Ivan Bitter Essence

Combine the spices in a mortar and grind to a coarse powder. Pack in a percolator, or glass container and add the alcohol and macerate for 3 days. Strain off the liquid and add the brandy to the reserved liquid. This should produce roughly 2 litres of bitter essence.

To make Ivan Bitters take 30 ml (1 oz) of the bitter essence and mix with 1.75 litres of 40% alcohol and 230 ml of simple syrup.

Ivan Bitter Essence

by Darcy O'Neil :: [Bitters]

A bitter recipe of supposed Russian origin, however the varacity of the information is debatable. However, the recipe still looks quite usable.

If the bitters isn't strong enough, you can increase the amount of essence used.