Easy And Delicious Strawberry Shrub Recipe

This Strawberry Shrub recipe is a deliciously tangy, sweet, and slightly acidic drink that can be enjoyed on its own, as a mixer, or used as a base for cocktails. It’s rich in probiotics and is a good alternative to store-bought soft drinks on hot days.

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What Makes This Recipe So Good?

Fruit shrubs are essentially sweet and slightly sour fruity vinegars. This style of drinking vinegar was popularised in America during the 16^th century but has its origins in the liqueur-based shrubs of 17^th and 18^th century England. They, in turn, arose from the medicinal cordials first produced by Italian Apothecaries in the 15^th century. It’s no surprise then that many varieties of shrubs continue to be used as medicinal tonics today – though you’ll also find mixologists shaking them into cocktails in many bars.

The health benefits of shrubs come largely from fermenting the strawberries and the addition of raw, unpasteurized and fermented apple cider vinegar. These give the tonic an array of beneficial probiotic bacteria and the vinegar also has antibacterial and anti-inflammatory properties. Then there’s the abundance of antioxidants and vitamins that the strawberries contain.

Ingredients – What You’ll Need For This Fruit Shrub

Turning fresh fruit into a homemade shrub is a great way to preserve seasonal bounties while creating a health-promoting drink. They make delicious soft drinks to enjoy on a hot summer’s day and are especially refreshing when mixed with some fizzy water and lime juice.

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• Fresh strawberries – Use very ripe strawberries for the best flavour.
• Raw apple cider vinegar – this is preferable to a pasteurized version as it contains natural bacteria and yeasts from the fermentation process. Champagne vinegar is equally delicious if you can find it, or have made your own!
• Raw sugar – this is my preference but any you have is fine. I would avoid using brown sugar, rapadura sugar or any other dark varieties as they will make the resulting shrub look very muddy. It will be fine to drink but not very nice to look at.

You can stick with these base ingredients or try some optional extras. Herbs like chopped basil leaves or mint leaves can add lots of flavour. See the substitutions and variations section below for more ideas.

How To Make A Strawberry Shrub

Shrub recipes can be made in two ways – fermenting fruit in sugar for a few days and then combining it with vinegar (cold method), or making a simple syrup to cook the fruit in and then also heating the vinegar (hot method). Cold infusions are great for things like berries, stone fruit etc. The hot infusion is best suited to fruit that becomes more flavorful when cooked – rhubarb is a great example.

Ferment The Fruit

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1. Wash the strawberries and cut the green tops off (see the notes section in the recipe card for how to use these!)
2. Cut larger strawberries in halves or quarters and add to a medium bowl or large, clean jar.
3. Crush the berries just a litte using a muddler or a fork.
4. Add the sugar and give it all a quick stir with a spoon.

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Add The Vinegar

1. Cover the bowl with a clean kitchen towel (tea towel) and leave to soak at room temperature for a few days stirring it several times each day. This helps dissolve as much of the sugar as possible and initiate fermentation, which will produce a mildly tart fruit syrup.
2. When the syrup starts to taste tart (days three to five), pour the mixture through a fine mesh strainer or nut milk bag and catch the liquid in a bowl (this is the shrub mixture you’ll use as a base for drinks). Gently press on the strawberries with a spatula to get out as much liquid as possible. Avoid pushing through any fruit pulp, as it’s just the liquid that’s needed. Keep the strawberries to have with yoghurt or discard them.
3. Measure out the strawberry liquid and add an equal amount of vinegar to it.
4. Pour the finished shrub into a big glass bottle and store in the fridge for several months.

To enjoy, pour a little of the shrub into a tall glass with some ice and chopped extra strawberries then top with plain or bubbly water. It can also be used to add plenty of flavour to sauces, marinades and salad dressings.

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Substitutions And Variations

Add some fresh basil or mint leaves to the bowl and muddle with the strawberries. Add the sugar and continue on with the recipe.

Any number of vinegars can also be used in place of the apple cider vinegar. Champagne vinegar, white wine vinegar, and coconut vinegar can all impart different flavours to the shrub. Try it with each of them and see which you prefer.

Experiment with different shrubs, as many seasonal fruits will work well in this recipe. Try blueberry, cherry, peach or other stone fruits. Elderberries are divine too if you can find them.

For a grown-up drink, use this shrub to make a Strawberry Shrub Cocktail! Add to gin or any other of your favorite spirits – white spirits work best.

Tips For Success

While a cold infusion can take more time, don’t skip on the fermentation process. This traditional method is what produces the probiotic bacteria and extra health benefits in the shrub.

The sweetness can be adjusted in this recipe to suit your preference. One cup of sugar will give you a shrub that’s more tart and ferments faster. Two cups will produce a sweeter shrub, that will take several days to ferment. One cup is the minimum I suggest to ensure the fermentation process is not affected. While either amount is a lot of sugar, just keep in mind a shrub is used just like cordial. You’re generally only adding a small amount as the base of a larger drink. Though on occasion – a small glass of straight strawberry shrub is delicious!

Storing/Freezing/Make Ahead

The shrub can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for several months. I always store mine in a clear bottle so it’s easy to identify if any mould has formed. This has never been an issue with any batch even close to 12 months of storage. However, it’s still a safe practice to follow.

While this drinking vinegar can be frozen, the high sugar content means it won’t freeze solid. It will be more of a slushy consistency though still safe to use. Whether or not probiotic bacteria are affected by freezing is still debated. It seems their resistance to freezing may differ amongst probiotic strains.

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FAQ

More Drinks Recipes

• Ginger Beer Mocktail
• How To Make Jun Tea
• Jun Tea (With Blueberry And Lime)

If you try this recipe, I’d love to know. Leave a comment, rate it, and remember to tag @wholenaturalkitchen in your pics or reels on Instagram, Facebook or TikTok!

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