Shrubs: Your Next Kitchen Staple
What are shrubs, and more importantly, why are we so excited about them?
A shrub is another term for fruit vinegar, made up of fresh fruit, vinegar, and occasionally a dash of sugar. Shrubs are packed with probiotics, and studies show fruit vinegar is especially good for gut health and digestion. Shrubs can be used in cocktails, mocktails, salad dressings and more, making them a versatile kitchen staple. New York Times Cooking even posted a recipe on how to make your own shrubs! However, the best shrubs contain fruit that is often fermented & aged over a long period of time. That's why we turned to our good friends at Sideyard Shrubs and Little Apple Treats to provide natural, organic and small batch shrubs for all to easily enjoy.
Sideyard Shrubs pictured here in our shop, in downtown Santa Barbara.
Sideyard Shrubs is locally based here in sunny Santa Barbara, and they source their fruit from local farms on the Central Coast of California. Sideyard Shrubs uses only organic ingredients, their shrubs are unfiltered, naturally fermented in small batches, and bottled by hand, with no added sugars.
Photographed by Mikaela Hamilton for Sideyard Shrubs.
Sideyard Shrubs posts different recipe ideas you can create with their shrubs, such as classic shrub cocktail recipes, salad dressing, and even a coconut shrub ceviche!
Photographed by Mikaela Hamilton for Sideyard Shrubs.
Another one of our favorite shrubs comes from apple orchards in Sonoma County, CA. Little Apple Treats creates all natural, barrel-aged, small batch shrubs - pictured below is the bestselling Ginger + Hibiscus Cider Vinegar Shrub!
Photographed by Karina Roux for Little Apple Treats.
Little Apple Treats uses apples grown locally on their orchards, age their shrubs in oak barrels for 2 years, and then package these small-batch shrubs just steps away from the orchard. These shrubs also contain the live vinegar mother, loaded with probiotics that support gut health!
Little Apple Treats orchard in Sonoma County, CA. Photographed by Artem Nazarov for Little Apple Treats.
Little Apple Treats has tons of delicious recipes to create the perfect shrub cocktail (or mocktail!) that is sure to be a crowd pleaser. Check out their Easy Ginger Hibiscus Cocktail/Mocktail and Shrub-Ade Refresher recipes for inspiration!
