Featured Article

Preserve it! Drink a Shrub

By Laura Crowley, UCCE Master Food Preserver of El Dorado County

Published in Mountain Democrat September 4, 2024

While vinegar-based beverages may seem to be the current rage, humans have been drinking vinegar in various forms since antiquity, with records going back at least 4,000 years ago to the Babylonians. The sugar-sweetened versions we know today as shrubs can be traced to Turkey (the word shrub derives from the Arabic word sharâb, meaning “to drink”). By the time that drink made its way to colonial America by the very early 1700s, it was in the modified form of a citrus and sugar syrup blended with either brandy or rum. Drinks known as fruit vinegar, consisting of fruit (especially raspberries), sugar, and vinegar, became popular here at about the same time and by the mid-1800s also became known as shrubs.

Another early vinegar drink known as switchel arose in the Caribbean sometime in the 16th or 17th centuries. Made with vinegar, ginger, water, and likely molasses, switchel came to colonial New England by the late 1600s along with the molasses trade. Once there, honey and sometimes maple syrup – sweeteners readily available in New England – replaced the molasses. It was served to farmers, especially during hay-harvesting time, and thus switchel came to be known as “hay-maker’s punch.”

For various reasons, by the end of Prohibition shrubs fell out of favor. Now, with the advent of the craft cocktail and food preservation/DIY movements, shrubs are finding a renaissance. Whether you’re interested in making refreshing non-alcoholic adult soft drinks or creating a hot new cocktail, shrubs are versatile refrigerated beverages that are easy to make at home and that can help you preserve the bounty of fresh, local fruits and herbs.

The recipe is slightly adapted from Wild Drinks and Cocktails by Emily Han.

Raspberry Shrub

2 cups raspberries

1 cup Champagne vinegar

1 cup red wine vinegar

2 cups sugar

  1. Lightly crush the berries with a potato masher or the back of a big spoon.
  2. Transfer the crushed berries, including their juice, to a 1-quart clean, sterile mason jar.
  3. Pour both vinegars over the fruit and stir to mix. Make sure the berries are completely submerged under the vinegar.
  4. Label the jar with shrub name and date. Cover the jar and store in a cool, dark place for 1 week. Shake the jar daily and check to make sure that the berries stay submerged under the vinegar.
  5. Strain the raspberry-vinegar mixture through a fine-mesh strainer into another 1-quart clean, sterile mason jar. Discard the solids.
  6. Add the sugar to the vinegar and stir well.
  7. Place the jar in the refrigerator for 1 week, stirring or shaking daily to dissolve the sugar.
  8. Shrubs should be stored in the refrigerator, where they will keep for up to a year. Always check your shrub before consuming it, and if there are any signs of mold, or if the shrub starts to look bubbly, cloudy, or slimy, throw it away. When in doubt, throw it out.