This pineapple jalapeño shrub cocktail has the sweetness of pineapple, the heat of jalapeños and the tang of vinegar. Great with seltzer or vodka for a refreshing summer drink.
Have you ever heard of a shrub drink? I first heard of them a few years ago at a health and natural food expo. Shrubs were used in the colonial times for their high vitamin C content and were sometimes called drinking vinegars. That might not sound all that appetizing but they are really tasty. Trust me on this one. There are 3 main components to a shrub: fruit, sugar & vinegar which make for the classic sweet and sour taste. The cool thing about shrubs is that you can make a variety of different flavors by changing one of the three components. The other cool thing about them is that you can drink them with seltzer water for a refreshing drink or add vodka for a cocktail! Today I used pineapple, jalapeño, honey and vinegar to make this tasty pineapple jalapeño shrub. IT WAS FABULOUS!
There are a few different ways you can make a shrub but today I’m going to tell you about a quick and dirty way. However if you are interested in the other methods and a bit of the history, check out this article from TheKitchn.com. The basic recipe is 1 part fruit to 1 part sugar to 1 part vinegar. For mine, I added fresh pineapple, a chopped jalapeño, honey and apple cider vinegar to a pan and simmered for about 20 minutes. I mashed the pineapple a few times to release the juices. Then I strained it into a bottle and it was ready to go. By the way, I only used a 1/2 cup honey in this recipe because honey is sweeter than sugar. However the basic recipe is still 1 part fruit to 1 part sugar to 1 vinegar.
To use the shrub, you just add 2 tablespoons to a glass of seltzer water for a refreshing drink or add a bit of vodka too. And let me tell you about another thing I tried the other day. I added a bit of olive oil to the syrup and made a salad dressing. It was the perfect dressing for a summer salad: sweet, tangy and with a bit of heat.
Pineapple jalapeño shrub
Summer is the perfect time to make a shrub with all the tasty fruit available. It’s a great recipe for using those ripe but not so pretty looking pieces of fruit too. My sister recently made a raspberry shrub on her blog, while my other sister made a strawberry rhubarb a while ago. Shrubs are easy and fun! Give it a try and stop back and let me know what combination of fruit, vinegar and sugar you used. I’dl love to hear all about it.
- 1 cup fresh pineapple chunks
- 1 fresh jalapeño, chopped
- ½ cup honey
- 1 cup apple cider vinegar
- Add your ingredients to a pan and bring to a boil.
- Once boiling, lower heat to a simmer and cook for about 20 minutes.
- While cooking mash the mixture with a potato masher or a fork to release more juice from the fruit.
- Once the fruit becomes more of a pulp and the juices thicken, take off the stove and strain into a bottle or jar.
- Keep refrigerated for up to a week.
- Use 2 tablespoons per drink with seltzer water or add vodka too for cocktail.
- Can also mix syrup with olive oil for a fruity salad dressing.
