Prepare yourselves for a very surprising flavor experience. Think: Caramelized oranges!

Wild parsnip is invasive in New England…and we have a few plants here and there on our farm, far from trafficked roadways. The raw seeds can be used as a spice, but our favorite use is as an infusion with immature black walnuts to create the popular Italian liquer, nocino, or as an ingredient in homemade bitters.

Alone, wild parsnip “bitters” tastes amazingly like caramelized oranges! One of the more delicious and ‘local’ flavors for bitters, or other digestive or cocktail blends, we think this use of wild parsnip seed is a win-win…helping to reduce the spread of an invasive plant while enjoying its unique orange flavor. We offer this tincture to give you a flavor of how this plant can be put to use, and believe that this ‘bitters’ will become a favorite flavoring in your cuisine and beverage concoctions.

Serve in drinks, combine with maple syrup and serve over ice cream, use in baking anywhere an orange essence is desired, share tastings with friends who live where this plant is invasive to inspire them to collect the seeds (which can simply be soaked in vodka) and help control the spread of the plant.

Here, we infused the seeds with 190 proof organic grape alcohol for 6 weeks, and then made a gentle water infusion to add to it, with a total alcohol content of 40%.