Apple Ginger Shrub

We have been researching, inventing, and enjoying lots of shrubs lately, so why not an apple one for the fall? The name shrub supposedly is from the Arabic “sharab” which means “to drink”, although it might as well have been inspired by the plants that bore the fruits the early colonists mixed with sweetner and vinegar. It was one of the ways they could preserve the harvest of the summer and fall to enjoy throughout the rest of the year.

These days shrubs are the darlings of mixologists everywhere. You make them by macerating fruit with sugar or honey, adding vinegar and letting the mixture steep for several days to a week. Once the pulp is strained out, the resulting juice can be combined with water or seltzer or used in a cocktail. Shrubs sound scary with all that vinegar in them, but they can cleanse your palate, stimulate your taste buds, quench your thirst and , with the combination of apples, cider vinegar and ginger, this one also has to be good for what ails you.

Ingredients

  • 1 cup juicy, flavorful dessert apples - grated

  • 1 cup sugar or honey

  • 1 TBS fresh ginger - grated

  • 1 cup raw apple cider vinegar

Directions

  1. Grate the unpeeled apples into a non-reactive bowl.

  2. Mix with the sugar (you can use less than a cup of honey if you are using that) and the grated ginger.

  3. Cover the bowl tightly so no fruit flies get in, and let it sit 24-48 hours on your counter. Stir it whenever you remember.

  4. After a day or two, when you can see that juice has accumulated in the bottom of the bowl, pour in the vinegar, and mix well. Transfer everything into a glass jar with a tightly fitting lid.

  5. Let this mixture rest on your counter or in your fridge for 5-7 days. Then pour it through a fine strainer to remove the pulp. You can use the back of a spoon or a potato masher to press out all the juice.

  6. Return the juice to the glass jar, and put the lid back on. Now you are ready to use your shrub in mocktails or cocktails or straight in a shot glass to get you going in the morning.

  7. Most recipes say that shrubs keep for several weeks in the fridge, but decide for yourself. My experience is that they keep for months.