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Shrubs
Are you looking for a non-alcoholic drink that’s more exciting than cranberry juice and club soda? Consider making your own shrubs to create fun cocktail alternatives.
A shrub is a fruit-based syrup mixed with vinegar to create a tangy, complex flavor for cocktails or mocktails. The basic recipe is equal parts fruit, sugar and vinegar. To create your own shrub combine chopped and / or lightly crushed ripe fruit like strawberries, blueberries, blackberries, peaches, pears, citrus (include only juice and zest from citrus, no white pith) with an equal amount of sugar of your choice: cane sugar, brown sugar, coconut sugar or monk fruit in a Mason jar. (Note: the more ripe and juicy your fruit is, the more syrup it will create.) Stir and place in the fridge for 48 hours. Stir or shake regularly. After a few days, drain off the syrup and strain through a fine mesh strainer to remove any pieces of fruit. (Discard fruit or use in a smoothie or over ice cream.)
Strawberry Syrup Combine the fruit syrup with an equal part of vinegar of your choice. Apple cider vinegar is the most common choice; but champagne vinegar, rice vinegar, white wine vinegar or red wine vinegar will change the flavor profile of your shrub. A berry shrub is really good with a splash of white balsamic vinegar added to apple cider vinegar. Cover and leave the shrub in the fridge for 3 – 10 days to allow the flavors to blend. Your shrub will continue to mellow the longer it sits; so if you don’t love the flavors, let it set for a few more days and try it again. (Your shrub will keep in the refrigerator for up to six months.)
After your shrub has mellowed, add 1 ounce to a glass of ice and top with 4 ounces of club soda or flavored bubbly water. Stir gently to combine. Obviously, you can add liquor to your shrub beverage, just select an alcohol that compliments the flavors in your shrub.
Strawberry Shrub Mocktail Consider adding other flavors to your shrub like fresh herbs or peppercorns. Some tasty flavor combinations would be:
Strawberry, cranberry or peach and rosemary with champagne vinegar
Fig and thyme with apple cider vinegar
Blueberry and lavender with red wine vinegar
Pear and ginger with apple cider vinegar
Rhubarb and basil with white wine vinegar
Blackberry and thyme with apple cider vinegar and a splash of white balsamic vinegar
I’m planning to start a few shrubs in January. What flavor combinations should I try?
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Strawberry Vinegar Lemonade
Here’s a delicious cocktail alternative. I basically took the easy way out to create a quick shrub. If you don’t know what a shrub is – come back for tomorrow’s post.
1 ounce Strawberry Vinegar (I used Brightland)
1 – 1 1/2 tsp honey (I used Meyer Lemon honey, but plain honey will work.)
Juice of 1 lemon
Strawberry Vinegar Lemonade ingredients Combine the above ingredients in the bottom of a glass and mix well with a spoon until the honey is completely dissolved.
Add ice and top with Club Soda, Topo Chico or other bubbly water. For a cocktail version, add an ounce of vodka.
Cheers!
Strawberry Vinegar Lemonade -
In Conclusion
If you like the cocktail The Last Word, but want something a little lighter, try In Conclusion. Basically, a Last Word with Bubbles.
1/2 oz Gin (I like The Botanist for this drink)
1/2 oz Green Chartreuse
1/2 oz Luxardo liqueur
1/2 oz fresh squeezed lime juice, strained to remove pulp
Combine the above ingredients in a cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well to chill and strain into a chilled champagne glass.
Top with chilled Prosecco.
Drop a Luxardo cherry in the glass right before serving to limit the loss of bubbles. (Note: do NOT refrigerate Luxardo cherries.)
In Conclusion If making this cocktail for a group, combine the first four ingredients in equal portions in a container with a lid (like a Mason jar) and refrigerate for several hours to chill. Skip the shake with ice, just add two ounces of the chilled gin mixture to each champagne flute and top with Prosecco and a Luxardo cherry.
Cheers!
