My guests absolutely flipped over this Rum Shrub Cocktail.

I read about this unusual drink on a blog I love to follow, Kitchen Riffs. I enjoy Riffs particularly for its testing notes and it’s vintage cocktail recipes. The shrub is a bit more than just vintage; it goes back to colonial times. It’s also gorgeous. It very quickly made it to the top of my “keep that in mind” list.

Here’s my experience with the Rum Shrub:

Raspberries typically come in 6-oz. packages. The original recipe calls for one cup. To accommodate the whole box of berries, I did a little math. This is one way to look at the conversion: a cup of raspberries weighs about five ounces. Six ounces, (the typical weight of a small container of berries) is 20% more than that. A cup of sugar weighs seven ounces; 20% more brings it to slightly less than 8½ ounces. A cup of vinegar weighs 8 ounces; 20% more is slightly more than 9½ ounces. This is another way to look at the conversion: screw it. Eat the extra berries out of hand, or put them on your morning cereal.

Adjusting for taste:

After using the converted measurements, I found that I preferred less sugar and a whole lot less vinegar. An equal amount of berries and sugar by weight, and vinegar equal to half the weight of the berries (which is, I believe, roughly the least Riffs suggests) worked for me. You’ll find these ratios reflected in the ingredient list, below. I also found I liked it better with ginger ale (which is an option to seltzer in the original recipe), and that the orange wedge is essential.

I suggest having one.

One of these is absolutely refreshing, and as I said, the guests to whom I served it raved up and down about it. A second? About half of my guests had a second one. Three cocktails, however, is out of the question … not because six shots of rum is a lot, but because you can drink only so much vinegar. After a while it starts to taste like you’re on a cleanse. (A really fun cleanse?)

Here’s my take on a shrub recipe:

You should first see the original recipe at Kitchen Riffs. It’s thorough and informative. My version’s a bit less astonishing, while still rather compelling.

What You Need for Roughly a Half-Dozen Servings of Shrub:

6 oz. berries – I used raspberries
6 oz. sugar
3 oz. cider vinegar

How to Make the Shrub:

Rinse the berries. Mash them with the sugar in a roomy bowl, with a large, sturdy, wooden spoon. Cover and refrigerate for a couple of days, stirring once a day. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve (reserve the solids for another use). Stir in vinegar. Let stand for a while before storing or using.

What You Need for One Cocktail:

1 oz. shrub
2 oz. dark rum
Ice
Ginger ale
Orange wedge

How to Make the Cocktail:

Mix the shrub with the rum. Pour into an ice-filled Collins glass. Top off with ginger ale, stir gently, and garnish with orange.

Notes

1. Rinsing the berries is helpful – not just to wash away anything you don’t want, but a bit of incidental water helps get the mixture going.
2. Once you add the vinegar (using the cold process), you need to give the mixture a few minutes to allow the flavors to meld. You also need to give yourself some time to clear the vinegar smell out of your head.
3. I made a double batch, and that was more than enough for a 8-person, 3-hour party. We went through nearly a fifth of rum, and about three liters of ginger ale.

In Our Opinion:

This is a really interesting cocktail, and all of us at miLam love its back story. Kitchen Riffs’ recipe leaves all sorts of windows open for adjustments, and once we found the ones we preferred, we felt we had something fantastic on our hands. It’s not our favorite drink (Margaritas Congeladas de Danilo is), but it’s refreshing, unusual, and perfect for a party.  (4.5 / 5) If you love stuff like this, you should pay Kitchen Riffs a visit.

Rum Shrub Cocktail

This content was not solicited, sponsored, or written in exchange for anything.

Keep up with us on Bloglovin’