In case you haven’t met yet, let me introduce you to THE SHRUB—the kind you drink.

Shrub What?

At its heart, a shrub is a sweetened fruit syrup mixed with vinegar as a way to preserve summer flavors. In practice, shrubs are best sipped with friends who are as bubbly and sweet/tart as the flavors flowing from the glass.

The magic of any shrub is how it brings together the sweet of the fruit with the acid of vinegar—creating a depth of flavor that lays down a perfect base to build on. But typical of true magic, there’s a third part: the health benefits of probiotics and enzymes from the apple cider vinegar complete the trinity.

Stephanie and I before Covid, at a WBL Farmers Market after she taught a fermentation class

When I first made shrubs, I cooked my rhubarb (and other fruits) then strained the juice and added vinegar. But there is a fresher flavor with fermenting—which may seem counterintuitive, but hear me out. When you skip cooking the fruit you retain some great high notes from the rhubarb that get cooked out in other versions. Similar to fresh strawberry jam versus cooked strawberry jam…

Stephanie Thurow, a friend and coauthor of our book, Small-Scale Homesteading is also a master food preserver of Minnesota from Scratch . She first opened my eyes to fermenting shrubs and I will never go back!

THE BOOK

Stephanie’s book, Weck Small Batch Preserving, is full of easy-to-follow recipes and features the Rhubarb Shrub Recipe below. It’s just one of 100 recipes to get you making the most of the local summer flavors. *This is a book for year round preserving and the perfect companion for the home gardener!*

Two mason jars and a glass of rhubarb shrub

Stephanie’s Rhubarb Shrub Recipe

This recipe was adapted from WECK Small-Batch Preserving with permission from Skyhorse Publishing, Inc

1½ Cups chopped fruit

Herbs (optional)

1½ Cups Organic/Non-GMO granulated sugar or natural sweetener of choice

1 ½ Cups Apple Cider Vinegar or other vinegar of choice

Directions

Yield: 1 pint jar (2 cups)
Combine fruits, optional herbs, and sugar or other natural sweetener of choice and mix well. Add mixture to glass canning jar and cover with a lid. Leave the jar on the counter at room temperature for 3 to 4 days until the natural juices separate from the fruit and mix with the sugar to create a syrup. Stir the fruit and sugar mixture several times a day, if able; this will help speed up the syrup making process. If using solid fruits such as blueberries, use a clean spoon to break them down a bit so the natural juices are released and mixed with the sugar. Frozen fruits are great options too, since the juices are more readily available once thawed. 

After adding more rhubarb, a handful of strawberries and mashing with a spoon the juices really come out!

Fermenting Process

After a few days, when the sugar and fruit have mixed together to create a syrup, use a fine mesh strainer to strain out the solids, reserving the fruit syrup in a clean jar. Then, add vinegar of equal measurement to the amount of syrup made, and mix well. I prefer to mix the fruit syrup with apple cider vinegar in my shrubs, not only because of the probiotic benefit, but because I consider it to have the best flavor. However, wine vinegar, white distilled vinegar, or any other vinegar that is at least 5% acidity can be used in its place! Store in an airtight container or jar and refrigerate. Drink within a few months for best flavor. To serve, I like to mix 2 oz. of completed shrub with 6 oz. of tap water and drink from a pretty glass filled with ice.

*Michelle is not a purist and prefers club soda or bubbly water, and a little gin mixed with her shrubs… vodka or a dry white wine.
**Save some of the fruit (before pushing through strainer) to garnish drinks with!

Thanks, Stephanie, for sharing your recipe with us all!

Cheers!

Mix + Match

There are so many variations to a basic rhubarb shrub, some of my favorites are:

  • Rhubarb + Blueberry (Blubarb)
  • Rhubarb + Strawberry
  • Rhubarb + Ginger
  • Rhubarb + Mint

I also love how the shrubs can take the best of the flavors out of the older, larger stalks of rhubarb without having to deal with the woody texture. So you can save the ‘just right’ sized stalks for rhubarb crisp or jam and skip the stringy consistency but still use all your plant!

But as summer wears on, don’t let the changing seasons stop you from trying other flavor combinations. Blackberry, peach, plum, apricot, and cherry all make good shrubs too!

History of the Shrub

The American version of the shrub has its origins in 17th century England where vinegar was used as an alternative to citrus juices in the preservation of berries and other fruits for the off-season. Fruit preserves made in this fashion were themselves known as shrubs and the practice carried over to colonial America. At that pre-refrigeration time, fruit was preserved in vinegar and the syrup drained off of it was prescribed as medicine for everything from scurvy to heart issues.

Over the next centuries people starting mixing with other liquors and the Shrub’s popularity skyrocketed (hmm, wonder why?). Then once refrigeration became normal, shrubs were pretty much forgotten about … to be reinvigorated by trendy bartenders and Midwest Moms in the 2000s.

Mixology!

Once you have the bright and zingy shrub, your options for mixing are pretty much endless. But here’s a basic recipe to get you mixing.

  • 1 oz. rhubarb shrub 
  • 3 oz. something dry and bright, like gin, white wine,  sherry, or dry vermouth
  • Add ice and top with a couple ounces of good-quality tonic, soda, or water

Let us know if you find a new favorite mixture! Don’t forget to enter to win Stephanie’s book and my garden class. And cheers to SUMMER!

– Michelle + Stephanie