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Rosemary Hibiscus Gin Spritz
I had leftover Hibiscus Rosemary Concentrate from my New Year’s Eve Hibiscus champagne cocktail, so I created this new Spritz. Remember, there are three basic ingredients for a spritz: liquor / liqueur, bubbles and soda. You can always add additional ingredients to create more complex flavors, as I’ve done below. (Click blue words for more recipes or additional information.)
Add to a cocktail shaker:
2 oz of your favorite herbal gin (I used The Botanist)
1 oz Rosemary Hibiscus Concentrate (recipe below photo) If you’re not a fan of hibiscus or just don’t want to make the concentrate, try the cocktail without the concentrate. I bet it’s delicious!
1 1/2 oz St Germain Elderflower Liqueur (this liqueur compliments gin nicely, add a splash to your gin and tonic or gin and soda)
Fill shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a large wine or water goblet with fresh ice cubes, then top with:
4 oz Prosecco (I used LaMarca)
2 oz club soda
Stir gently. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary. (Rub the rosemary between your fingers before adding to release the oils.)
Cheers!
Hibiscus Gin Spritz Hibiscus Rosemary Concentrate. If you can find hibiscus flowers that’s great, (available on Amazon) but if not, just pick up a container of natural hibiscus tea at the grocery store. The Republic of Tea is a good brand.
- Boil 1 1/2 cups of water
- Add 1/4 cup of hibiscus flowers or several tea bags and a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary
Let steep for at least 10 minutes until the concentrate is a dark red.
Strain out the flowers and rosemary, discard. Refrigerate the concentrated tea for up to one week. (If you have any leftover concentrate, try it in the Hibiscus margarita or the Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail.)
For a non-alcoholic drink with the hibiscus concentrate try: 1 oz fresh lemon juice, 1 oz Hibiscus concentrate and 5 ounces of club soda over ice.
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Click on the three lines to the left of the word “lifestyle” at the top of this page and enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Also, follow me on Instagram at cocktailsandgratitude for photos of cocktails, flowers, my pets and, eventually, more travel.
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New Year’s Eve Champagne Cocktails
Below are a few tips to help you prepare the best champagne cocktail.
- Chill your glass in the freezer for 5 – 10 minutes while you gather your ingredients and open your champagne. (Heat is the enemy of carbonation.)
- Since none of these drinks are served over ice, chill all ingredients in the fridge for several hours before making your cocktails.
- Freshly squeeze all citrus and strain to remove any bits of pulp. Chill.
The basic ingredients of a champagne cocktail usually includes:
- a bitter or sweet liqueur
- a flavor accent, if you used a bitter for the first step this step will mostly likely be sweet
- Champagne or Prosecco
Champagne Cocktail Liqueurs and Accents Once you understand the basic components, have fun and create your own cocktail. Below are a few options to get you started.
Classic Champagne Cocktail The Classic Champagne Cocktail
1 sugar cube
Angostura aromatic bitters
5 oz Champagne
Place the sugar cube in the bottom of a chilled champagne flute. Dash bitters onto the sugar cube until soaked. Top with champagne. This is a classic party drink because it’s quick to make and the sugar makes the champagne fizz.
Kir Royale Kir Royale
1/2 ounce black currant liqueur (Creme de Cassis)
5 oz Champagne
Luxardo cherry (do not chill or the syrup will crystalize)
Pour the chilled liqueur into the chilled champagne glass. Top with champagne. Garnish with a Luxardo cherry.
Cocchi Champagne Cocktail Cocchi Champagne Cocktail
1 oz Cocchi Americano
1/2 oz Orange simple syrup (see below)
5 oz Champagne or Prosecco
Combine in a chilled champagne flute. Garnish with an orange slice or a fresh orange peel.
Orange Simple Syrup
Simmer in a saucepan for 5 – 10 minutes. Stir occasionally.
