Artificial Food Coloring Free Classic Pineapple Shrub
Bright, tangy, and bursting with real tropical flavor, this pineapple shrub is the kind of homemade drinking vinegar that makes you rethink every bottled beverage you've ever bought. Fresh pineapple chunks are coaxed with sugar over gentle heat until they release their natural juice, then balanced with apple cider vinegar and a pinch of salt for a concentrate that's complex without being complicated. The whole thing is made from exactly four ingredients — no syrups, no dyes, no mystery additives that sneak artificial colors into your glass. That's the real win here: so many store-bought sodas, mixers, and flavored sparkling waters rely on synthetic dyes to achieve that eye-catching hue, but this shrub gets its gorgeous golden color entirely from the fruit itself. After a 24-hour rest in the fridge, the flavors meld into something that tastes genuinely sophisticated — sweet, tart, and a little funky in the best possible way. Just stir a couple tablespoons into sparkling water over ice and you have a refreshing drink that feels special without a single artificial shortcut.
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Learn more →Ingredients
8 servings
- 2 cups fresh pineapple, cut into ½-inch chunks
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- ¾ cup apple cider vinegar
- ¼ tsp kosher salt
For serving
- sparkling water, for serving
Instructions
- 1
Combine the pineapple chunks and sugar in a medium saucepan. Stir to coat the fruit, then let the mixture sit at room temperature for 10 minutes until the sugar begins to dissolve and the pineapple releases some juice.
- 2
Place the saucepan over medium heat and cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar is fully dissolved and the mixture just comes to a gentle simmer, about 3–5 minutes. Remove from heat immediately — do not boil vigorously.
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