digestifs / tinctures

I've been experimenting with making various digestifs or tinctures of herbs that help with digestion. Pictured are tinctures of (left to right) basil, mint, licorice (glycyrrhiza glabra), sichuan pepper, and fennel, soaked for a week or so in cheap vodka (80 proof).

The sichuan pepper is experimental and pretty intense: it numbs your mouth and makes you want to throw up...the rest are carminatives known to help digestion. Basil, mint, and fennel are my favorites. You can mix equally with simple sugar syrup to make them tastier.

sichuan peppers

I've been really liking the Sichuan peppers (aka Szechuan peppers) I got from the asian grocery. Although they look like peppercorns, they're not related to black pepper or chili peppers. They give a numbing or tingly sensation with a little bit of lemony tang. They work well in a hand grinder for black pepper, which is good because Julie won't let me put them in anything she eats.

I bit my lip the other day, so I tried grinding up some sichuan peppers and applying the powder as an alternative to benzocaine. It worked, but I think the (unrelated) Szechuan buttons (aka toothache plant) would work better. I'll have to try to get some from the guy at the farmers' market who subtly sprinkled some petals in my hand, giving me an electric surprise.