Elderberry Maple and Blueberry Shrub

It’s not quite a switchel, it’s not quite a kombucha. It’s a Shrub, baby! A syrup made from sugar, fruit, and vinegar, shrubs are deliciously fresh and refreshing. The sugar draws out the moisture in the berry which yields you with a delicious fruit syrup. You can use them to add concentrated flavors to things like sparkling water or cocktails! For this shrub we used blueberries, granulated sugar, Embark Elderberry Maple and apple cider vinegar!

You can cold process or hot process shrubs, we went with a cold process as it brings more of that bright, fresh, fruit flavor to the surface. Here’s what you need:

Ingredients:

1 cup of blueberries

1 cup of granulated sugar

1 cup of apple cider vinegar 

1 pouch Embark Elderberry Maple

Equipment:

Medium sized bowl and cover (foil or cling wrap)

Measuring cup 

Spoon 

Fine mesh strainer

Steps:

1. Pour blueberries into medium bowl and muddle berries to start releasing juices.

2. Add sugar and stir until blueberries are coated.

3. Cover your bowl tightly and place in the fridge for 1-3 days. I kept mine in for 24 hours and didn’t see a lot of juice, even though the sugar was turning blue and starting to taste delicious! I would keep the blueberries and sugar together for longer (3 days), to give it more time to draw out the flavor and moisture. When it’s done, you’ll notice a lovely syrup sitting on top of the fruit and the sugar will be sitting at the bottom of the bowl.

4. Once your syrup looks ready to rock, you can take it out of the fridge and mix in one pouch of Embark Elderberry Maple and let sit in the fridge for another 24 hours. I made sure to reincorporate all of the sugar that had settled into the bottom.

5. After 24 hours strain your mixture into another bowl making sure to squeeze out every last bit of juice. You will want to go with a finer mesh strainer so you can catch the pulp and the seeds.

6. Once everything is strained add one cup of apple cider vinegar and stir together. Transfer to whatever vessel you want to store it in and keep in the fridge. Enjoy to taste in cocktails and sparkling water!