Shrubs are an old-fashioned way to make a fruit syrup including vinegar. Add a splash of this pomegranate shrub to your club soda or vodka for a fun drink. Find more of my pomegranate recipes.
I love making and giving friends and loved ones homemade gifts. And of course, they tend to foodie gifts. My favorite!
In the past, my peeps received gifts like bottles of Pomegranate Tequila, jars of homemade jams and boxes of Pomegranate Fudge, to name a few. This year I’m leaning towards shrubs. No, not those green things growing in your yard.
Shrubs go back to the Middle East, from the Arab word sharaab, meaning beverage. In farsi, we have many Arabic words and sharaab is included. Persians have another word for a fruit-juice drink: sharbat. I realized that Sekanjabin, a Persian mint syrup, is actually a shrub.
Recipe highlights
- Versatile: My grandmother would make this syrup and keep it in her refrigerator, where it would last for months. Anytime they wanted to enjoy a refreshing citrus drink, they would add a tablespoon of the bitter orange syrup to water.
- Simple: Shrubs are an old-school technique of preserving fruit with sugar and vinegar and are super easy to make. Plus they can last for almost a year when bottled and refrigerated.
- Flavor: Fruit is basically combined with sugar and vinegar (a high quality vinegar, mind you) to produce a sweet and tangy syrup. The solids are strained and you are left with a delicious syrup that changes its flavor profile over time. Shrubs can be mixed with club soda or alcohol to create unique cocktails.
Reader’s Reviews
“It is super yummy! Had some extra and am drinking some with bubbly water. Thank you!! Happy Holidays!” — Georgi
Ingredients you need
- Pomegranate juice: You can use store bought pomegranate juice, but since we had a lot of pomegranates, we decided to juice a pomegranate and use this instead.
- Cider vinegar: Choose a high quality vinegar, not that cheap white distilled stuff you use for pickling or cleaning your house. Try champagne vinegar, red wine vinegar or cider vinegar. You can also use some balsamics, both red and white. For this recipe, I used Bragg’s Apple Cider Vinegar.
- Granulated sugar: You could use other sweeteners, like brown sugar or honey, but I used regular sugar.
Step by step directions
- Heat up mixture. Heat everything in a small pot and whisk until sugar is dissolved. Remove mixture from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Bottle it up! Transfer to a bottle or jar and seal shut. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Directions using fruit
Another way to make your shrub is to use whole fruit. Since I used pomegranate, which is mostly juice, I didn’t use this option. If you do use whole fruit, add it to your pot with the sugar and vinegar. Heat it up then let it simmer then strain out the solids.
Another technique does not use heat. Sugar and fruit are combined and left to sit for a few days and macerate to extract the juice over time. Then you use this liquid as your shrub base. Whatever method you choose to use alters the flavor of the shrub.
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Expert tips and recipe FAQs
The basic ratio to start when you are shrub making is 1-pound of fruit, 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of vinegar. But every fruit varies in the amount of juice it holds. And again, personal preference can alter your recipe.
You do not drink shrubs straight out of the bottle. If you do, you will taste a very sweet and vinegary syrup. The shrub is meant to be combined with water, club soda or seltzer water for a refreshing drink. The original fruit beverage.
Shrubs are definitely reliant on personal taste. So use my recipe for as a starting point. If you prefer more sugar, add it. Too sweet? Add more vinegar. Prefer more fruit? Add more.
Shrubs can be combined with liquor, like vodka, gin, rum and tequila to make a fabulous cocktail. You can even add some to your champagne and sparkling wine to ring in the new year.
You can also mix your shrub with club soda or just water it down and serve it as is.
This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy
And if you like my labels, you can find my free pomegranate shrub labels here.
Feeling inspired to try new shrub recipes? I’m totally digging all the flavors of this recipe for Hibiscus Rose Sharbat.
Storing Instructions
TO STORE: Shrubs have a long shelf life due to the acidity in the vinegar and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 year.
A shrub is a sweet fruit syrup that contains vinegar. The term “shrub” is derived from the Arabic word sharab which means “drink”. It can be mixed with fruits or herbs, mint for sekanjabin. The shrub can be added to water or club soda for a non-alcoholic drink, or mixed in with your favorite alcohol of choice to make a specially crafted cocktail.
Pomegranate Shrub
Ingredients
- 2 cup pomegranate juice
- 1 cup cider vinegar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
Instructions
- Combine ingredients in a small pot over medium heat and whisk until sugar is dissolved.
- Remove mixture from heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Transfer to a bottle or jar and seal shut. Refrigerate until ready to use.
- Shrubs have a long shelf life due to the acidity in the vinegar and can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 1 year.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition Disclaimer
Nutritional information is an estimate provided to you as a courtesy. You should calculate the actual nutritional information with the products and brands you are using with your preferred nutritional calculator.
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Written by Laura Bashar
Hi, I’m Laura, a certified professional cook and cookbook author living in San Diego. I have been sharing my family’s favorite recipes inspired from all over the world since 2008. Let’s cook up something fun!
I made this last night and I left it out on counter to cool in a sealed bottle. But in fridge this morning. Out for 8 hours, okay?
Thanks
Yes it should be fine. I do this all the time, let it cool and then stick in the fridge. I hope you like the taste!
Thank you! I assumed with the sugar, vinegar and juice it would be fine. It is super yummy!
Had some extra and am drinking some with bubbly water.
Thank you!!
Happy Holidays,
Georgi
This looks beautiful and sound delicious!
I have the Shrubs book by Michael Dietsch, so when I saw your title I just had to check it out. I haven’t had a chance to make anything from it (just got it last week). One of the recipes that caught my attention is the Shrub Float made with ice cream/sherbet/sorbet, a fruity shrub, liquor (optional), and soda water. I bet your shrub recipe would be delicious for this.
Shrubs used to be very popular in Colonial America — often combined with booze of some sort. I really need to experiment with these, and your pomegranate one sounds wonderful. Thanks!
John, you haven’t experimented with shrubs yet?!! You are the drink master!
Very trendy cocktail – if you follow Jennifer Hess of “Last Night’s Dinner”, her husband just published a book about shrubs.
Yup! That’s the book I mentioned in the post. I peeked at it on Amazon and it looks awesome!
I’ve never had a shrub before but I’m eager to give it a try. I’d like to go to a party at your place too. 🙂
You have an open invitation to my place, Maureen. Anytime!
Love the recipe but wasn’t able to get the label. Where can I download it. Thanks
Ooops! Sorry about that! Here is the link: http://familyspice.com/fs_photos/other%20photos/pom_shrub_labels.jpg