Episode 51: The Witch’s Liquor Cabinet: Bring Us a Shrubbery

In today’s episode of Cliffhangers and Cocktails, Shéa and Amy take on the Knights who say Ni! And while they’re doing that, they talk about shrubs, a vinegar based beverage that’s been used for ages. It can be used as a beverage, a cocktail ingredient, or a spell ingredient! And making them feels like fun, fermented magic.

And remember - 

Craft your shrubs with intent, because you’re not just mixing a drink.
 
You’re mixing magic.

Resources

History

https://chilledmagazine.com/the-shrub-ancient-remedy-to-modern-mixer/

Spellwork

https://originalbotanica.com/blog/protection-cleansing-spells-salt-pepper-vinegar

https://www.yeyeo.com/blogs/yeyeo-botanica-blog/vinegar

Recipes

Bourbon Blackberry Shrub: https://therockymountainwoman.com/whiskey-sour-with-blackberry-shrub/

Podcast recipes and complete notes at: https://www.cliffhangersandcocktails.com/post/witchs-liquor-cabinet-shrubs

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Thanks - the Caftan Coven

Transcript

SPEAKER_02 0:01

Welcome to this podcast with my beautiful co-host, Amy Sissel. Sweet yay! And me, Shannon Cloud. You are seeing the day best-selling beautiful authors of paranormal women's fiction among other things. And as always, this podcast is brought to you by the Captain Kevin.

SPEAKER_01 0:28

Welcome to our one-hit wonder pod. We discuss a single topic related to the- Sorry, I didn't actually read that. The podcast is always the same. I didn't reread it. It's always the same. Okay, so I wasn't prepared for it to be a one-hit wonder. Alright, I'm ready now. I'm ready.

SPEAKER_02 0:46

I don't know why I put that in there. I just went, well, we're not it's not really a mini pod anymore, is it?

SPEAKER_01 0:52

So I just wait, here we go. Um welcome to our one-hit wonder pod, where we discuss a single topic related to the craft, whether it be craft cocktails, witchcraft, or writing craft. Today's topic is cocktail craft. This is part of our series called The Witch's Liquor Cabinet. Today we'll be talking about some delicious spell work in the form of shrubs. Yes, you heard that right. Shrubs. Shaya, ETF is a shrub. I looked up how to say that in German. Yeah. So, you know, for funsies, but I decided not to go with something Shaiza. Well, Fas is Shiza.

SPEAKER_02 1:39

Well, bring us a shrubbery. Um, yes! So, um, here this is okay, so this is a little bit of a weird one, and I'm probably a lot of people are asking the same question because I had never heard of shrubs until I stumbled on a recipe for a cocktail called the Blackberry Shrub, which involves bourbon and this shrub thing. And this was a few years ago, and I made it, and it was like, that is weirdly delicious, unexpected, because shrubs are a little bit weird to modern people, and then I promptly forgot about it until I was putting together this course, and I was like, Oh yeah, shrubs. A shrub is a vinegar-based beverage that just is pretty much as old as history itself. Um this is not to be confused with a scrub.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

If you need to know what a scrub is, that's a different thing, and refer you to a seminal piece of music.

SPEAKER_02 2:50

Yes, absolutely. This is also um not a shrub is in a bush or a hedge or any of that sort of thing. The term shrub is borrowed from the Arabic word now I'm not quite sure how to pronounce this, but I believe it's sharebe. Something along that line, which literally means to drink. And this is according to the Collins English Dictionary, Complete and Unabridged, and the Oxford Lexico by Oxford University Press. So um they know a little they know some things about yeah, they they they know some things about words and word entomology. So it literally has nothing to do with with uh with greenery uh uh gardening, no. Before we had refrigeration and all of that, um foodborne illnesses could be prevented or at the very least minimized by the use of an acid. So in this case, it was a combination of vinegar and sugar, and when added to fruit or vegetables, it created sort of a rudimentary preservation system that has existed up until modern times. So this goes back, you know, people have been preserving things, pickling things, using vinegar and things for forever. But basically, this specifically was a fancy drinking vinegar, which sounds really nasty, but I swear it isn't if you make it right. It's not nasty, it's actually quite tasty. So the American version of the shrub, because Americans apparently in the colonial times frickin' loved their shrubs. They were crazy about them. It has its origin.

