Joe Fee of Fee Brothers calls their line of bitters the "spice rack behind the bar," which is all well and good for cocktails, but I believe that chefs should revolt and add Fee Brothers Bitters to their own culinary spice racks in the kitchen!

For a long time now, the bar has been "borrowing" ingredients from the kitchen, taking mint, oregano, sage, basil and other herbs to use in cocktails, and ripping peppercorns, cinnamon, cardamom, clove, nutmeg, curry, and other spices right out of the poor chefs' hands. It is now time for chefs to stand up for themselves and "borrow" from the bar, incorporating bitters in their culinary creations.

I have known Joe Fee and have been an avid user of Fee Brothers products for years, incorporating their line of bitters not only in my cocktail creations, but also in culinary recipes. A few dashes of bitters can change an ordinary recipe into a great recipe, and the addition of one of their cordial syrups into recipes really enhances flavors.

Did you know that the original purpose of bitters was medicinal, or that prior to 1900 a cocktail could not be called a cocktail without the use of bitters? Although that line of thinking has changed, classic cocktails like the Manhattan, Pisco Sour, and Sazerac would not be Manhattans, Pisco Sours, or Sazeracs without the use of bitters, and contemporary cocktails still benefit from adding a dash or two of bitters, which are delectable potions of concentrated spices.

The story behind Fee Brothers is an interesting tale beginning in 1835 when Owen Fee left Ireland for the United States. By 1863, the Fee family opened a delicatessen in Rochester, New York and no strangers for the need to continually evolve Fee Brothers eventually grew into the manufacturing of cocktail mixes. After more than 140 years, Fee Brothers is still family owned and operated.

Their growing list of bitters includes Old Fashion Bitters, West Indian Orange Bitters, Peach, Mint, Lemon, Grapefruit, and Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters, and Joe's sister Ellen is always at work developing new products to add to their bitters line.

Fee Brothers Bitters make fabulous additions to both cocktail and culinary recipes, and impart a unique appeal to Luxury Experience's cocktails Lemon Cashew Tree made with Fee Brothers Lemon Bitters; Heavy Almond Fling made with Fee Brothers Peach Bitters; and The Dubliner made with Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters.

Luxury Experience's Lemon Cashew Tree

Luxury Experience's Lemon Cashew Tree combines Neisson Rhum Agricole Blanc, tropical cashew juice, equal parts of fresh lemon and limejuice, and Fee Brothers Lemon Bitters for a refreshing, sophisticated cocktail.

In a shaker can, add ice, and all of the ingredients. Shake well, strain and pour over fresh ice in a rocks glass. Garnish with a slice of lime.

Heavy Almond Fling

Pour over ice, stir and strain into a clean rocks glass filled with ice.

Luxury Experience's The Dubliner

What surprised me most in Ireland was how much the Irish like their coffee, which was the inspiration for The Dubliner cocktail.

Shake all ingredients hard in a metal shaker can with 6 ice cubes until the can is frosty. Drain into a 10-ounce snifter glass. Garnish with a lemon peel.

Culinary recipes sing with extra flavor from Fee Brothers Bitters especially Luxury Experience's Crème de la Knappogue Ice Cream with Drunken Apples and Cranberry Bread Pudding and 1995 Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey Hard Sauce made with Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters and Fee Brothers West Indian Orange Bitters.

Crème de la Knappogue Ice Cream with Drunken Apples and Cranberry Bread Pudding and 1995 Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey Hard Sauce

Crème de la Knappogue Ice Cream Ingredients: 

Method: Beat eggs and milk together in a large saucepan. Add sugar. Cook over low heat, stirring constantly until thickened, just to a slight boil. Remove from heat. Pour into a large bowl to cool. When cool, add the heavy cream, stir and refrigerate, covered, overnight. (Will last up to 4 days in the refrigerator.) Process in an ice cream maker, when the mixture starts to freeze, add the 1995 Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey and the Fee Brothers Whiskey Barrel Aged Bitters, stir, and process until set.

