Summer Shrub 3 ways using Cider Vinegar!

Simply put, a shrub is a drinking vinegar that includes vinegar, fruit and sugar. Once the drinking vinegar is created you can add bubbly water or spice it up a bit by adding alcohol and maybe even some bitters. There are so many different ways to make shrubs. Some recipes invite you to heat all of the ingredients before straining and using. Others require no cooking at all. I prefer the later. I also love to use Bragg apple cider vinegar due to it’s raw, unfiltered quality. I figure I might as well get extra health benefits from the drinking vinegar I create and indulge in. Below are three of my favorite summertime shrubs.

Peach Shrub

This a simple peach shrub recipe laced with brown sugar. Yum! Once infused, peach shrub makes for a perfect summer cocktail.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups pitted and chopped peaches
1 ½ cups brown sugar
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

Strawberry and Basil Shrub Cocktail

This is a fun twist on a summer shrub! Of course, if you’d rather not add basil, you can go a different route and use mint and smidge of lemon zest or omit the herb factor altogether.

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups strawberries, cleaned, hulled and quartered
¼ cup basil
1 ½ cups white sugar
1 ½ cups apple cider vinegar

Watermelon Mint Shrub

This is my latest infatuation. Infusing watermelon and mint together with honey and apple cider vinegar. The result is a lovely combination of sweet and refreshing yumminess!

4 cups ripe watermelon, rind removed and coarsely chopped
¼ cup mint
⅓ cup honey
½ cup apple cider vinegar

DIRECTIONS FOR ALL RECIPES:

1. In a large jar or other container with a tight-fitting lid, combine the watermelon, mint and honey. Use the back of a wooden spoon or a muddler to smash the fruit a bit.

2. Cover and refrigerate.

3. After about a week strain out the fruit with a mesh sieve. Add the vinegar and taste the mixture. If it’s to your liking, that is, fruity with mellow vinegar flavor, pour the syrup into a clear jar.

Your shrub should keep well, covered in the fridge, for three weeks.

To make a non-alcoholic cocktail just add 1 ½ parts shrub mixture to 2 parts tonic water, aka bubbly water (more or less tonic water can be added given your taste preference. If you want a little alcohol in your cocktail add one part shrub, 1 ½ parts alcohol of choice and one part tonic water.