**First published on 8/11/2020**
With all the beautiful summer fruit shining at the farmer’s market, I have been obsessed with making my own shrubs.
What are shrubs?
Shrubs are syrups consisting essentially of fruit, sugar and vinegar. Shrubs originated in 17th century England. It was a way to preserve the fruit by adding vinegar to the fruit, and enjoy it when the fruit was not available. Fruits were also preserved in some kind of liqueur as well in that era.
It was made popular in Colonial America as well by the Europeans. Shrubs are best enjoyed in the hot summers, along with sparkling soda and some ice. The shrubs can be infused with herbs and spices to give it more depth of flavor.
How to make shrubs?
Making shrubs is very similar to making jam. The fruit is macerated with granulated sugar.
What is maceration?
Maceration is the process where the sugar is involved in extracting the juices from the fruit. The sugar completely dissolved and made the fruit juice very potent with maximum fruit flavor.
There are 2 methods for making shrubs: 1) heat process 2) cold process. I have tried both the methods, and I prefer the cold method. The heat process is essentially cooking the fruit and sugar together, along with a bit of water, and then mixing with the apple cider vinegar, but in the process the brightness of the fruit is lost.
In the cold process method, although it takes 3 days for the shrub to be finally made, the fruit flavors were much deeper and flavorful.
What is the cold process method for making shrubs?
In the cold process method, the fruit, herb or spice and granulated sugar is mixed together and the fruit macerates for 24 hours. After 24 hours, the vinegar is added, and the shrub gets more flavor over the next 48 hours.
After the 3 days are completed, strain the fruit using a sieve, to extract the shrub syrup, using a rubber spatula to lightly push against the fruit to extract all the fruity flavor. I let the shrub marinate in the bottle for another 2 days. It lets the strong acidy vinegar flavor subside over time, and the flavors are more cohesive as time progresses.
Serious Eats recommends to strain the fruit and then add the vinegar after 1 day, but I did find more fruit flavor after the entire mixture was combined with the vinegar and then it sat in the fridge for 2 more days.
What kind of fruits to use for making shrubs?
Fruits that are best for making shrubs are riper fruits, which may be soft, to get the maximum sugar and sweetness and flavor out of it. Use any berries, like strawberries, blackberries, raspberries, blueberries, or even stone fruits like peaches, apricots, nectarines, pluots etc to make shrubs.
Different shrub flavors that I have experimented with
The best part about making shrubs is infusing them with herbs and spices to make it more interesting.
The flavors that I have made so far are:
Nectarine + Star Anise + Ginger
Pluot + Lavender
Strawberry + Hibiscus
Apricots + Ginger + Rosemary
Peach + Saffron + Ginger
Blackberry + Basil + Ginger
Other flavors you could try are:
Blackberry + Pluot
Apricot + Saffron
Strawberries + Rose
Raspberries + Rose
Strawberries + Thyme
Strawberries + Mint
Ingredients for the Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
The ingredients for the Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer are:
- Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub
- Strawberries
- Edible dried hibiscus flowers
- Granulated sugar
- Apple cider vinegar
- Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
- Shrub
- Sparkling soda
Can I use any other kind of vinegar for shrubs?
I have used only apple cider vinegar so far in my shrubs but I know you can use red wine vinegar as well in the shrubs. I think red wine vinegar would be great with strawberries or pluot or figs or grapes. It would work out really well in terms of the color as well.
Benefits of Vinegar
The benefits of vinegar are numerous. It is fantastic as an energy boost, it is used for detoxification, it aids weight loss, it is great for upset stomachs as it kills bacteria, it is also used for speeding up the metabolism of the body.
Shrub making has become an obsession and I have really enjoyed the whole process of making them. It does not take time, and makes for a wonderful syrup that can be used to make a refreshing drink in the summer.
How to make the Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
Simply add 1 oz of the shrub, with some ice and sparkling soda, and it makes for a fantastic drink. My kids have been loving all the flavors of shrubs that I have been making and have been enjoying it on a daily basis.
What kind of bottles to use for storing the shrubs?
If you are looking for bottles for your shrubs, after much research I found these amazing bottles that I am totally digging.
What are the other uses for shrubs?
You can even use the shrub to make cocktails, using the spirit of your choice, with the shrub, and sparkling soda, or champagne. Or come up with your own cocktail concoction.
Where can I find edible dried hibiscus?
Find edible dried hibiscus on Amazon.
Other fun summer recipes on my blog are:
- Corn Pakoras with a Peach, Nectarine, Heirloom Tomato Salad
- Corn and Peach Salsa
- Easy Makai no Chevdo
- Peach and Corn Macarons
If you do make this shrub recipe, please do not forget to tag me #thejamlab on my Instagram @thejamlab, and/or leave a comment on this blog post.
Hope you all are doing well!
XO
Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
Ingredients
Makes 2 8 ounce bottles
Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub
- 1 cup tightly packed, washed, hulled and cut into small pieces of strawberries
- 3 tbsp edible dried hibiscus flowers
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
- 1 oz of the shrub
- 4–5 oz sparkling soda
Garnish
- Thyme sprigs
- Strawberries
Get Recipe Ingredients
Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub
- In a 32 oz jar, add in the strawberries, granulated sugar and hibiscus and stir the mixture. Set it aside outside in a cool place for 2 hours. Stir again to combine the sugars with the fruit. Set it aside for another 2 hours. Repeat the process 2 more times, till upto 8 hours.
- Place it in the fridge for the remaining 16 hours to finish one day of the fruit and sugar combined. This process is called macerating, where the sugar helps to release the fruit juices.
- The next day you will see the fruit juices released and the sugar dissolved.
- Add the apple cider vinegar, and set the mixture in the fridge for 48 hours or 2 days. This allows the fruit juice and vinegar to combine the flavors.
- Wash the bottles with hot water and let them air dry.
- Strain the mixture through a fine sieve into a pourable bowl, using a rubber spatula to lightly press against the fruit to release all of the juices.
- Using a funnel in a bottle, fill both the bottles and cap them tightly. You can store the bottles in a cool place for up to 6 months.
Strawberry and Hibiscus Shrub Spritzer
- Add about 1 oz of the shrub into a glass filled half way through with ice. Top off with sparkling soda. Garnish with a sprig of thyme and a strawberry.
PRO-TIP:
- The discarded fruit can be used to make smoothies.
- You could even put it in a waffle or pancake batter to make strawberry
Notes
What kind of bottles to use for storing the shrubs?
- If you are looking for bottles for your shrubs, after much research I found these amazing bottles that I am totally digging.
What are the other uses for shrubs?
- You can even use the shrub to make cocktails, using the spirit of your choice, with the shrub, and sparkling soda, or champagne. Or come up with your own cocktail concoction.
Where can I find edible dried hibiscus?
- Find edible dried hibiscus on Amazon.