SPEAKER_01 4:47

Well, they weren't allowed to drink real alcohol.

SPEAKER_02 4:50

No, that that was later. Um, no, but they they um it has its origins in 17th century England. Europe and England had shrubs much, much sooner. But our version that we sort of created came from a later point in time in England where vinegar was used as an alternative to like citrus juices in the preservation of berries and other fruits when it was off season. And uh, in fact, I even found some recipes. Generally, it's done with like fresh fruits, but I actually found some colonial recipes that have like you're adding preserves, like cherry preserves or something to them.

SPEAKER_01 5:35

Oh interesting, yeah. Uh so that would take care of some of that sugar then, too.

SPEAKER_02 5:40

Right, it absolutely would. So it would, it's it's interesting because it's technically if you're if they're preserves, they're already preserved. So I think it was more of a shortcut, maybe, to just making this drink rather than in use of preservation. But but in during the colonial era in particular, date when daily labor was exhausting and folks needed something to cool off and reinvigorate themselves, shrubs were often just drunk on their own, straight up. Shrubs. It's a choice. Shrubs are kind of strong. But when they when a more festive mood took hold, you know, they would add it to like an alcoholic beverage to kind of naughty.

SPEAKER_01 6:25

Um so basically. I'm just like bad Puritan's bad.

SPEAKER_02 6:32

And weirdly, it was actually soda pop, like the invention of like Coca-Cola and whatnot that killed the shrub uh in like what the 1800s or whatever, when when that became a a big thing. That's what killed the shrub. They had cocaine in them. Yeah, I mean, yeah, it's like okay, I can either drink vinegar okay or cocaine. I mean, this is tasty, but it's not cocaine tasty. Actually, I've never had cocaine, just putting that out there.

SPEAKER_01 7:03

And I certainly don't think you drink it anymore.

SPEAKER_02 7:05

I don't think you do.

SPEAKER_01 7:06

I don't think that's the best method of injection.

SPEAKER_02 7:09

No, there's other methods, I believe.

SPEAKER_01 7:11

Please don't write to us and tell us.

SPEAKER_02 7:13

No, we don't want to know. Say no to drugs.

SPEAKER_01 7:17

I don't care what you do.

SPEAKER_02 7:18

I mean, you do you boo, but that's not it's not not my preferred party.

SPEAKER_01 7:24

We say no to cocaine.

SPEAKER_02 7:25

We say no to cocaine. Yeah. Up until modern times, like within the last, you know, ten years or so, twenty years maybe, when mixologists, you know, who were like we have this sort of renaissance of cocktail mixology, and and they're like, hey, what weird thing can we put in to cocktails? And they found these old shrub recipes and went, hey, this is a weird ass thing. Let's say it. This is a weird ass thing. Let's try it. And so there's a lot of bars around now that actually make their own shrubs, just like they make their own bitters and things like that, to use in like I was at the um the haunted, it's kind of a haunted mansion style bar here in Portland.

SPEAKER_01 8:10

Um sighing loudly because I've never been. And it seems unlikely that I will make it there anytime soon.

SPEAKER_02 8:17

I will say the c it is the it is fun and the cocktails are amazing. And the one that I had had carrot shrub in it. So, yeah, so a lot of times they'll just use it in lieu of another kind of syrup or another kind of like a you know, so if something calls for like simple syrup or it calls for like lemon syrup or whatever, they might do a shrub instead.

SPEAKER_01 8:42

I have a confession.

SPEAKER_02 8:43

Yes.

SPEAKER_01 8:44

About shrubs, about shrubs, not about shrubberies. So my confession is that until when did you upload when when did you upload this script into our drive? A couple days ago? A couple days ago, yeah. Three days ago. Until three days ago, I really had no idea what a shrub was. In my head, it was kombucha. And I've never had kombucha because I have a severe fungus and mushroom allergy. Oh, yeah. And some kombuchas have enough fungus in them that I'm afraid they could trigger my allergy, and that doesn't sound like fun times raining. So I'm just like, great. Sheo wants me to die, and this is her very subtle way of telling me that I have to go make some kombucha and possibly die.