- 1 cup water
- 1 cup of sugar
- The peel from 1 orange and 1 lemon (try to include as little white part (pith) as possible since that will give your syrup a bitter taste)
- Juice from the orange you just zested
Strain out the peels, discard. Refrigerate the citrus simple syrup for up to one week.
Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail Hibiscus Champagne Cocktail
1 oz St. Germain Elderflower Liqueur
1/2 oz Hibiscus rosemary concentrate (see below)
5 oz Champagne or Prosecco
Combine in chilled champagne flute. Garnish with a sprig of fresh rosemary.
Hibiscus Rosemary Concentrate. If you can find hibiscus flowers that’s great, (available on Amazon) but if not, just pick up a container of natural hibiscus tea at the grocery store. The Republic of Tea is a good brand.
- Boil 1 1/2 cups of water
- Add 1/4 cup of hibiscus flowers or several tea bags and a couple sprigs of fresh rosemary
Let steep for at least 10 minutes until the concentrate is a dark red.
Strain out the flowers and discard. Refrigerate the concentrated tea for up to one week. (If you have any leftover concentrate, try it in the Hibiscus margarita.)
Cherry Champagne Cocktail Cherry Champagne Cocktail
Luxardo cherries (do not chill or the syrup will crystalize)
1 oz Cherry liqueur (I used Heering 200)
Fresh lemon juice
5 oz Champagne or Prosecco
Drop a Luxardo cherry in the bottom of a chilled champagne coupe or flute. Use a spoon to drizzle a tablespoon of Luxardo syrup in the glass. Top with 1 oz cherry liqueur and a few drops of fresh squeezed lemon juice, then top with Champagne or Prosecco. Garnish with a lemon wheel or lemon peel.
Sorbet Champagne Float Sorbet Champagne Float
Sorbet
Raspberries or blackberries
Champagne
Place a ball of sorbet in a chilled coupe, top with champagne and berries. Serve with a spoon. You could even serve this for dessert, just use a chilled dessert dish and increase the size of the sorbet scoop.
Aperol Spritz I can’t forget the classic, Aperol Spritz.
For the person who just wants a glass of champagne, consider adding a few pomegranate seeds and watch them dance on the bubbles.
Cheers and Happy New Year!
Comment below with your favorite bubbly cocktail. I’m always looking for new ideas.
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Bootleg Cocktail
This is a delicious lemon-lime and fresh mint summer cocktail that can be modified to your taste. You can use vodka or gin and you can make your bootleg concentrate as sweet or sour as you like.
Club Soda, The Botanist Gin and Bootleg Concentrate Bootleg Concentrate
1 can frozen limeade or frozen lemonade
1/2 cup fresh lime juice
1/2 cup fresh lemon juice
1 cup fresh mint leaves, washed
Add all ingredients to a blender (I love my Vitamix Explorian) and blend until the mint is well incorporated. I like my cocktails a little tart, but if you prefer a sweeter cocktail you can either add some simple syrup (heat 1 part sugar to 1 part water until dissolved, chill and store in the fridge for up to 1 month) to the blender or skip the fresh juice and use a can of frozen lemonade concentrate with the limeade and mint. The mint will separate when the concentrate sits, so just give it a stir each time you make a new cocktail. This concentrate will last in your fridge about 3 days before the mint starts to lose its bright green color.
Bootleg Cocktail Bootleg Cocktail
2 oz Botanist gin or Grey Goose vodka
2 oz Bootleg Concentrate
Add to cocktail shaker filled with ice. Shake well.
Pour mixture into a glass filled with ice.
Top with 6 oz Q club soda, more or less to taste.
Garnish with a lime wheel or fresh mint.
For a non-alcoholic version just combine the Bootleg concentrate with club soda and / or lemonade.
Cheers!
Click on the three lines to the left of the word “lifestyle” at the top of this page and enter your email address to receive notifications by email when I post something new on this blog. Also, follow me on Instagram at cocktailsandgratitude for photos of cocktails, flowers, my pets and, someday soon, more travel.