This recipe is a Cook Along-an opportunity to make a simple recipe along with me as I make this rhubarb shrub over the next week!
What is a Shrub and Why Would i want to make one?
A Shrub is an acidic, sweet, fruity liquid concoction that can be used to brighten a glass of sparkly water or to add complexity to a craft cocktail. The premise is that sugar and fruit are combined in a cold or heated process to breakdown the fruit, and vinegar is added to the fruity mixture. The result is a tasty syrup that gets strained from the fruit and can be stored for months. Accent flavors like ginger, mint or rosemary can also be added to add further complexity.
Where did the shrub originate from?
Check out this great article describing the history of the drinking shrub. From the colonial era, vinegar or alcohol were used as preservatives for what was known as a drinking vinegar, used also for cocktails or mocktails then. Due to the preservative nature of the vinegar, shrubs were quite useful prior to refrigeration and later fell out of favor, only to come back in the last decade with a retro feel. These days, shrubs are of interest to cocktail connoisseurs because of the endless combinations of flavors that can be infused.
What is a cook along?
A cook along is where we try out a cooking experiment together and share our results! Isn’t that fun? I invite you to make a shrub along with me!
How do you make a shrub?
A shrub is super simple to make, and can be made with nearly any fruit. Pick what’s in season and tasting delicious to you….Cherries, Plums, Nectarines, Peaches, Strawberries, Blueberries or Raspberries sound delicious! You can make the shrub with a cold or hot process. The cold process that we’ll use today takes a week or two to prepare, but is super minimal hands on time, requiring no cooking at all!
(In the heated process, you can heat the fruit with the sugar for a quicker result, but perhaps less fruity flavor development.)
In the cold process we will let the fruit and sugar sit together in the fridge with a stirring every 12 hours or so for 5-7 days. The mixture then gets strained and the syrup combined with apple cider vinegar. Herbs can be added as well. This can be used right away in cocktails and mocktails, but the longer this sits, the more flavor it develops. The solids of the fruit and sugar can be used over ice-cream as a sweet fruity topping or in any way you might use a jam.
Cook along instructions: Let's Make a Shrub!
Step 1. Choose Your Fruit
Use 2 pounds of rinsed fruit of your choice.
I chose rhubarb for it’s sour taste that in combination with sweetness will add a delightful twist in a cocktail. More fruit is generally better.
With rhubarb or any other firm fruit, cut it up into small pieces.
2. Add a cup of sugar to the Cut fruit.
Add a cup of sugar to the cut fruit in a bowl.
3. Stir the Fruit anD sugar and Refrigerate
Stir the fruit with the sugar. Cover with a lid or plastic wrap and refrigerate. The sugar will slowly allow the liquid to come out of the fruit, creating your syrup.
Step 4. Stir the mixture twice a day for 5 days.
Stir this mixture together twice a day for 5 days while keeping it refrigerated.
Then check back here to the blog for more instructions! At the end we’ll whip up a cocktail and a mocktail with our finished shrub. Send me some pictures or a comment on the blog as you go. I’d love to hear what you’re making!
Before 5 days, just be sure you have some apple cider vinegar on hand for the next step.
Did you get to day 5? Check out the next steps here.
Example of my last shrub: Apricot!
For inspiration, here is the apricot shrub I made last week. So fun!! I cannot wait to see how the rhubarb turns out!