SPEAKER_02 9:31

And actually, no, it's just vinegar.

SPEAKER_01 9:33

There's no it is just vinegar, and it's not I don't really know what kombucha is either, y'all. Um but it's what people drink when they're like, um, I'm just having some kombucha. I have had I don't know if it's a thing other like if it's that popular outside of places like Portland and Brooklyn. I don't know. Um places that are like white people pretentious.

SPEAKER_02 9:57

Yeah, I don't know. I've had kombucha, it's fine. I had one kombucha that was like root beer, it was actually pretty good, but I was like, why not just drink root beer?

SPEAKER_01 10:07

Yeah, so anyway, it's not kombucha. Well, I mean, I don't know. It could taste just like kombucha, I would have no idea. But it turns out it's not kombucha, and Shaya is not overtly trying to kill me.

SPEAKER_02 10:20

Not overtly, no. So the beauty of shrubs is that they're not just for cocktails. You can put it in carbonated water to create a like a to flavor your water to create a fizzy non-car um non-alcoholic drink. You can flavor just regular plain old flat water, you can create a mocktail, you can use them as like marinades, you can use them as dessert toppings, especially if you're doing like a balsamic thing, like putting it on top of ice cream, or you can even make salad dressings, like you can use it for the vinegar part.

SPEAKER_01 10:58

So, like so I made a strawberry balsamic shrub. And so I'm imagining it would be good on ice cream if I thickened it a little bit. Yeah, you probably or mix with oil as a salad dressing.

SPEAKER_02 11:09

Yes, yeah, I absolutely like just you know, put in a little oil, mix it up just like you would any vinegar. Vinegar, I believe I've read somewhere that like vinegar can actually sort of like tenderize meat. Um so you know, if you're pouring a little bit of your shrub on top of some some meat, that you know strawberry balsamic would be real good on pork, I bet. Oh, you know what? You're probably right. Yeah, strawberry balsamic, or if you did like a cherry balsamic or pineapple would be good on pork, too. Porn, yeah, pineapple will be.

SPEAKER_01 11:45

I don't know, I'm just saying pineapple for no reason.

SPEAKER_02 11:47

Yeah, for no reason, because not at all that maybe someone here made some pineapple shrub. So shrubs and spells, in spiritual and magical traditions, vinegar is highly valued for its cleansing, protective, and binding properties. And because of its acidic and and sour nature, practitioners um often use it to banish negative energy, preserve. I didn't know this, but they use it to preserve positive intentions because you know sometimes you can kind of lose that a little bit when things are hard, and so it helps preserve that positive intention that you put into a spell. Sour or halt negative influences. So, and I kind of love that too.

SPEAKER_01 12:38

Uh, for sure.

SPEAKER_02 12:40

Yeah, and it's considered a powerful tool for energetic resets.

SPEAKER_01 12:45

This is so great because I don't know how many of y'all went through a granola, crunchy, hippie, goddess, DIY phase in your life, like I did in my early 30s. But I made okay, I made all of my own cleaning products, my own laundry detergent, all my own cleaning products. I had a garden, I made my own beer, my own cheese, my own bread, I canned everything. Wow, I was really gonna I made sausages, I smoked my own meat. Wow. I was, in a word, insufferable. Vinegar is an amazing cleaning. Yeah. And the you know it's a very strong smell, white vinegar, but it dissipates very, very quickly. And it is vinegar and baking soda uh are an amazing combination for cleaning, as is any kind of citrus. Yes, yeah. So it it's not only spiritually cleansing, it's literally cleansing. Yeah. And I am I could re I am part of the Pro Vinegar Lobby.

SPEAKER_02 13:55

Same.

SPEAKER_01 13:56

Well, and I'm just unpaid.

SPEAKER_02 13:59

Here's the theme. I also recently found out, um, I knew I had a problem with certain red fruits somet sometimes when I ate them. And by red red berries, I should say, raspberries and strawberries. It only happened with those two, and it only happened sometimes, and I couldn't quite figure it out. And then I discovered that I am allergic to some molds. Not like in a you way where you die, but just like I haven't died yet, to be clear. But you've tried of time or two, and it's been quite upsetting, and you know, or someone's tried to kill you unintentionally, and that has also been equally upsetting.