Drunken Apples and Cranberry Bread Pudding and 1995 Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey Hard Sauce
Serves 6

Bread Pudding Ingredients: 

Preheat over to 325° F (163° C).

Method: Cut bread into cubes and set aside. Scald milk. Add bread and butter to the milk, stir, and let mixture cool. Drizzle the 1995 Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey over the apples and set aside. When the bread and milk mixture is cool, add the eggs, sugar, and spices, followed by the apples and cranberries.

Pour mixture into a buttered 11"x7"x2" (28x18x4 cm) baking dish. Bake for approximately 1 hour until set. Knife inserted in the center should come out clean. Serve warm.

1995 Knappogue Castle Irish Whiskey Hard Sauce Ingredients:  

Method: Cream butter and sugar until smooth.

Method: Blend until smooth. Chill in refrigerator until ready to serve. Serve at room temperature or heat slightly to drizzle over the pudding.

Presentation: Cut a square of bread pudding and place in a coupe or dessert bowl. Add a scoop of the ice cream. Drizzle the hard sauce over the ice cream and scatter the toasted walnuts over the dessert.

In addition to their Bitters line, Fee Brothers has an extensive line of Cordial Syrups including their latest addition of Spice Cordial Syrup, and two more exciting Cordial Syrups soon to hit the market in the form of Pumpkin Spice Cordial Syrup and Warm Ginger Cordial Syrup, which I cannot wait to experience after having recently tried the Spice Cordial Syrup.

The Spice Cordial Syrup is wonderful used in cocktails like Luxury Experience's Autumn Harvest, but is also delicious when added to salmon or carrots to create a glaze, toss with apples before baking apple pie or making apple crisp, or even as a secret ingredient in pancake or waffle batter. Brushing the Cordial Syrup onto cut layers of homemade cake before frosting will not only impart subtle flavor, will also help to keep the cake moist. Substitute Cordial Syrups in any recipes that require the use of simple syrup.

Luxury Experience's Autumn Harvest

Add the BarSol Acholado Pisco, BarSol Quebranta Pisco, and Applejack to an Irish coffee glass. Heat the cider, orange juice, and Fee Brothers Spice Cordial Syrup in the microwave or on the stove, and our into the Pisco/Applejack mixture. Sprinkle with cinnamon powder, garnish with cinnamon stick wrapped with an orange twist, and serve hot.

To create the cinnamon stick wrapped with an orange twist, add a small amount of the Fee Brothers Cordial Syrup to a pan with an orange peel. Heat the orange peel in the syrup to soften it a bit. Remove the orange peel from the syrup and wrap around the cinnamon stick. Set on parchment paper to dry.

They offer more than 44 Cordial Syrups that will have your imagination dreaming up new recipes with such tempting flavors as Banana, Blueberry, Blue Curacao, Kiwi, Orgeat, Golden Passion Fruit, Praline, and Falernum.

However you choose to use Fee Brothers products, whose slogan is "Don't Squeeze, Use Fees," in cocktails or cooking, remember that the only limitation on their use is your imagination.

For information on Fee Brothers Bitters and their extensive product line and other recipes, please visit the website: www.FeeBrothers.com.  

Read about the history of Fee Brothers in the Liquor Cabinet - Liquors section. For other recipes in Luxury Experience Magazine using Fee Brothers Bitters and Cordial Syrups, please click the Search tab, type in "Fee Brothers" and click "Exact Phrase."  To read an interview with fourth generation Joe Fee of Fee Brothers see the Liquor Cabinet - Liquors section.  

Fee Brothers
453 Portland Avenue
Rochester, NY 14605
Telephone:    +1-585-544-9530 
Toll Free:       +1-800-961-3337 
Email:             This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it    
www.FeeBrothers.com    

© November 2007. Luxury Experience. www.LuxuryExperience.com All rights reserved.