With new crop apples rolling into the grocery store and plenty of the flavorful fruit available at the local farmers market, there’s no shortage of ways to enjoy your teacher’s favorite treat. Slow Food Seattle President Leslie Seaton has the perfect way to drink your apples in a tart and tidy treatment: apple shrub. The colonial-day drink is a cinch to whip up and sip all year long, plus this homemade shrub also is a friendly bedfellow for a boozy counterpart.
Simple Apple Shrub
Yields about 14 ounces
2 cups peeled, cored tart, sweet-tart apples (like Honeycrisp)
1 ½ cups sugar
1 ¾ cups raw apple cider vinegar
Optional: spices (try 1 teaspoon allspice berries, 2 sticks cinnamon, 3 star anise or 5 cloves)
1) Shred or finely matchstick apples. Layer into glass jar with sugar, starting with a layer of apples. Place lid on jar and shake well to coat apples with sugar, shaking occasionally over a 24-hour period.
2) Add vinegar (and spices, if using), replace lid and shake vigorously again to marry ingredients. Place jar in cool area or refrigerator for 3-7 days, shaking daily.
3) When flavors are well combined, strain liquids from solids through a fine sieve, squeezing the pulp well to remove as much liquid as possible. Store in refrigerator. Drink by combining with water, soda water, whiskey or other spirits.
This article originally ran in the 2016 fall print issue of Sip Northwest magazine. For the full story and more like it, click here.