SPEAKER_01 14:40

Unintentionally, they say.

SPEAKER_02 14:43

They say, but I will get hives, and it's always like right along my jawline, and it itches like a mofo, and it's just like so bad, and I couldn't figure it out, and then when they said that, I'm like, oh. So what I started doing is I figured out it was actually the mold. Like sometimes mold will grow on red fruit, like red berries, like strawberry. Well, strawberries are near the ground, and even on raspberries, sometimes it'll start any bits. Yes, exactly. And you won't know it's there. You might not even be able to taste it if it's just a tiny bit. Um, but apparently my body knows it's there. So what I started doing body. Yes, stupid bodies. Ah, sorry, gotta adjust myself here.

SPEAKER_01 15:32

Um just your stupid body. I love your body.

SPEAKER_02 15:36

Thank you. I love my body too. I love mine in a yes, I love mine in an all in a always. But it really needs to get its shit together. Anyway, so what I started doing, I put like a tablespoon of vinegar or no, a little bit more than that, but I'll put into cold water, and then I'll put the berries in and let them just sort of sit there and think about what they've done, and then I will put them into a colander and then rinse them really well. And that seems to take care of any hiding little spores for me. Yeah, so and then I can eat the berries without having an issue.

SPEAKER_01 16:18

So I am going to do that with mushrooms.

SPEAKER_02 16:20

No, I do not. Vinegar is kind of amazing. I mean, it's really magic. It really is. And of course, as we already know, sugar attracts, just it attracts. It's a sweet, it sweetens uh the energy, it brings good luck, it attracts love, it attracts money, it attracts positive energy, it attracts bees. It it just attracts bees. It attracts hummingbirds, you know, it attracts me. I do have a sweet tooth. When you're making a shrub for a that you're going to be using in your cocktail magic, you're looking at those properties i within just the sugar and the vinegar. So then if you choose fruit with an energy you want to bring to your potion, as well as taste, of course, then you come up with something quite dynamic and quite powerful. So, like pineapple or blackberry for prosperity, strawberries for love, blueberries.

SPEAKER_01 17:26

Love and also fertility and divine feminine energy.

SPEAKER_02 17:30

Exactly. Yeah, blueberries for peace. You can even choose a blend of fruits if like if you like strawberries and rhubarb, emotion rhubarb brings emotional balance. I love rhubarb and strawberries. I do too, I can't find any. I can't believe you can't find any rhubarb, like that just blows my mind. Maybe they just don't know.

SPEAKER_01 17:54

I've been places that are like, we have heard of rhubarb and it's a menu item or whatever, but I can't find any for my own personality. Actually, purchase. And you don't exactly balcony plants.

SPEAKER_02 18:07

I don't think so, but I don't know if you're not.

SPEAKER_01 18:11

So, how do you get it if you can't buy it?

SPEAKER_02 18:15

Right.

SPEAKER_01 18:16

It's kind of like a big one. I will have my partner smuggle. I know they have rhubarb in the UK. Yes, they do. So I will have him smuggle some rhubarb back because he's going there next month. Uh-huh. I'll have him smuggle some back. I'm curious. Now that I've put that out there on the internet, you totally won't be putting it.

SPEAKER_02 18:36

So excited to smuggle fruits into the I mean there has to be places you can get it from. Like you'd think. You'd think. I don't know. It's very interesting. Anyway, so you can play with the you can play with it's it's a very it's very unique because of the vinegar. It's just not what we're used to, but it really makes a yummy, like, addition to certain cocktails. So you don't need any fancy equipment uh to create shrubs in your workshop or uh kitchen. You don't need any knights or swords. So basically shrubs are typically, typically one one one ratio. So that means one part fruit, one part sugar, one part vinegar. The caveat is adjusting that for taste, adjusting that for the type of fruit. Um, I'll talk about that when we talk about my experience making shrub. First, you choose specific finisher. So ch typically apple cider vinegar is probably the most versatile choice, it's the most common, it's the easiest probably to get your hands on. But you can use any potable vinegar. Um, avoid distilled white vinegar, it's just it's really harsh. It's better for cleaning.

SPEAKER_01 20:01

That's yeah, clean with that one.

