Recipe

• 1 cup fruit of choice (I used fresh blueberries)
• .75 cup sugar
• 1 cup vinegar (I used about 2/3 white wine vinegar, 1/3 fig-infused white balsamic)

Cover the fruit in the sugar for a day or two until fruit has mostly liquified (you may need to gently mash it a bit). Strain out the solids with a mesh strainer. Add the vinegar and combine in a bottle. Wait a few weeks to let the flavors mellow out, then add some to your cocktail/mocktail/sparkling water and enjoy!

About

Inspired by @sashadallasgirl, I’ve made my first shrub! A shrub can refer to many things, but in the context of cocktail ingredients and potable beverages, it’s basically a sweetened vinegar syrup (also sometimes called “drinking vinegar”) made by combining fruit, sugar, and vinegar, then letting the flavors meld together harmoniously to create a concentrated syrup that’s perfect for flavoring both alcoholic and virgin concoctions.

Shrubs have their roots in history as a preservation strategy for fruit juices, which could then be sweetened and used to flavor beverages. They were popular in colonial America, but similar traditions can also be found in other regions of the world (one of them most famously being Thailand as popularized by the Som drinking vinegars from Pok Pok – which also happens to literally be my favorite restaurant in the world).

They’re a great alternate option for cocktails that traditionally use citrus, and also delicious in plain old refreshing beverages or mocktails! Also super easy to make at home – just need to be patient for the flavors to blend together nicely.