[MDixon]

My wife has been on a shrub kick lately and has tried to get me on board. She bought a ginger shrub anticipating I would mix it with Bourbon, but vinegar and Bourbon just do not mix. If you are not familiar with shrubs they are basically a fruit and vinegar infusion. What I have found is they make a fantastic vinaigrette, but in a drink I don't find them very tasty. Anyone else have any experience with shrubs?

[dmtaylor]

I've tried making shrub before.  It was probably just a bad recipe, but I found the vinegar character to be just too overpowering, burning my throat, so I dumped it.  And I like vinegar a lot, on salads or for dipping bread into, etc.  It might just be more a matter of finding the right ratio of vinegar to fruit juice.  Perhaps just 5-10% vinegar is all that's appropriate.  I don't know much more about shrubs.

Now kombucha, on the other hand.... I just made my first kombucha, and damn, it turned out just perfectly wonderful on my very first try.  Took 13 days to get to just the right amount of vinegar where you can taste it without getting burned.  Currently in bottles.  Popped the first bottle a few days ago and it wasn't carbonated yet, so I'll open the next one in another couple days.  But it was so easy.  The only downside really is the time involved.... 13 days to ferment, then another 7? 10? days to carbonate.  I'll know more soon.

[MDixon]

At one time I thought about trying my hand at Kombucha and was just about to buy a scoby when I realized I like it, but not on a daily basis. My favorite is from Buchi out of NC and it is called Fire.
http://www.drinkbuchi.com/Brews/Fire

[narvin]

Making kombucha is so easy... if you're already buying it raw, you can just pour the dregs into a sugar/tea mix and start your own scoby.  I agree that you might end up with more than you want to drink, but it's worth trying.  If nothing else you'll save $5 a few times 

[erockrph]

Making kombucha is so easy... if you're already buying it raw, you can just pour the dregs into a sugar/tea mix and start your own scoby.  I agree that you might end up with more than you want to drink, but it's worth trying.  If nothing else you'll save $5 a few times 

Yep. I scratched my kombucha itch a few years back. It's pretty easy to do from a bottle with live cultures, similar to growing up your own yeast from bottle dregs.

The thing is, I hate vinegar. The kombucha I like the best tastes either like fizzy fruit juice or homemade soda, so now I just make my own soda instead.

[reverseapachemaster]

I spent about two hours trimming shrubs the weekend before last.

I have no idea what you all are talking about.

[Slowbrew]

I spent about two hours trimming shrubs the weekend before last.

I have no idea what you all are talking about.

Right there with you.  I had to look it up.

"The term "shrub" can also be applied to the sweetened vinegar-based syrup, from which the cocktail is made; the syrup is also known as drinking vinegar. Drinking vinegar is often infused with fruit juice, herbs and spices for use in mixed drinks."

Paul