SPEAKER_02 20:03

That's a cleaning vinegar. Also, you can choose one that goes really well with your flavor flavor profile, like like you did basomic with your strawberries, or you could have gone like champagne vinegar with your strawberries. Um, like red or white wine vinegar goes really well with stone fruits. You could also get rice vinegar if you were doing something that you thought would go well with that. I just use apple cider vinegar. I get the rice.

SPEAKER_01 20:28

I used a mixture of um mostly apple cider. Because balsamic is a lot. Yes. A little balsamic.

unknown 20:37

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:38

Yeah, that's the thing. If if you have a strong vinegar, like a dark balsamic or sherry vinegar or something like that, which are really, really strong, then yeah, mixing them like with 50-50 or 2575 with like an apple cider vinegar is Yeah, and I did I did 7525.

SPEAKER_01 20:53

Yeah.

SPEAKER_02 20:54

Because I have a balsamic that's like 25 years old or something, and it's really thick and really dark. There's no way I would use I would probably have to dilute it uh 2575 at least. Also, check your acidity on your vinegars, it should be at least 5%. That's what most potable vinegars are around 5%.

SPEAKER_01 21:15

So uh I should have read this a lot more closely, you guys, before just going out into the wild and like making my own shrub, because I didn't check that. Well, I don't know.

SPEAKER_02 21:25

It doesn't matter if you're gonna refrigerate it. Oh, okay, okay. And honestly, uh, even though my vinegar is five percent, I'm still gonna refrigerate it because it tastes better cold. I it tastes better cold, I think, and also we have refrigeration, so why not? I don't really want to risk it. Liqueur is one thing, vinegar is another, I don't know. Um, and also, like with mine, I didn't put as much vinegar in it, and we'll get to that later. So, your first step is just gonna be macerating the fruit with sugar. So, before you even touch the Vinegar. You want to have your clean fruit that's been chopped or mashed in a bowl with sugar. White sugar is the most common, but you can use brown sugar, you can use honey, you can use a combination. And let the mixture. This is method is the cold method. There's like three methods you can do. You can do the cold method, the hot method, or like there's a blender method or whatever. I have a uh document um with the three with a link, I think, to the three kinds. So um that will be.

SPEAKER_01 22:33

That'll be linked. You'll you'll have access to this.

SPEAKER_02 22:36

We'll put that in the show notes. But I just did the cold version because it was the simplest. Basically, you just put your fruit in there, you put your sugar in there, you cover it with like a tea towel, and let it sit on the counter for like a couple of days until it looks nice and juicy. And then you want to strain it all into a measuring cup, add an equal amount of vinegar to the syrup, but you should do it slowly, like little bits by little bits, tasting as you go, until you get a sharpness that you like, and then pour it in a jar and store in the fridge. So many moons ago when I made it, I made a blackberry one, and it was really tasty because the blackberries were fresh, they were ripe, they were so sweet, and I did like the bur with the bourbon and everything, and it was so good. But this time I went with frozen pineapple because I had to happen to have it in the freezer, and I was like, hey, let's see what happens. Well, um, so I did equal part I did a mix of brown sugar and white sugar. And when when it got done sitting, like there was still so much sugar, and it was so thick that I added a little bit of pineapple juice in there because I was just trying to get the sugar kind of swiped up. And when I added the vinegar, I didn't even add, like, it was not a 1-1-1, it was a one part sugar, one part um fruit, and then like not even half a part, it was maybe a third a part of vinegar, and it's still quite acidic, so I'm thinking it probably needs more sugar to it, so I might just add some simple syrup or something. But um, because I forgot pineapple is quite acid acidic. My thought after doing that was like pineapple or at least frozen pineapple for sure. I think it would be better. Number one, it would be better to do the pineapple fresh than frozen, but also I think it would do better with the cooked method where you cook the fruit and get more juice out of it and everything, and it kind of is sweeter when you cook it. Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 24:48

Okay, so what I did was I made as I said earlier, I until two days ago I didn't know what a shrub was. And I kind of googled a few recipes and decided that this is the like I'm gonna make a strawberry balsamic one because I was making strawberry simple syrup for another recipe. Some strawberries got it taken care of, and then I just made it up from there, more or less.

