An evening that starts with Bitter Tears usually ends in laughter.

And there are more good times to be had beyond the bar.

The far-out flavors created by Highland Park’s Ms. and His (a.k.a. Taylor Brittenham and Jeremy Schwartz) deliver a culinary booster shot to any recipe.

Sub in Lolita for vanilla extract to transform a plain white cake into a cherry bourbon dream. Upgrade a bowl of supermarket sorbet and berries with Hina (hibiscus rose).

But don’t let the handcrafted cocktail bitters quit their night job: Ms. Piggy adds a smoky, bacony dimension to old-fashioneds, and lavender elderberry gimlets simply require a splash of KiKi.

Lucille (blood orange and ginger with anise and cinnamon) and Gypsy (tamarind, cacao) are available year-round. But for seasonal, microbatch varieties like curried pumpkin (nice in hot toddies and mulled wine), act fast.

Whatever your final concoction, it will be a far cry from boring.

Available at Bar Keeper, 3910 West Sunset Boulevard, between Lucile and Sanborn Avenues, Silver Lake (323-669-1611 or barkeepersilverlake.com). For more information, go to bittertears.la.

Photo: Courtesy of Bitter Tears