shrub
Where
Extras
BSides Las Vegas
Duration
5 min
Shows how to make a shrub, a fruit, sugar and vinegar drink, as a non-alcoholic option for guests.
Summary
In this short BSides Las Vegas 2021 interstitial, Alan Friedman argues that hosts should have a good non-alcoholic option ready for guests who are not drinking. He describes a shrub as something more satisfying than a plain soft drink, and a practical choice for gatherings.
The method is simple. Pick a juicy fruit with little pulp or small seeds, such as strawberries, melon or peaches, slice it thin and cover it with sugar, roughly a quarter of the fruit's weight. Over a day or two the sugar draws out the juice. The liquid is strained, the fruit is returned briefly to pull out the last of its flavour, and then apple cider vinegar is added to the syrup in an amount adjusted to taste. Fruits like blueberries and figs are a poor fit because their small bits end up in the syrup.
To serve, a few tablespoons of the concentrate go into a glass topped with fizzy water, with a bit of fruit as garnish. The takeaway is that the base is mostly sugar and acid, so it keeps in the fridge for months, and it can also serve as the starting point for a cocktail.
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