What is Colonial Shrub?
Shrub, or as people during America’s colonial period would say, “drinking vinegar," is a delicious natural drink concentrate.
Derived from the Arabic word yashrab which means “to drink”. Shrubs are an old colonial beverage from the 18th & 19th centuries made with apple cider vinegar that's been infused with fruits, then sweetened with raw sugar to make a concentrate that you mix with water or other beverages.
We use a very traditional recipe from 1832 in the making of our shrubs.
The highest quality ingredients are important, so we use Raw Organic Apple Cider Vinegar with the "mother" (not all shrubs are made this way) as the base for everything we make. To this, we add whole, fresh Heirloom Fruit (not just juices, and no concentrates, extracts, or oils), raw organic cane sugar and herbs and spices. This allows us to achieve the perfect balance of sweet, savory, tangy and an almost umami complexity made with 100% real, simple, all-natural ingredients.
The technique of making Shrubs was used to preserve fresh fruit in the days before modern refrigeration.
The vinegar helps to preserve the fruit while adding a bit of a tartness. The result is a concentrated syrup that can be diluted with the beverage of your choice. Drinking shrubs fell out of favor once home refrigeration came along. Fortunately, shrubs have experienced a revival of late, mostly because they are delicious, but also because they are healthful and restorative to the body.
