Shrub - a capital drink.

[Sicilian Hunter]

When you follow the procedure I gave, the flavor of the zest is imparted to the drink without needing to strain. When I make liquor (such as Limoncello), I use the zest exclusively and extract with pure grain alcohol, but Shrub is a different story....

I can only tell you how I do it and have no control over how you choose to proceed.

I guess I'm rolling the bones on this one!!
I combined your method/recipe and Grenadier's.
Let you know how it turns out!

 

[Black Hand]

I combined your method/recipe and Grenadier's.

Too many unknowns - as with a lab experiment, it is best to alter a single variable at a time...

 

[Kansas Jake]

This sounds like a series of terrible experiments. Making different batches and then drinking different batches. Soon I won't be able to camp or shoot because I can no longer stand.

BTW, I don't use alcohol when I shoot.

 

[45man]

Can you last three days?

 

[Black Hand]

Can you last three days?

?

 

[Carbon 6]

Just an aside for a moment;
I go though second hand and antique stores quite frequently and something I see turn up regularly is punch bowls and sets. Punch use to be a big thing up until about 50 years ago. Now it seems to be a relic of the past.
I mention this because I feel punch and shrub are related, but punch deserves it's own topic.

 

[Black Hand]

I mention this because I feel punch and shrub are related, but punch deserves it's own topic.

Plenty of period recipes for punch out there...

 

[Carbon 6]

Plenty of period recipes for punch out there...

Indeed there are, and for those who may not have tried a good punch, you are missing something wonderful.

 

[BlackHillsBob]

a couple of years ago we had a good wild plum and chokecherry crop. filled several gallon jugs with them and poured vodka on top of them. also a couple of gallon jugs of blue cedar berries. poured gin in those jugs. now and then we take a shot out of the jug of the day and man does it taste good. we just add back what we take out. friend like those jugs also. the flavor is outstanding. we also added lemon slices to the jugs. learned to do that from a logger in up state ne. york.

 

[Grenadier1758]

It is customary in Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Sardinia to make infusions of various flavorful fruits or savory herbs. Typically these are called "Grappas" with the flavor being mentioned. Limoncello is one variant with lemon zest used with either grain alcohol, vodka or grappa as the alcohol product. Many places offer an infusion of billberries ( they look like blueberries to me), grappa, sugar and water to make Mirtillo (Mirtu in Sardinia). There are so many different variations of these infused liquors and they are all good. I have an Italian recipe book with about 100 different recipes.

I once stopped at a roadside stand in Croatia. I swear there were more than 50 different flavors of grappas on the shelves, fruits, citrus, and savory herbs. So, use the ingredients you want and the end result will be good. If you want it to be great, then wait at least a month for all the flavors to infuse and the taste to gentle out.

My latest batch of Lemon Shrub is about 10 months old. I think I'll go looking for the bottle and see if the taste is still good.

 

[Carbon 6]

I tried Limoncello once, Was extremely disappointing.

 

[Sicilian Hunter]

It is customary in Italy, Serbia, Slovenia, Croatia, Sardinia to make infusions of various flavorful fruits or savory herbs. Typically these are called "Grappas" with the flavor being mentioned. Limoncello is one variant with lemon zest used with either grain alcohol, vodka or grappa as the alcohol product. Many places offer an infusion of billberries ( they look like blueberries to me), grappa, sugar and water to make Mirtillo (Mirtu in Sardinia). There are so many different variations of these infused liquors and they are all good. I have an Italian recipe book with about 100 different recipes.

I once stopped at a roadside stand in Croatia. I swear there were more than 50 different flavors of grappas on the shelves, fruits, citrus, and savory herbs. So, use the ingredients you want and the end result will be good. If you want it to be great, then wait at least a month for all the flavors to infuse and the taste to gentle out.

My latest batch of Lemon Shrub is about 10 months old. I think I'll go looking for the bottle and see if the taste is still good.

Grenadier,
With your method do you age it the first 3-5 days in the refrigerator, strain out the solids, add sugar and water and then age/store in cool dark place?
Upright or bottle on its side?

 

[Kansas Jake]

We had some of the shrub with ice and water last night. Refreshing!

 

[BlackHillsBob]

my jugs are 2 years old and taste very good with a kick. i like the cedar berry gin, it really wakes you up.

 

[Grenadier1758]

My method for Lemon Shrub:

I zest the lemons, usually a bag of lemons, maybe 6 to 8. The zest goes in a quart jar to be covered by my alcohol which is cheap brandy (750 ml). It could be rum, vodka or bourbon. I seal the brandy and zest and set it in the refrigerator. I like to shake the jar, but that isn't really necessary. Its really to keep me from forgetting about it. I juice the lemons and strain the seeds out. You need about 750 ml to a quart of juice. At this time I add about 2 cups of sugar and this lemonade goes into the refrigerator. In about a week, I strain the zest from the brandy and add the brandy to the lemonade. Now you distribute the lemon juice and brandy to three 750 ml bottles, top them off with water and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to have a drink. The longer you let the mix infuse, the smoother the shrub. Yes, the pulp from the juicing stays in the mix. Just adds texture to the flavor

 

[Black Hand]

I tried Limoncello once, Was extremely disappointing.

What was disappointing?

 

[Sicilian Hunter]

My method for Lemon Shrub:

I zest the lemons, usually a bag of lemons, maybe 6 to 8. The zest goes in a quart jar to be covered by my alcohol which is cheap brandy (750 ml). It could be rum, vodka or bourbon. I seal the brandy and zest and set it in the refrigerator. I like to shake the jar, but that isn't really necessary. Its really to keep me from forgetting about it. I juice the lemons and strain the seeds out. You need about 750 ml to a quart of juice. At this time I add about 2 cups of sugar and this lemonade goes into the refrigerator. In about a week, I strain the zest from the brandy and add the brandy to the lemonade. Now you distribute the lemon juice and brandy to three 750 ml bottles, top them off with water and store in the refrigerator until you are ready to have a drink. The longer you let the mix infuse, the smoother the shrub. Yes, the pulp from the juicing stays in the mix. Just adds texture to the flavor

I mixed the juice, zest and rum in one jar but haven't been agitating it all.
I was going strain the mix, portion it out into other bottles and add sugar/water mix.
Its been 5 days in the refrigerator today so we'll see what happens

 

[Carbon 6]

What was disappointing?

The taste. And I wasn't the only one with that opinion. Maybe it was bad or I just didn't know what to expect, it was the first I ever had. It was a very disappointing experience, and I tend to like most alcoholic beverages.

 

[Black Hand]

The taste. And I wasn't the only one with that opinion. Maybe it was bad or I just didn't know what to expect, it was the first I ever had. It was a very disappointing experience, and I tend to like most alcoholic beverages.

Commercial Limoncello would vary quite a bit in taste/quality. Baseline - lemon flavor in a sweet base, there is very little/no tart flavor associated with lemons. As Limoncello is made exclusively from the rind, what you get is the lemon oil flavor rather than the familiar lemon flavor.

 

[Carbon 6]

Not sweet and lemon oil like furniture polish would be a good descriptor. I think maybe my own preconceptions tainted the experience.