INNA Shrubs (Drinking Vinegar)

Shrub (also known as drinking vinegar) has a long tradition as a refreshing beverage going all the way back to the Colonial Era, but it actually originated a thousand years ago in the Middle East! Like our jams, shrubs are an excellent way to preserve the harvest of our gorgeous fruit when it is at it's most perfectly ripe. The vinegar and sugar both help to preserve and capture the fleeting fruit flavors while balancing each other out to make a sweet-tart syrup that a perfect base for a drink. Shrub is essentially a fruit-vinegar-sugar syrup. Mixed with sparkling water it's the most refreshing drink we've ever had. Of course, it's also great in cocktails.

INNA shrubs can be stored at room temperature, and ideally away from direct sunlight. Shake before using - separation is natural!

To make a shrub soda, mix 1 part shrub to 5-6 parts sparkling water.

Grapefruit: INNA's marsh ruby GRAPEFRUIT shrub is not too sweet, intensely grapefruity, with a touch of bitterness and bright tartness. INNA infuses the grapefruit peels in the syrup for 6 weeks, so the resulting flavor is complex and rich and ultra-grapefruity.

Add a splash of grapefruit shrub to a white (or rose) wine to transform it into an grapefruit aperitif wine reminiscent of vin de pamplemousse. You could keep it low ABV and simply serve the wine+shrub over ice, or for a more traditional fortified wine potency, add a splash of vodka to the glass as well. cheers!

INGREDIENTS: organic marsh ruby grapefruit (grown in Thermal, California), organic unrefined cane sugar, organic white wine vinegar

Fig: This shrub tastes of caramel and hot dry Mediterranean summers. Think of it as your non-alcoholic vermouth or sherry stand-in! Think of it as your natural organic cola stand-in! Try it with club soda and bitters! With whiskey or rum!

This versatile shrub would be great in sodas, cocktails, for deglazing a meaty pan, and as a base for a salad dressing (especially if your salad included fresh goat cheese). 

INGREDIENTS: organic apple cider vinegar, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic black mission figs (grown in Corning, California)

Meyer Lemon: This meyer lemon shrub is like a lemonade kicked up a few notches on the complexity and nuance scale. Because we use the entire fruit there's a great balance of sweet, tart, floral (from the zest), and a touch of bitterness (from the pith). 

INGREDIENTS: organic meyer lemons (grown in Corralitos, California), organic apple cider vinegar, organic unrefined cane sugar.

Ginger: This potent shrub mixed with soda makes a great substitute for ginger ale. Use it in place of ginger ale in cocktails (moscow mule! dark & stormy!), pairs wonderfully INNA's meyer LEMON shrub.

INGREDIENTS: organic apple cider vinegar, organic unrefined cane sugar, organic ginger.

Quince: Quince is a historic, somewhat obscure fruit that transforms almost miraculously when cooked. Hours of slow cooking turn the hard white fruit into a luscious vermilion color and concentrates the flavors - INNA's quince shrub tastes intensely of hyper-pears and floral honey. This is a flavor you smell as much as taste. Would be great with cocktails, and of course, soda!
In baking, you could use quince shrub as a baker's glaze for fruit tarts.