Something non-denim related I've been into for the last couple of years is making bitters. There was a bitters renaissance at the fancier bars and restaurants a few years back- most places that prided themselves on having an edgy bar would have some house-made bitters on hand for a signature drink or two. Usually these were good, occasionally great, and sometimes it would have been better to stick to Angostura, frankly. That wave has passed a little, but the process can be fun and quite rewarding. Nothing tastes as good as an Old Fashioned mixed with bitters you planned out and brewed up yourself.

 The process is pretty straightforward: a combination of (typically) dried or fresh fruit, spices, roots, herbs and bittering agents are added to a menstruum (a dissolving/extracting fluid, in this case alcohol). Different ingredients might be added at different times during the extraction process- early for difficult to extract ingredients like nuts, most dried spice and some dried fruit, or closer to the end of the process for things which are easier to extract flavor from, like most herbs or soft fresh fruit. The extraction usually sits for 1-6 weeks, depending on ingredients and is often shaken daily to speed the process along.

 Next the solids are filtered out of the alcohol and added to a little water. This mash is boiled or simmered, then either let to extract for some time or immediately added into the alcohol. The reason for the double extraction using both alcohol and water is that different menstruums extract different compounds and flavors, to some degree. This step also cuts down the ABV of the finished product. After allowing the mixture to sit for a while (the flavors are believed to blend together more fully over time, and some makers will use a oak barrel to age the bitters or add wood chips to the mix for this step) the bitters are strained, filtered, sometimes marginally sweetened, and then decanted into smaller bottles.

 Here are the bitters I am using most at the moment:

*first time using imgur*

 From left: apricot, Jerry Thomas, mole, fig, and baking spice. The larger far left and right bottles are in their final test phases, and are having some final tinctures of solo ingredients or sweeteners added and tasted until I consider the blend to be satisfactory, at which time I'll decant these to smaller, labeled bottles.

 Anybody else tried this process out?

As both you and CSL eluded to, there is something especially evocative about the old fashioned. Its status as the first modern mixed drink I suppose, its rich early history in the American east coast down to New Orleans involving tropical spices and snake oil, the exotic, complex nature of the bitters rubs up nicely against the simplicity of the drink (bitters, sugar, whiskey, ice cube, stir) especially when compared to many new school cocktails...

mostly extraction of desiccated orange peel then left to rest with cardamon and other spices / cumin seeds... simple but effective.

[mostly prefer neat whiskey alongside decent ale these days...]

Traditionally Rye would be used for any old time US cocktail.

I like Michters but there are many good ones.

Jim Meehan is a fellow Portlander and a bud, and I've made quite a few of the recipes in his green book. I was just playing with the Tom&Jerry recipe he has in there and it was delicious, especially this time of year.

A good first recipe to make is one based on the first recorded recipe for a kind of bitters. The original recipe, from an early celebrity bartender, calls for infusing all the ingredients directly in a a bottle of rum, so a kind of pre-made cocktail.

I came up with this recipe based on Jerry's concoction:

1 heaping tblspn dried lemon peel

1 heaping tblspn dried bitter orange peel

2 cinnamon sticks (about 2" each)

1 tblspn whole cloves

1 tblspn whole allspice

1 tspn black pepper

1 cup raisins, coarsely chopped

2 tspn dried gentian root

2 cups everclear 120

Combine all ingredients except gentian root in a large glass mason jar. You can crush all of the spices lightly beforehand- say with the bottom of a glass on a wooden cutting board. Store out of direct sunlight, shake daily for 2 weeks. open, add gentian root, reseal and shake daily for an additional week.

Strain solids out of alcohol by pouring through a fine mesh. Add solids to about 1 and 1/2 cup of filtered water. Simmer lightly for about 20 minutes. Cool thoroughly, strain, add water to alcohol. Filter through paper towels and then through coffee filters. This step takes some time, be patient.

Add 2 tblspns rich syrup.

Decant into dropper or shaker bottles.

Make delicious cocktails!

I do like sipping whiskey neat, of course, but an old fashioned really hits the spot sometimes and is just a lot of fun to make.