Rum Shrub

A shrub was a preparation not unlike a cordial designed to increase the longevity of the fruit used. A recipe from Domestic Cookery, 1807, calls for the juice of white currents to be prepared as for jam, then strained and mixed with rum and sugar. The liquid was then bottled and when “…mixed with water is a pure, delicious drink for summer.” American Frugal Housewife, 1833. From this we see that a shrub is a bittered sling or cocktail using fruits preserved in alcohol and sugar. Our version consists of crushed strawberries and raspberries preserved in Rum, then sweetened and shaken, served straight up.

• 45 Appleton VX Rum
• 15 Gabriel Boudier Framboise
• 6 Raspberries and half strawberry muddled
• 10 Sugar Syrup
• 3 dashes of Angostura Bitters

Shaken and strained into a champagne saucer