How to make traditional rum shrub using citrus fruits, ginger, and dark rum. Shrub is a victorian rum liqueur that is delicious sipped neat or used to make sweet co*cktails.
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A few weeks ago a friend gave me a small jar of an amber-coloured liquid she called ‘Shrub’. To me it looked a bit deadly and to be honest I was afraid to smell it let alone taste it. Imagine my surprise when just a few days later I screwed the top to discover the sweet aroma of rum sweetened with sugar, citrus, and spices. The unusual liqueur had the consistency of light sugary syrup and tasted like something Victorian ladies might have sipped after dinner. I was hooked.
As it turns out, Shrub is an entire category of rum-based liqueur with quite an illustrious history. In the days of bootlegging and smuggling, barrels of rum used to be sunk in harbours off the south coast of England only to be pulled back up when the coast was clear.
Unfortunately, the liquor’s sojourn in the sea left it with a brackish flavour due to small amounts of saltwater seeping in through the barrels’ seams. Instead of throwing the whole lot out, some forgotten genius figured out how the saltiness could be disguised with sugar and spices to make it palatable, and more importantly saleable.
Traditional Rum Shrub Recipe
Since then, rum shrub has become famous as the drink made by Phillips of Bristol, which is now sadly discontinued. It’s been a traditional tipple in places like Cornwall, where it’s served with even more rum. It has also been rediscovered by trendy bars where its intense sweet flavour is being used to complement mixed drinks and co*cktails.
Though I can’t be absolutely certain of which herbs and spices are used in the genuine product, I had a look at traditional Shrub recipes, took an educated guess and came up with a drink that is both similar and delicious. Sweet but not sickly sweet, the fruity flavour of oranges and lemons and rich Autumnal spices comes through beautifully. My version is also a little bit boozier than the original so it’s possible to have it neat without being overwhelmed by sweetness.
Traditional Rum Shrub Recipe
Makes approx. 1.5 L
Day One 1 Pint Jamaican Dark Rum 3/4 cup freshly squeezed orange juice 1/8 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice Zest of one lemon Zest of one orange 1.5″ piece of ginger, sliced 1 Cinnamon stick 1/8 tsp grated Nutmeg 8 Cloves
After the infusion period 2 Tbsp Honey 1 Bottle (750ml) White wine 400g White granulated sugar
Infuse the Rum with Spices and Citrus
To make rum shrub, take all the ingredients listed in ‘Day One’ and place them into a glass jar. Store the jar in a dark place for a full week taking it out once a day to give it a gentle shake.
Juice note: The juice quantities are what I got from squeezing the orange and lemon after I zested them. As fruits differ in size and juice quantities please make sure to measure your own juice for consistency’s sake.
Zest note: If you’re not sure what zest is I’ve posted a photo above to show it as the finely grated skin of citrus fruits that excludes the bitter white pith. I have a zesting tool that I use all the time (pictured above next to the lemon) but it’s also possible to use a cheese grater to get the job done.
Spices note: It’s important to use whole spices rather than their powdered versions because you want your liqueur to end up as clear as possible. It’s more difficult to filter out powdered spices than whole ones but if you only have powders and don’t mind some haziness then go ahead and use them.
After the One Week Infusion Time
Step 2.Strain the liquid through a muslin or a jelly bag at least twice if not three times. Your aim is to remove as many of the ‘bits’ as possible. Leave your final filtered liquid in a jar to settle for at least a few hours and preferably overnight. If you have a jar that has a spout, like the tea infuser I use, it will make the final step easier.
Step 3.Place the entire bottle of white wine into a saucepan and heat on low until the wine is just warm. Do not bring it to a simmer or you’ll lose alcohol to heat and evaporation. When warm, take the wine off the hob and then stir in the honey and the sugar until it’s completely dissolved. Allow the wine to cool to room temperature.
Wine Note: I’ve used an inexpensive Chardonnay in this recipe but probably any light-flavoured white wine will do.
Step 4.Gently pour the infused rum into the sugared wine leaving as much of the sediment in the container as possible. Though not harmful, this residue of fruit and spices will be unsightly and can cloud your liqueur.
Step 5.Pour your Shrub into clean, sterilised bottles, store them in a dark place, and allow them to mature for a week before serving. This week helps to clear the alcohol but also adds mellows out the flavour but if you can’t wait that long go ahead and have a sneaky sample. Due to the fresh juice used in this recipe, try to use your final alcohol within four to six weeks. Refrigeration will also help to prolong the shelf-life.
