The Spirits #80: The Strawberry Shrub

~ Gastrique, baby! ~ a.k.a. Shrub ~ How Quickly Your Heart Mends ~

~ THE STRAWBERRY SHRUB ~

30ml light rum (rhum agricole/cachaca best)
30ml dark rum
40ml Strawberry-Balsamic Gastrique (get me; see below)
Crushed ice

For the Strawberry-Balsamic Gastrique, you will need 250g strawberries, hulled and sliced; 150g light brown sugar; 150ml water; 50ml balsamic vinegar; and a small saucepan. Dissolve the sugar in the water over a low heat and then toss in the strawberries. Simmer gently for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally. Now add the vinegar, and simmer for another 30 minutes. Strain the liquid through a sieve. (You can save the strawberry compote for stirring into yoghurt, or some other such dessert).

As for the cocktail itself, it couldn’t be simpler. Shake up the rum(s) and the gastrique with just a couple of cubes of ice. Now pour into a glass filled with crushed ice. Garnish with strawberries and/or mint.

Some Strawberry Shrub notes:

1) This is adapted from Caribbean Shrub, another cocktail from Death & Co. Its name is a curiosity to me - strawberry and balsamic vinegar doesn’t seem particularly Caribbean to me? But if your cabinet stretches to the rhum agricole + aged rum combination, oh my, this is a great cocktail. I used the super-funky Saint Benevolence clairin from Haiti and the hitmaker from Jamaica Appleton 12-Years and hot damn. What a brew.

2) Néanmoins: I have found that this particular gastrique works just as well with tequila and rather dandily with brandy - and while I haven’t tried it with gin or Campari, I can’t see it not working with either (or both?).

3) I have most often drunk it, however, just with fizzy water, and served it to the underage with gratifying effect (strawberryade!). Literally 40ml gastrique + 100ml sparkling water. Like last week’s Gilda, this is a cocktail where the non-alcohol component plays a leading role, which makes it a good one for temperance serves. A mere drop of absinthe is good in it too, if you’ve the taste.

4) A gastrique? The term makes me laugh as it just sounds like the acme of Michelin-starred pretension but really, it’s just stewed fruit with a little vinegar added. Another term for that is shrub. Balsamic and strawberries is a very Jamie Oliver in my sense-memory and my it’s a good one here. It’s worth tasting that compote just prior to adding the vinegar; note how the balsamic cuts through the heaviness of the stewed fruit resulting in a liquid that’s even more richly strawberry-flavoured.

THE SPIRITS is on SEMI-VACATION. You can still expect a recipe each Friday at 4pm BST as usual - but the full service (playlist, musings, links, etc) will resume when the schools go back in September.

In the meantime, here is an old country-rock playlist (Gram Parsons, Emmylou Harris, Gillian Welch, Gene Clark etc) that I fancy sounds rather good right now, just as the leaves turn brown and the wind gets up. I draw your especial attention to the second verse of the Courtney Marie Andrews song:

The jukebox is playin' a sad country song
For all the ugly Americans
Now I feel like one of them
Dancin' alone and broken by the freedom

Ouch!

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🖊️I am Richard Godwin.
🧋My instructions for sugar syrup, ice, grenadine, orgeat, etc are here.
🧑‍🏫 My 10 RULES FOR MAKING COCKTAILS are here.
⚗️ My bottle recommendations are here.
📃 The full A-Z recipe archive is here. 
➡️ Please find a round up of organisations helping Ukrainians here.

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SHOPPING LIST:

Gin, cucumber, mint, rosewater, Angostura, lime, sugar.

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