Cranberry, Orange, and Rosemary Shrub Mocktail

Fresh cranberries and oranges make this bright Shrub Mocktail a refreshing break from your standard alcoholic drink. Warm cinnamon flavors and rosemary add to the depth, and the acidic vinegar flavor provides a nice punch that compensates for the lack of alcohol, making this a great choice for your next mocktail. 

This January, (after a particularly gluttonous holiday season where I ate way too many sugar cookies and drank way too many cocktails) I’m taking part in dry January, where I’ve sworn to give up alcohol for a full 31 days. Not an easy feat, my friends.

But, one of the unexpected positive side effects (apart from the health benefits) is that I’ve been discovering a slew of amazing mocktails that have not only helped ease the absence of my nightly glass of wine but actually have me looking forward to happy hour.

One of the first I discovered was this Cranberry, Orange, and Rosemary Shrub Mocktail.

What Is A Shrub Cocktail?

What’s a shrub, you ask? Shrubs are basically drinks that use a vinegar-based syrup that’s mixed with alcohol or carbonated water. They originated in England when vinegar was used to help preserve off-season berries and fruits.

In 19th century America, folks started making shrub drinks by pouring vinegar over fruit, allowing it to sit for several days to let all the flavors mingle, then straining the fruit from the liquid and adding some type of sweetener. This was then reduced and made into syrup, which was mixed with soda or used in alcoholic drinks.   

These days most shrubs are made by heating the fruit (or vegetables – yes, they can be made into shrubs too!) with vinegar and sugar, then straining it, allowing it to cool, and finally adding it to your drink.

Now, you may have read all of that and said to yourself “Yuck, I don’t want the taste of vinegar in my drink!”. Yes, that’s what I thought at first too. But it’s actually pretty genius when you’re avoiding alcohol.

The puckery flavor of the vinegar helps to temper the sugary sweet syrup and provides just a bit of bite to the drink. This makes it feel more like a real “drink” than simply a glass of flavored soda water.  And, as the mixture sits for longer in your fridge, the vinegar flavor actually mellows out nicely. (A good reason to make this a day or two in advance!)

Another benefit of a shrub is that it’s actually a pretty healthy tonic (as long as you don’t use too much sugar). Vinegar (apple cider vinegar in particular) has been shown to have a ton of health benefits, including, but not limited to enhancing weight loss, stabilizing blood sugar, easing digestion, and detoxing the liver (which, since I’m also off drinking at the moment, I’m going to take as a two-for.).

Of course, you can also use alcohol in this drink, making it a shrub cocktail. In fact, most traditional shrubs do contain alcohol.

Ingredients

For this shrub, I used fresh cranberries (frozen would work well too) and oranges (1-2 small mandarins, or whatever variety you can find) as my fruit base. You can make shrubs with any type of vinegar, but I think apple cider vinegar pairs well with most fruit shrubs, and is what I used here. Finally, I added a bit of rosemary, and a cinnamon stick to round out the flavor.

How To Make A Shrub

Shrubs in general are easy to make and only require a few simple steps.

1. Add all your ingredients to a saucepan and bring to a boil.
2. Then, reduce to a simmer let and your fruits slowly break down over about 20 minutes.  (If you’re making a shrub using a softer fruit, you may not need this long, but cranberries are a bit tough so they take longer to cook.) 
3. Stir the shrub mixture periodically and use a large wooden spoon to mash and muddle the fruit. You want it completely broken down so that it releases as much juice as possible.
4. An important tip – taste your shrub!  Once everything has cooked down nicely, see how it tastes. Is it too sweet for your liking? Add a bit more vinegar. Too tart? Add a little bit more sugar. Personally, I like a bit of tang in my shrub so I tend to be scant on the sugar, but hey, you do you.
5. Allow the shrub to cool completely, then use a fine-mesh strainer to strain the fruit from the liquid.

The shrub here is really the syrup, so once you have that you can make your mocktail (or cocktail if you're off the wagon).

To make the Cranberry, Orange, and Rosemary Shrub Mocktail:

1. Fill a glass half full with ice, and add 1-2 tablespoons of your shrub mixture.
2. Then top the rest of the glass off with your mixture of choice. Tonic, seltzer, or soda all work well, but I love this shrub mixed with a Tangerine or Cranberry La Croix.
3. Garnish with extra cranberries and a rosemary sprig.

One last note: while I made this Cranberry Orange and Rosemary Shrub as a mocktail, you could also totally add alcohol to it if you’re not teetotaling like me. This particular shrub would pair extremely well with bourbon, or as a top-off to a gin and tonic. (Full disclosure – I fully intend to try both of these options come February 1!)

If you make this Cranberry, Orange, and Rosemary Shrub Mocktail, let me know what you think in the comments. Then tag me on Instagram! 

Happy Mocktailing!

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