I bring tidings of great joy. Until some twenty years ago DR Harris and Co, est. 1790, chemists and perfumers in St James’s Street, served a pick-me-up to be consumed at the shop counter or to be taken away. Now they have brought it back with a new receipt.
D. R. Harris are (sic) delighted to re-introduce their famous ‘morning reviver,’ The Original Pick-Me-Up, in a reimagined form as a Cocktail Bitters. The previous version of Pick-Me-Up which was served as a hangover cure at 29 St. James’s Street from the 1860s up until the early 2000s was a tonic and as such this bitters follows a very similar formula.
While we have stayed close to the original formula which primarily included gentian, cloves and cardamon, this new version has a whole host of additional ingredients included to increase efficacy but also to improve the taste.
The previous incarnation of Pick-Me-Up was favoured far-and-wide for its effectiveness, however, it was not prized for its taste or aroma. With the help of Bob from Bob’s Bitters, this version goes some way to addressing these shortcomings.
In fact, The Original Pick-Me-Up Cocktail Bitters taste (sic) so good and have such a unique flavour profile that they act as an excellent addition to many of your favourite cocktails and soft drinks. Alongside these, you can easily recreate the original Pick-Me-Up as was served in the shop. Quite simply:
10-15 dashes Original Pick-Me-Up Cocktail Bitters
60ml Water
1 x Effervescent vitamin tablet of your choice
Once the tablet has been dissolved and the draught has been drunk any signs of jadedness will dissipate and all will be right with the world.
Some of the additional ingredients alluded to are: lemon peel, The Regent’s Park honey, ginger root, ginseng root, liquorice root, benzoin, milk thistle, cassia bark and bergamot. I imagine it’s the honey that has made the new version more palatable. I have ordered a bottle (along with some almond oil soap, to keep hands clean and a DR Harris speciality) and will see if it builds me up.
I’m sure the receipt changed more than once during the 150 years of the Pickmeup’s original incarnation – in the 1860s it surely included laudanum & cocaine. I used to keep a bottle during my dissipated youth – it was efficacious but tasted quite disgusting.