Raspberry shrub: Work in progress

Picking raspberries

The raspberry thief

Squish.

When we were in Portland over Labor Day weekend, I had some amazing blackberry drinking vinegar at Pok Pok. Inspired by the drink (some might say obsessed), I decided to give it a shot at home. 

Apparently drinking vinegars, also known as shrubs, were popular in the 1800s. Who knew? A shrub is essentially a fruit vinegar, and at Pok Pok it was mixed with sparkling water.

I convinced a friend that picking raspberries with babies would be a fun Sunday afternoon activity and so we headed to Makielski Berry Farm (Note: Raspberry bushes have thorns and thus may not be the best activity with one-year olds. Oops. Next time we'll try apple picking.).


After the fruit macerates in the vinegar for a week, you boil the concoction with sugar and strain out the solids. O. and I thought that the shrub was pretty good, but next time we'll use a more potent or a larger amount of vinegar. The shrub at Pok Pok definitely had more of a punch. Work in progress.

SHRUB

From the NYTimes

Makes about 1 1/2 to 2 quarts, depending on fruit used.

These measurements can be played with quite liberally, as some fruits contain more natural sugars.

2 quarts fruit, use any fruit, pears, figs, raspberries, cherries
1 liter apple-cider vinegar (preferably Bragg) or other vinegar.
1/2 to 1 cup raw sugar
Soda water
Ice

1. Rinse the fruit and discard any rot. Place in a large non-reactive or ceramic pot and mash for several minutes with your hands or a wooden spoon to break up. Pour in enough vinegar to cover and top with a lid. Let macerate at room temperature for a week, stirring once a day. (Do not be alarmed by the smell or the sludge on top.)

2. After a week, stir in 1/2 cup of the sugar and gently boil for 1 hour, stirring occasionally. Cool slightly, then strain. (The smell created from boiling is a bit offensive, so open the doors and windows.)

3. Make a test shrub: cool 3 to 4 tablespoons of the fruit mixture. Fill a 20-ounce glass with ice. Add water or soda water to almost the rim, then add the chilled fruit mixture. Taste to determine sweetness. If it is too tart, add sugar to the fruit mixture, little by little, while still hot. Cool fully and funnel into bottles. Will keep indefinitely in refrigerator.

NOTE: Next time I would try a different type of vinegar so that the shrub has more of a punch. They are not kidding about the smell. Open your windows or better yet, boil it on the grill.