My friend Sarah gets credit for this ingenious gift idea. A sweet-tart combination of fruit juice, sugar, and vinegar, the shrub is a versatile drink mix that’s easy to make. To serve, fill a glass with ice, add a splash of shrub, and top off with carbonated water or club soda. Add a shot of rum or brandy, if you like. Or mix the shrub with sparkling wine instead. Any way you fix it, it’s awfully refreshing.
Cranberry-ginger Shrub
Makes about 1 quart.
1 1/2 c. water
1 1/2 c. sugar
1 quart fresh cranberries
1 thumb-sized knob of fresh ginger, peeled and sliced
2 c. cider vinegar
Bring water and sugar to a boil, stirring to dissolve sugar. Add cranberries and ginger, simmer 15 minutes. Add vinegar, simmer 5 minutes more. Strain through a fine-meshed sieve set over a bowl, pressing on berries to release as much liquid as possible. Transfer to a glass container and refrigerate up to a month. Shake or stir before using.
December 27, 2008 at 8:25 pm
Shrub rocks! I’m going to serve it with rum at my New Year’s party!
December 30, 2008 at 4:00 pm
[...] have some cranberry-ginger shrub leftover from Christmas that we’ll be serving, too. Happy New Year! [...]
May 21, 2009 at 11:34 am
Hi,
I’m curious to know if it is necessary to heat the raw vinegar. It seems like it would be more healthful to keep it raw. I’m also wondering if sugar is needed for more sweet fruits? I’m just learning. Lots of variations out there it seems! Thanks for the recipe!
May 21, 2009 at 12:42 pm
Hi, Summer,
I think the purpose of heating the vinegar in this recipe is to meld the flavors and infuse the vinegar with the cranberry (like you might heat vinegar with tarragon to make tarragon vinegar), but my guess is that if you chilled the cranberry syrup and then mixed it with the vinegar, it would taste just fine.
With a sweeter fruit, you could definitely reduce the sugar, but keep in mind that the sugar gives the shrub its slightly thick, syrupy quality. If you wanted to try it without the sugar (or with significantly less sugar), I’d suggest pureeing the cooked fruit mixture before straining it to give it a little more body.
If you come up with a winning variation, I’d love to hear about it!
Margaret
February 11, 2010 at 2:07 pm
I adore shrubs! Thanks for the recipe. I think my favorite is apple or strawberry, but I am going to give this a go next winter! Thanks
February 11, 2010 at 3:18 pm
Apple shrub sounds good, Jo. I recently came across a molasses shrub — it’s on my list of things to try this month.
February 12, 2010 at 1:29 pm
That looks wonderful too! Great find.