A Bright and Sunny Ginger Shrub Cocktail

You may remember my foray into shrubbery. Today I brrring you … another shrubbery! And it is a good shrubbery.

"Cocktail," from Make It Like a Man!

Jamie Dornan buzzed his head and grew a hideous beard, Westworld won’t be back until 2018 … and good Lord, Betsy DeVos. A guy needs a drink more than ever in these dark and stormy times. So I invented this. A bright and sunny ginger shrub cocktail. You might recognize the ingredient list; this is a variation on a Dark and Stormy. But it’s a complete turnabout in terms of taste. It’s sparkling, biting, and spicy. Its ingredients meld into something unexpected, something refreshing and not especially sweet. It’s bright, clean, and goes down easy.

What you need to make 1 cocktail (although the way things are headed, you’re not going to be making just one)

½ oz. fresh lime juice
½ oz. ginger shrub
1 oz. spiced rum
2-3 oz. ginger beer
Fresh lime slice or wedge, for garnish, optional

How to do it:

Pour juice, shrub, and rum into a cocktail shaker and shake, in a moderate three quarter time, while singing one full stanza of “A Bicycle Built for Two.” Pour into an ice-filled rocks glass. Add ginger beer; stir gently for exactly two rotations. (Garnish.) Serve.

Notes:

The spicier the ginger beer, the better.

"Ginger Shrub Cocktail," from Make It Like a Man!

My real-life party test clearly indicates that everyone will want at least two of them. Actually, they’ll admit to wanting a second, but they’ll really want a third. And I’ll want a fourth. (It was my party, and I wasn’t driving anywhere afterward.)

If you’re really adventurous, make your own ginger ale and use it instead of the ginger beer. I like to do this when I have leftover ginger. It’s easy to do while multitasking other things.

7 oz. sugar (1 cup)
8 oz. water (1 cup)
1 oz. minced ginger (ca. ¼-cup)
2 tsp ginger powder

Bring the sugar, water, and ginger to a boil. Let simmer for 15 minutes. Allow to cool. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve, but do not remove what’s left in the sieve from the sieve. Return the strained liquid to the pot, add the powder, and bring to a boil. Allow to boil, stirring constantly, for 1 minute, stopping short if the syrup appears to be about to boil over. Pour the liquid through the sieve once again. The contents of the sieve will help clear some of the remnants of the powder from the liquid. You’ll wind up with a deeply golden, opaque syrup that will need to be stirred before each use. To make ginger ale, use 1 part syrup to 3 parts sparkling water. (Adjust proportions, to taste.)

"Ginger Shrub Cocktail," from Make It Like a Man!

A Bright and Sunny Ginger Shrub Cocktail

Credit for images on this page: Make It Like a Man! Clicking on images will enlarge them. This content was not solicited, nor written in exchange for anything. In doing research for this recipe, I consulted Kitchen Riffs and stumbled onto a recipe from Use Real Butter – yeah Use Real Butter = both of which I found to be helpful.

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"Ginger Shrub Cocktail," from Make It Like a Man!

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19 thoughts on “A Bright and Sunny Ginger Shrub Cocktail

    • I probably wouldn’t’ve thought of it either, but the shrub was a gift. Glad it happened, though, because it was delicious!

  1. This sounds delicious, Jeff! I’ve been meaning to play around with ginger beer, but I just haven’t gotten there yet. I’m fighting a pretty nasty cold this week, and I’m thinking one or four of these would do me well right about now!
    David @ Spiced recently posted…Chocolate Chocolate Cake

  2. This does look very refreshing. I’ve made my own Ginger Ale and it is so much tastier than the store bought (although the brand Canada Dry claims it uses real ginger!). Ginger is also good to settle an upset stomach, so one could go the medicinal route for having a third!
    I keep my ginger, unpealed in the freezer in a zip-lock bag and grate it peel and all using a microplane, fresh ginger at any time and it’s so easy. It’s one of our celebrity chef’s tips.

  3. Love the idea of this! And making your own ginger ale is fun, isn’t it? Haven’t done that in ages. Really creative — and good! — drink. I have a feeling I’ll be (over) indulging in this for the next 4 years. 🙁
    John/Kitchen Riffs recently posted…Chocolate-Rum Truffles

    • If you do try it, I’d love to know what you think. I admire your taste in cocktails.

    • These aren’t quite as powerful as LIITs, but I’ll make sure to hide your car keys nonetheless.

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