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You may remember my foray into shrubbery. Today I brrring you … another shrubbery! And it is a good shrubbery.
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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.
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.)
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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Love shrub cocktails, but never thought to make them with rum and ginger. I’ll have to give this a try.
I probably wouldn’t’ve thought of it either, but the shrub was a gift. Glad it happened, though, because it was delicious!
Betsy DeVos. Make a mine a double (extra-sour). GREG
Tell me about it!
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!
Maybe they would! Hope you feel well soon.
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.
That’s a great idea. Thanks for the tip.
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. 🙁
If you do try it, I’d love to know what you think. I admire your taste in cocktails.
I do like a dark and stormy so I’m quite sure that your latest cocktail would be a hit at my house.
Thanks!
I’m on the way over for one of these cocktails Jeff!
Warning – I have a low tolerance for alcoholic cocktails. Even being a Scot and loving my malt whiskies, I can tell you that one Long Island Iced Tea pretty much floors me……. lol
These aren’t quite as powerful as LIITs, but I’ll make sure to hide your car keys nonetheless.
I love a good Dark and Stormy and your variation looks delish! I’ll have to look for where to buy that Shrub stuff because spicy is my thang 😉 Thanks for the homemade ginger ale recipe too and I’ll be trying that very soon 🙂
Thanks, Karrie!
This sounds delicious! Any drink made with ginger is a favorite of mine! Thanks for including the recipe for homemade ginger ale! I’ll be trying that, too!
Cheers!
I love cocktail combination. Great blog. I am always read your post. Thanks for sharing.