Herbal KnowledgeOct 29, 2025
Bitter herbs have been a part of our diet for years. As far back as the eighteenth century, Gentian wine was even enjoyed as an aperitif before dinner.1 The power of bitters begins at the tip of your tongue. When receptors within the taste buds detect bitter flavors, they send signals to the brain to rev up the production of gastric juices in preparation for digestion. Digestion, in turn, can play a role in your larger efforts to affect your mental and physical health.
Where do you start with bitter herbs? Which ones do you need to know? Here are 6 of our favorites that we use in formulas and on their own here at Herb Pharm.
Commonly viewed as a weed, we grow Dandelion (Taraxacum officinale) in neat rows on our Regenerative Organic Certified® farms. The roots can grow more than a foot long before we harvest and extract the whole plant each spring. Our Dandelion extract has a mild pleasant taste with a mildly bitter aftertaste. We also offer Dandelion, Alcohol-Free, and use the herb in our PMS Comfort™, Liver Health™, and Glycemic Assist™ formulas.
This isn't the same plant part (or even the same species!) of Artichoke you buy in the grocery store. We prepare our Artichoke extract from the leaves of Cynara cardunculus plants that are grown on our Regenerative Organic Certified® farms in southern Oregon. It has both a spring and an autumn harvest. Once extracted, it tastes bitter, vegetal, salty, and slightly aromatic. That’s part of why we use it in both Better Bitters™: Classic and Better Bitters™: Orange. We also include it in our Liver Health and Cholesterol Health™ formulas.
Gentian has been popular for centuries. Even the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder wrote about it.1 We prepare our Gentian liquid herbal extract from the rhizome and root of Certified Organic Gentiana lutea plants. Both underground plant parts are harvested in the autumn, carefully shade-dried, then thoroughly extracted. We include it in all three of our Better Bitters™ formulas
We grow Certified Organic Burdock (Arctium lappa) on our own farms and also source from other trusted Certified Organic farms. While it has gorgeous flowers, it is the seed and root we use in our products. We extract the seeds from fully mature second-year plants. This extract is included in a variety of formulas including Stone Breaker™, Skin Health™ and Joint Flexibility™. We extract Burdock root, on the other hand, from first-year plants, then include it in all four of our Better Bitters formulas. We also combine the extracts of seed and root to create our Burdock Blend. They work together to create a bitter and slightly nutty flavor.
We prepare our Angelica extract from the root of Certified Organic Angelica archangelica plants grown on fields we farm in southern Oregon. We harvest the root in the autumn of its first-year's growth. It’s then shade dried and extracted. Angelica is strongly aromatic and spicy, which is one reason we include it in Better Bitters: Orange. We also use it in our Joint Flexibility formula.
The flavor of Wormwood (Artemisia absinthium) is hard to miss. It’s highly aromatic and extraordinarily bitter. We grow our own on our Regenerative Organic Certified® farms. We harvest the leaf and flower by hand just as they are coming into flower, carefully shade-dry them, then clean the stems and thoroughly extract them. Wormwood is the featured herb in our Better Bitters™: Absinthium.
Do you want a straightforward way to try out many of these herbs? Try an herbal formula like our line of Better Bitters™. These formulas support the healthy function of the digestive system and they come in 3 flavors: Absinthium, Classic, or Orange.*
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