How to Make Homemade Shrub

Make a refreshing and zingy pear + cardamom homemade shrub! Fruit, sugar, vinegar, and a little time is all you need to customize to your needs.

Ingredients

  • Prep Time: 10 minutes
  • 2 ripe pears (sliced)
  • 1 C white sugar
  • 1.5 tsp cardamom seeds
  • apple cider vinegar (*see notes)
  • sparkling water / booze of choice (optional )

Instructions

  • In a clean, glass jar, add the pears and lightly mash. Add the sugar and cardamom seeds.
  • Seal with an airtight lid and shake vigorously. Store on a counter or table for 2 days, shaking once a day.
  • Open carefully, as pressure will be built up, and strain the juice into a measuring cup. Discard the remaining fruit/seeds/pulp.
  • Pour the juice, and the same amount of apple cider vinegar, in a separate, glass jar. Shake lightly to combine and drink as is, or top it off with sparkling water, juice, booze etc..
  • Store in the fridge, with a lid for up to 6 weeks.

* The amount of apple cider vinegar will depend on the total amount of juice strained after two days. However much juice you strain, will be the exact amount of apple cider vinegar you need.

So if your juice yields 1.5 C, then you will use 1.5 C vinegar.

Out of all the recipes at Baumassfoods that took a ton of trial + error, making a homemade shrub tops the list. I read about 6 articles, from trusted sources, that detailed the different ways to make a shrub. A lot of learning on my end, but ridiculously easy to pull off! I did all of the hard work for you (you’re welcome).

Kombucha is a drink I would best compare a shrub to. I think a shrub is much stronger (because store bought kombucha contains a ton of sugar), but I’ll let you be the judge of that.

Before I get into how to make a homemade shrub, let me fill you in on what it actually is.

What is a shrub?

Short answer: A drinkable mixture of fruit, sugar, and vinegar. This can be enjoyed on its own, or used in mixed drinks. Personally, I mix mine with flavored sparkling waters!

Shrubs are also referred to as drinking vinegars. You might read/hear that shrubs are summer drinks, but I disagree! While they are super refreshing to have in the summer time, when made with seasonal fruits/herbs, they make a wonderful fall + winter refreshment too!

How To Make A Shrub

After thorough reading, there seems to be 2 ways to make a shrub. The quick, easy and “hot” way, or the time consuming, “cold” way. Apparently, shrub enthusiast say that the cold way is the TRUE way, which is the way I’ve been making mine.

First, you take a fruit + sugar, and herb/seed of choice and lightly mash it together in a glass jar. I used a couple of super ripe pears + cardamom seeds.

Next, you cover it and let it sit on your kitchen counter for 2 days. Shake vigorously or stir once a day. Within an hour or so you’ll notice a shit ton of juices being released. This is good news.

Then, you strain the juice and measure it. Pour it back into a clean, glass container. Add an equal amount of vinegar of juice to the container and shake well.

Finally, you can drink it straight (not my thing), or top it off with sparkling water, booze, etc..

That’s it!

I need to mention that this is pretty potent. Like, it gave me a lil buzz. So definitely not safe for kids, or to bring to work LOL. This happens because of the fermentation process, but that’s what it’s supposed to do.

There are a plethora of shrub options to make! As long as you follow the same process/ratio’s, it’ll come out bomb-ass every time. You can swap different fruits and vinegars (though apple cider vinegar goes well with most combinations, as it’s pretty mild).  I seriously think I’m going to plan to make a shrub recipe every season.

Let me know what flavor of combos you use and how much you love it!

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