Shrub syrups | Drinking Vinegars

Shrub syrups | Drinking Vinegars

Shrub syrups | Drinking Vinegars are a type of cold process quick pickle or refrigerator pickle involving maceration of fruit or vegetables with sugar, herbs and spices and preservation with vinegar. Shrubs are great in refreshing drinks and pickle cocktails.

Refreshing drinks

Shrub syrups, drinking vinegars or cocktail shrubs as they are known are delicious in cold drinks with fizzy water and are especially refreshing due to the acidity of the vinegar.

Pickle cocktails

Shrub syrups are fantastic in pickle cocktails of all sorts but especially in smash style drinks such as Bellinis with champagne or prosecco and in sours. Shrubs can be used both as a souring agent in place of lemon or lime juice and as a flavouring agent, as with other pickling, flavours become intensified and more complex through the pickling process. A shrub can add a whole new dimension of flavour to a cocktail from pairing of seasonal produce, herbs, spices, types of sugar and different vinegars.

Some of my favourite shrub syrup, drinking vinegars are:

• -pineapple fennel
• -ginger lime