Acid plus sugar plus a flavoring agent like a fruit, herb or vegetable. That’s the basic formula for concocting a shrub – a sweet yet tart syrup that’s popping up in your martini glass (even if you don’t know it yet). Over the course of the last year, Cielo bar manager Cory Cuff has cornered the market on this trendy simple syrup, preparing shrubs of every flavor and color like cucumber-lime, raspberry-rose-thyme, even balsamic-fig. Stop by Cielo and you can taste Cuff’s shrubs in the Unusual Margarita and Stealing Alper’s Hooch, or try them as solo sippers in a shrub flight. Want to make homemade shrubs your new DIY project? Find the recipe below.
Cielo Restaurant & Bar, 999 N. Second St., St. Louis, 314.881.2105, cielostlouis.com Orange Shrub
Courtesy of Cielo’s Cory Cuff
4 Cups
Juice and peel of 4 navel oranges
Juice and peel of 1 lime
3 cups Champagne vinegar
6 oz. sugar
• Combine the fruit juices, peels and vinegar in a sanitized plastic or glass container with a fitted lid. Cover. Let infuse for 4 days in a cool, dark location.
• Strain the mixture into a saucepan and add the sugar. Bring the mixture to a boil, and let boil for 10 minutes, making sure it doesn’t burn.
• Pour the contents into a cruet with a pouring spout or a clean glass bottle. Store in the refrigerator, where it will keep for 7 to 10 days.
Now that you’ve made your shrub, mix it into Keepin’ Up With the Joneses, a cocktail Cuff dubbed “kind of like a cosmo, but with vinegar.” Combine 2 ounces of vodka, 1 ounce of orange shrub and ½ ounce of cranberry juice in a Boston shaker, and shake vigorously for 15 to 20 seconds. Strain into a chilled martini glass, and garnish with an orange twist.
— photo by Carmen Troesser
This article appears in April 2013.