How to make Shrub syrups

Shrub drinks are colonial type cocktail mixtures, originated in England during 17th and 18th century. These are prepared mainly by mixing alcohol like Rum or Brandy with sugar, and citrus fruit juices.

Another type of Shrub is prepared by mixing vinegar with honey, eater or spirit. These syrups are mainly used to make cocktails.

In the past, Shrub was a great means to preserve fruit juices. The sugar, alcohol and acid components helped to preserve the juices for long.

Now let us learn how to make soothing Shrub syrup for your upcoming summer days.

The ingredients

To start with, you need to have the following things readily available in your kitchen:

Vinegar – Preferably you should use apple cider vinegar or red wine vinegar.

Sugar – Just use any refined cane sugar. Later on you can bring variations to your syrup by using brown sugar.

Fruits – It is difficult to suggest any specific fruit for Shrub making. You can use any type of fruit like berries, plums, peaches, apricots etc.

The process

Now as you are ready with your ingredients the real scrub making process starts. For that you need to mix the fruit juices in the vinegar and sugar. Just crash the fruits a little with your hand and add sugar to it and leave it aside for couple of days. After 1 or 2 days, you will see that the syrup is coming out of the fruits. Drain it and add Sipping Vinegar with it. Taste for the sweetness and preserve it in a clean bottle.

Safety and preservation

Don’t forget to check the shrub syrup occasionally and shake once if sugar is settling at the bottom. Since vinegar has high acid concentration, it dies not prevent from bacteria producing botulism. And vinegar is also not 100% security against harmful bacteria. Some can still originate in the syrup. So proper storage and maintaining cleanliness is very important.

Using shrub syrup

The best thing about Cocktail Shrubs is that they can be added to any Old Fashioned Cocktail to make its flavor unique and enjoyable. Though, it does not go well with acidic juices as it enhances the acidic nature of the juice.

A preferred combination is a shrub, a base sprit, a bitter and any of the typical liquors. For the summer days a very refreshing mix will be shrub syrup, sherry and club soda.

If all these seems to be a hassle to you and you would like to have something readymade, there is also another way out. There are online companies which understand your need and bring out the best shrub combination at a price, say, $25 for a bottle of 8.5 fl oz.  

The ingredients they use are completely natural chosen from the renowned botanical reserves of the world. Each recipe is several times altered, tasted and only then approved. They have surely something to offer that meets your requirements.

If you are not finding anything of your choice in the offered shrub collection, even then it is not a problem. Most of the online shrub manufacturing companies will provide you suggestions to mix the shrub with other ingredients and drinks until you have found the right one for you.