Ladies! I have a new cocktail recipe to share with you. I developed this Carrot-Beet Juice Shrub recipe for a vinegar-spike cocktail post I wrote for Good Housekeeping this week—eeks!—and it turned a test kitchen full of veggie-cocktail skeptics into believers.
Vegetable cocktails have been around for ages but it seems like NYC drinkers are just now discovering them. Worthy of note: the Cool Hand Cuke from Colonie (cucumber juice, cucumber vodka and mint syrup), the Lechuga from Booker & Dax (gin, lemon and Bibb lettuce) and some cocktail with carrot-caramel that brilliant Shiraz Noor of Aska dreamed up.Quickly about shrubs: In the colonial drink-era, how cool is that!? They were just vinegar syrups cool colonial people would mix with brandy or rum. For this cocktail, I created my own shrub using beet juice, carrot juice, white vinegar, sugar and water. It's earthy and sweet, just like carrots and beets—duh! Here's how you do it...
BEET-CARROT SHRUB
MAKES: 1 cocktail (plus more vinegar)
FOR THE VINEGAR
1/2 cup beet juice
1 cups carrot juice
1 cups water
1/2 cup sugar
1/4 cup white vinegar
FOR THE COCKTAIL
2 ounces gin
1/2 ounce lemon juice
Ginger ale or lemon-lime soda
Carrot ribbons, for garnish (optional)
1. Bring 1 cup water, the vinegar and sugar to a simmer in a small saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves. Add the remaining 1 cup water, the beet juice, carrot juice and chill at least over night.
2. Put 4 ounces Beet-Carrot Shrub and 2 ounces gin in an ice-filled cocktail shaker 30 seconds or until cold; strain into an ice-filled glass and top with seltzer. Garnish with a carrot ribbon, if desired.
3. For each cocktail, shake 1/4 cup Beet-Carrot Shrub and 2 Tbsp. gin in cocktail shaker with ice; strain into an ice-filled glass. Top with ginger ale.
NOTE: The shrub will keep in the fridge for about a month!
NOTE: The shrub will keep in the fridge for about a month!
Yes! I love that shrubs are coming back (back...from the colonial era?). This sounds like my kind of cocktail.
ReplyDeleteI feel like our founding fathers would be proud of us :) So glad you like it, @Carlene Thomas RD !
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