Tangy, Sweet, Refreshing Strawberry Balsamic Shrub

Name: Tangy, Sweet, Refreshing Strawberry Balsamic Shrub
Ingredients: 2 cups fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and quartered; 1 ½ cups granulated sugar; 10 black peppercorns, cracked; ¾ cup balsamic vinegar; ¾ cup apple cider vinegar (we used Braggs)

This recipe first appeared in Family Eats, a blog written by my colleague Laura Everage. I met Laura 30 years ago when I was an executive in the Williams-Sonoma buying office and Laura was the editor of "Gourmet Retailer", the most significant trade magazine for our industry at the time.

About Shrubs (Drinking Vinegar)

A shrub is a vinegar-based syrup that is sweetened with fruit and sugar or honey. It is often used as a base for a cocktail, but is also delicious as a non-alcoholic drink, mixed with soda or carbonated water.

Also known as drinking vinegar, the shrub was popular during colonial times, as it was used as a means of preserving fruit long past its picking.

Tart and sweet at the same time, a shrub quenches thirst and is actually meant to stimulate the appetite. The acidity of the shrub makes it ideal as an aperitif, or even if you want to use it instead of bitters in your favorite cocktail. However you enjoy it, this versatile drink is easily made and can be enjoyed all year round.

You can blend using a fruity vinegar, such as apple cider or wine vinegar and then add some fresh herbs to complement the fruit. The flavor combinations are unending, just choose fruit that is at the peak of season.

A 1 quart round Cambro container shows about ⅓ full with syrupy macerated strawberry quarters.

Donald pours strawberry syrup from the Cambro through the stainless steel strainer.

A pint glass is filled with ice and a shrub/LaCroix mixture. There is a strawberry garnish and stainless steel straw. The glass is on a marble counter in a tile kitchen.

A pint glass with strawberry garnish and stainless steel straw has an altered appearance because the view can see that some of the shrub has been replaced in the glass with a greater volume of LaCroix. The glass is on a marble counter in a tile kitchen.

Tangy, Sweet, Refreshing Strawberry Balsamic Shrub

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Note from Liz: If you use our Traditional Balsamic Vinegar for this recipe, please note that it has been aged and reduced such that the sugar level is 12 gm per tablespoon although no sugar has been added. I mention this because a survey of most balsamic vinegars in the market today appear to contain only 3 gm to 6 gm of sugar having not been reduced (or aged) as long. If you are using a "grocery" or competitor's brand, check the sugar levels and adjust the recipe accordingly. See further commentary about on sweetness within the recipe below.

Ingredients

2 cups fresh strawberries, washed, hulled, and quartered
1 ½ cups granulated sugar
10 black peppercorns, cracked
¾ cup balsamic vinegar
¾ cup apple cider vinegar (we used Braggs)

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Directions

Combine the strawberries, sugar and peppercorns in a bowl. Mix thoroughly. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 2 days.
Pour the syrup through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl, pressing down the strawberries to extract all the juice. Retain the sweetened black pepper strawberries for ice cream, yogurt, or to spread on toast. You won’t need them for the shrub.
Whisk in the vinegars and taste for sweetness. Scrape remaining sugar into the syrup, if desired, otherwise save for another project. [After macerating 18 hours we had a ¼ cup syrupy sugar left over and chose not to add it to the vinegar/syrup mix as it was sweet enough for our liking when using our own brand of traditional balsamic vinegar.
Pour the syrup into a clean glass jar and refrigerate indefinitely. The sharpness will mellow with time.

Recipe Note

Directions for Non-Alcoholic Beverage
Combine 1 part shrub and 2 to 3 parts water or sparkling water in a glass and squeeze of lime.

[Note from Liz: The image at the top of the page was 1 part shrub to 2 parts plain LaCroix. It was indeed quite refreshing on a hot day(110F here!) and I continued to top off the glass with more cold La Croix, reducing the concentrated effect while continuing to enjoy a refreshing beverage without the sugar becoming overwhelming.]

Directions for Cocktails
Blend 1 part shrub to 1 part tequila to 2 parts sparkling water with a good squeeze of lime.

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Laura Everage is a talented reporter, writer, recipe writer, blogger, and mom who has traveled extensively worldwide interviewing top farmers, food, beverage, and cooking equipment manufacturers for top industry publications. Today, she is the founder and driving force behind Family Eats, a blog dedicated to "Reconnecting the food we eat and the family we love." You can find Family Eats on all of the socials as well as Substack.

Tangy, Sweet, Refreshing Strawberry Balsamic Shrub

About Shrubs (Drinking Vinegar)

Tangy, Sweet, Refreshing Strawberry Balsamic Shrub

Ingredients

Directions

Recipe Note

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