What Exactly Is A Cocktail Shrub And How Are They Made?
If you've grown tired of mixing your favorite spirit with sodas or juice but don't want the complication of mixing an artisanal cocktail, you need to try a shrub.
Shrubs are non-alcoholic mixers made with fruits, syrup, aromatic herbs, and vinegar. When mixed properly, they can create a tangy and complex concentration of flavors that can be enjoyed in a number of ways. Alton Brown recommends using them in salad dressings and marinades just as often as cocktails. They can also be paired with water or seltzer to create a mocktail recipe everyone will love. It will have the same complexity as a good cocktail without alcohol.
While these drinks can be highly earthy and herbal, that's not how they get their name. Instead, the name comes from the Arabic word sharaba, meaning "to drink."
The best thing about them is they can be created at home and flavored to suit personal preferences. You can choose your favorite fruit, an elegant vinegar, and an aromatic herb in different proportions to make a shrub that combines all your favorite flavors into a new concentrated mixer.
History of cocktail shrubs
Cocktail shrubs might sound like the latest hipster invention of some famous mixologist, but they've been around for centuries. Peoples in China and Great Britain were pioneers of shrub drinks and enjoyed them regularly, believing they held medicinal properties, even using the drink to offset scurvy.
Folks today love apple cider vinegar for health reasons, and it bears an interesting similarity to some of the early superstitions around shrub drinks made with the same vinegar. People used to believe that shrub drinks with apple cider vinegar somehow protected them from attacks.
It became immensely popular in America, where these drinks were made to help folks keep cool on warm days. They were essentially the first sodas of that time and would even be enjoyed in taverns and at home. The vinegar in shrub drinks allowed people to preserve herbs and fruits throughout the heat of summer without having to worry about spoilage. It also became a common replacement for alcohol during American prohibition though the drink would fall out of favor with the rise of soda and refrigeration.
How to make a shrub
Making a shrub usually starts with making syrup with sugar and fruit. This can be done over the stovetop, or combine the sugar and fruit and let them sit in the refrigerator overnight. The sugar will draw the moisture out of the fruit. You can then strain the parts of the fruit from the newly formed syrup. Then, add the vinegar, and you're shrub is finished. If you decide to make your shrub over the stove, you can add herbs like thyme or mint for additional flavor. Just don't forget that this is a concentrate, so use it sparingly.
One important thing to consider is the type of vinegar that you decide to use. You can use any vinegar you would like for your shrub, but since you'll be drinking it, it's important to have good quality. This is also a great opportunity to try out different types of vinegar, like white balsamic.
You should enjoy the flavor as well, but the choice of vinegar will also depend on what other ingredients it's being mixed with. Like any other recipe, making a good shrub is all about interestingly balancing the different components. If you're planning to use your shrub as a cocktail mixer, you'll want to think about what spirit you'll be mixing it with.