Fancy cocktail fans—especially those who favor natural ingredients—will recognize shrub syrups as a rising trend in the industry. Take your favorite fruit, add vinegar (or in some cases fruit juice), and a Yankee Candle worth of spices, wait for a few days, and you end up with an acidic cocktail syrup. Like a middle school science experiment, only with drinking!
The mixologists at Kimpton Hotels & Restaurants nationwide love shrub syrups almost as much as they love to patiently explain what they are to hotel guests. The team at The Commoner at Hotel Monaco Pittsburgh graciously shared their favorite shrub recipe this season—it’s blackberry(!) and we promise, you can make it at home. The good news is, once you go through the trouble of making it once, it lasts for over a year. Happy Schmancy Cocktails to you.
Blackberry Shrub Syrup Recipe
Ingredients:
1 pint ripe Blackberries (muddled)
1½ cups sugar
½ cup light brown sugar
½ cup white sugar
zest of 1 orange
½ tsp ground black pepper
¼ tsp cayenne pepper
2 cloves
4 allspice berries
½ cup apple cider vinegar
½ cup red wine
Directions: Cover blackberries in sugar, pepper, cayenne pepper, cloves, and allspice. Allow to rest for two days. Add vinegars, cover, and allow to rest for two more days. Strain out solids and store in a sealed container. Your syrup lasts for up to one year!
Midnight Shrubble Cocktail
1½ oz gin
½ oz vermouth
½ oz lemon juice
¾ oz Blackberry shrub syrup
2 dashes Angostura bitters
Directions: Shake, strain, and pour into a rocks glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel and blackberries.
