A shrub is an old-time drink with an acidic base, in this case vinegar. The shrubs I’ve read about call for fruit.
Pairing fruit with vinegar was a way of preserving it without refrigeration, so that, for example, you could have a berry drink in winter, when berries would otherwise not be available.
Julie, in New South Wales, Australia made a ginger flavored version based on this recipe and writes:
“The cordials are generally drunk diluted about 1:10 with water, soda water or rum; we tried ours with lemonade because we had an open bottle in the fridge which needed drinking.
Damn! It’s good!
Sorta kinda like a cross between lemon/lime bitters and ginger ale, to my palate (with the lemonade that is). The cider vinegar gives it a tang on your tongue which feels deceptively alcoholic, except of course, it isn’t, so I reckon it would make the base for an excellent mocktail.
So easy to make too”
Ingredients you’ll need: vinegar, a flavoring (here it’s ginger) and sugar.
Julie notes that “To make a berry shrub, substitute 1½ cups raspberries, blackberries or blueberries for the ginger and reduce the cider vinegar to 2/3 cup for blueberries and ½ cup for raspberries and blackberries.”
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