Homemade Liqueur Recipes
Rum shrub isn’t the only alcoholic treat that you can whip up at home. Here are even more homemade liqueur recipes that you can make easily and inexpensively:
Blackberry shrub, tequila, and lime is excellent. Raspberry shrub and vodka is great on its own, but excellent with a splash of lemon. And, of course, the co*cktail (mocktail, actually) that showed up on my instagram today, a strawberry basil mojito, is also excellent.
In a nutshell, shrubs are a vintage mixer combining plants, sugar and vinegar. They offer a change from the usual Lemons and Limes used to add acidity to a drink but they are a world away from sugary, over-sweet juices.
If you haven't come across Shrubs then we are delighted to introduce you to these fruity cordials. Shrubs are a type of syrup made out of fruit and vinegar. The vinegar preserves the fruit and makes a drink that is sweet and sharp, and very fruity.
A Spiced Rum is any kind of rum that has been flavored with natural herbs and spices. The spices are generally derived from seeds, roots, dried fruits, barks, or leaves. For instance, clove, cinnamon, cassia, vanilla, star anise, citrus fruit, nutmeg, cardamom, orange peel, ginger, pepper, allspice, among many others.
The term bush is more often used as an adjective describing how shrubs grow than an actual plant. If multiple shrubs are planted close together, or a shrub grows round instead of straight up, they are considered a bush. Bushes are typically left to grow as nature sees fit unlike the yearly pruning shrubs require.
The word shrub is derived from the Arabic word sharab, which means “to drink.” These syrups, common in colonial America, were used to make delightful drinks.
Roses are rich in flavanoids, tannins, antioxidants and vitamins A, B3, C, D and E making them super beneficial to skin care. They are also efficient in cleansing the gallbladder and liver, helping to improve bile secretion and relief from constipation.
Since then the name has stuck. However, time and use have allowed for other words and names to be co associated with “shrub” adding to the colloquial confusion as to what shrubs are. These include sipping or drinking vinegar, switchel, co*cktail shrub, shrub punch, rum punch, sherbet, sherbert, and even soft drink.
Unlike kombucha, there is no alcohol in a shrub, so this makes a great mixer to give to anyone, whether or not they drink alcohol! This will make around 8 oz. of shrub (or enough to make 4 co*cktails).
Sweetshrub does well in combinations with other shrubs, shrub borders, or as fence or foundation plantings. It also is a good choice to integrate cultivated gardens into naturalized areas. Sweetshrub produces good cut flowers, and the flowers, leaves, twigs and bark may be dried to use in potpourri.
Shrubs are mixers, which means they're an ingredient in a drink, not something you would normally drink on its own. Luckily, drinking shrubs are versatile, so they pair well with lots of other ingredients. Overall, we recommend using a 1:5 ratio of shrub to another (or several) ingredient(s).
Spiced rums can vary in style: from intensely sweet to varieties where the spice adds a touch of heat. Notes of vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg are common from the spices, giving a toffee sweetness to the finished spirit. With ageing, this may mature into deeper treacle or malt flavours.
Add cinnamon, cloves, lime and sugar. Shake, seal and store for 24hrs in fridge and taste after 12hrs. Strain liquid through cheesecloth, squeezing to extract excess liquid.
Captain Morgan is a solid spiced rum. If you look at the spiced variety (as most do when they mention Capt. Morgan), it doesn't even qualify as rum, as it contains additives. The difference between Captain Morgan rum and other rum is that Captain M is spiced with a lace of Cinnamon predominantly.
For example, you can try muddling tarragon, fresh basil, mint, and cilantro for a refreshing and herbaceous flavor. If you don't love the idea of little green materials floating on your co*cktail, then you just need to double sieve the herbs.
Roses are rich in flavanoids, tannins, antioxidants and vitamins A, B3, C, D and E making them super beneficial to skin care. They are also efficient in cleansing the gallbladder and liver, helping to improve bile secretion and relief from constipation.
Bitters are made with a pure grain spirit inundated with bittering agents like fruit peels, spices, or funky stuff like bark or cassia. Tinctures act as straight-up botanical, fruit, or vegetable infusions without any bitterness. A shrub adds sugar to fruit juice and uses vinegar to cut the sweetness.
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