same thing. So one other question about the length of time you know, it's hard to tell when something has turned or it's been in too long. Like I wouldn't know a bad rich Sirte from actually would know you would. How would you? Because it will stay as long as there is no scum or mold on top. It is good, but that's what happens is that after a while it it does start to get a mold on it, so definitely don't touch it. Then there's anything even questionable floating on top. Don't touch it. Uh, and a lot of that actually comes more from Not that it's bad, but that something has gotten into it. Like when I make the herb infused syrups, it's really hard to get all of the basil or rosemary out. Um, and usually there's a few particles floating behind, and that's actually what turns bad. So the urban fuse ones, I definitely recommend throwing in the refrigerator that way. You just, you know, you've got a much longer shelf life. You don't have to worry about it, but the plain old rich syrup, and actually I should take a step back. The rich syrup. I use a raw or ah dem aurora sugar so it gets this really dark caramel color to it. But you can do the same thing with just a white syrup. I do that for this bidders just because it keeps building on that dark, rich caramel e. You know, warm spice flavors