Gelatin Free Classic Ginger Shrub
Shrubs — the old-fashioned drinking vinegars that bartenders and home cooks are rediscovering — are one of those pantry staples that feel almost magical once you make your own. This one is built on fresh ginger, granulated sugar, and apple cider vinegar, with a little sea salt and optional black pepper adding just enough depth to keep things interesting. The process is beautifully low-tech: bruise the ginger into the sugar, let it rest in the fridge for a couple of days, then stir in the vinegar and strain. No cooking, no special equipment, just time doing the heavy lifting. Many store-bought flavored syrups and cocktail mixers sneak in additives that can be hard to vet, so making a shrub from scratch puts you completely in control of every ingredient. Everything here is straightforwardly plant-based and free of any animal-derived thickeners or stabilizers. The result is a bright, spicy, slightly tangy concentrate that transforms a glass of sparkling water into something genuinely exciting, or adds a sharp, gingery backbone to cocktails. Kept sealed in the fridge, it holds for up to three months — which means you can make one batch and enjoy it all season long.
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Learn more →Ingredients
16 servings
- 4 oz fresh ginger, peeled and thinly sliced
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp fine sea salt
- ¼ tsp black peppercorns, lightly crushed (optional)
Instructions
- 1
Combine the sliced ginger and sugar in a medium bowl. Use a muddler or the back of a fork to press and bruise the ginger pieces firmly against the sugar, until the sugar begins to look wet and the ginger is fragrant, about 1–2 minutes.
- 2
Stir in the fine sea salt and the black peppercorns, if using. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 48 hours, stirring once after the first 24 hours, until the sugar has fully dissolved into a syrup and the ginger has released its juice.
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