Have you ever had a "fruit shrub" or drinking vinegar?

[smirkymonkey]

They aren't a new thing, but I first tried it over Thanksgiving (cranberry sage shrub) and loved it. They were popular back in colonial times and are basically a mix of fruit, vinegar and sugar or some other kind of sweetener. You mix it with seltzer, soda or some other kind of sparkling beverage for a non-alcoholic drink or it has become very popular to use them in cocktails.

There is definitely a vinegar taste, but it's not overwhelming and you use a high quality apple cider or wine vinegar to make the concoction. You can buy them pre-made on Amazon or at a specialty food stores or make your own with any kind of fruit and add herbs or spices to it if you wish. I just ordered a few bottles of cranberry clementine and a blueberry lemon to bring with me for Christmas from Amazon and I have included a recipe below (see links).

If you have tried shrubs, what do you think of them?

https://www.amazon.com/Twisted-Shrub-CRANBERRY-CLEMENTINE-cocktails/dp/B077M7JKKJ/ref=pd_sbs_325_5?_encoding=UTF8&pd_rd_i=B077M7JKKJ&pd_rd_r=1b09d0dc-00a6-11e9-b9d9-4f4b1c07cd3e&pd_rd_w=rEEw7&pd_rd_wg=0373R&pf_rd_p=7d5d9c3c-5e01-44ac-97fd-261afd40b865&pf_rd_r=KAKCH98KTMYKWD5MM5C4&refRID=KAKCH98KTMYKWD5MM5C4&th=1


https://www.thespruceeats.com/what-is-a-shrub-759919

[Squinch]

1. I'm trying this! I started using apple cider vinegar and like thw health

benefits but couldn't figure how to work it in other than as salad dressing.

[smirkymonkey]

2. It's really good if you are looking for something different to drink.

I liked it in mineral water, but I also had it in diet ginger ale and you could barely taste the vinegar because of the sweetness of the soda. My siblings also used it in cocktails as well which was good, but I found it surprisingly refreshing on it's own without alcohol.

[Squinch]

3. I have a bottle of raspberry cranberry juice that I haven't known what to do with. And I'm having

guests tonight. Maybe we'll try it tonight. (Though I have mulled wine already, which is FABULOUS!)

Thanks for this!

[woofless]

4. Yup.

I make it every year using blackberries. Wonderful with seltzer. Better than any corporate soda.

[eppur_se_muova]

5. Sounds reminiscent of switchel, which sometimes added lemon:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Switchel

[smirkymonkey]

6. Very similar.

These old concoctions are having a renaissance. It's kind of a nice change from the usual commercial drinks on the market.

Have you made this? I am thinking of making my own instead of buying it. They are pretty easy to make.

[eppur_se_muova]

7. Haven't tried it myself. I just now read the comments ...

... about how it supposedly wouldn't get overheated workers sick, like cold water would. Don't know how true that is, but it sounds possibly interesting. Sounds like something my maternal grandparents might have known about, but Mom say no.

I first read about switchel in this book: https://www.amazon.com/Food-Younger-Land-portrait-American/dp/1594484570