SPEAKER_02 25:14

I mean, I think that's pretty much how this goes with strawberry syrup.

SPEAKER_01 25:17

I started making my strawberry simple syrup for another recipe, and then brought that all to a simmer, and then I skimmed out half of my strawberries that were in there. Ah, and put them in a beaker, and I have a picture of my beaker. It makes me feel like I'm doing chemistry. Put them in my measuring beaker and added some more sugar because at that point they were just very lightly. So then I macerated them with sugar for a while until the sugar was all gone into my worm strawberries, and everything was mushy and clean. And then I added my three-to-one apple cider to balsamic vinegar, apple cider vinegar to balsamic vinegar stuff, and I put it in there and I gave it a big stir, and then I stirred it and so make sure everything was dissolved, threw it in the fridge to hang out until um shortly before this started recording when I strained the strawberries out. So I think probably I will do this again with like a more proper methodology. But it's good flavor at least.

SPEAKER_02 26:24

Yeah. That's the important part that it's good flavor. And probably with yours, um, it will probably taste better as it like sits. Because that's how balsamic and strawberries just tend to work together.

SPEAKER_01 26:37

They kind of like Oh, it's a very good flavor combination.

SPEAKER_02 26:40

Uh so good. And they let's just sort of hang out and swim in each other's juices. Oh, that sounded dirty. Yep. Um so the great thing about this, with my recipe, uh, the person who I got the recipe from, they have you add two ounces of the pineapple shrub to the same amount of rum and the same amount of club soda to create pineapple yummy concoction. I haven't tried that yet, but that's on the list. I I might have to play with the shrub a little bit more because I I do think it needs more sugar. And then for pineapple mocktail, like they had two ounces of pineapple shrub and two ounces of club soda. Well, I this morning I did the shrub and then I did uh sparkling water. And it was actually pretty tasty. It was a little it was a little acidic, which I why I think it needs played with, but well, and I made basically a shrub Collins with mine.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

So I had equal parts gin and shrub. So strawberry balsamic shrub. Yeah. And then topped with club soda. So I think it probably would have been a one-to-one to one. Yeah. The recipe had way less shrub, and I took a drink of it. I'm like, ooh, this needs more. Yeah, and I I just use regular sparkling water and not club soda because I think. Yeah. I think you can just add baking soda to anything. But I think this would also be very good as I mean without the gin. But also with some like lemon syrup as like kind of a strawberry balsamic lemonade.

SPEAKER_02 28:16

Ooh, that would be delicious.

SPEAKER_01 28:18

I think that would be a really great non-alcoholic.

SPEAKER_02 28:21

Yeah, super tasty. I mean, in that because we're coming up in the northern hemisphere towards summer, and having nice, cold, tasty beverages is like that are non-alcoholic.

SPEAKER_01 28:34

We're smacked out in summer right now. It's past midsummer.

SPEAKER_02 28:37

I guess so. When this comes out. When this comes out, yeah. And the other thing is like there is some health benefits to drinking vinegar, like digestive benefits as well. Make sure now again with balsamic, there are some people who cannot drink who cannot have balsamic vinegar because of allergy reasons. So be cautious with that.

SPEAKER_01 29:00

I didn't know what balsamic was made of before today, but it's made with grape must, so that can invite fungus in. I'm fortunate that so far. So if I say wood, yeah, that hasn't been a problem for me.

SPEAKER_02 29:12

So some people who have a fungus issue, yeah. And whatever my mold situation is, it's not fungus. Like I can eat mushrooms, blue cheese, balsamic, all of that without any problems. Thank God. Yes, but I can't eat any seafood. I'm allergic to beef. So, you know.

SPEAKER_01 29:34

Okay, wait. Haha, I can have those things.

SPEAKER_02 29:37

So there you go. And so that is our that is our shrubs. So final deep thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 29:46

Wait, can I say something before we go?

SPEAKER_02 29:47

Yes, Amy, can you please share your final deep thoughts on shrubs with us?

SPEAKER_01 29:51

This is pre-final deep thoughts.

SPEAKER_02 29:53

Oh, pre-final deep thoughts.

SPEAKER_01 29:54

This is just because I just learned what balsamic was made of. Uh-huh. Which is weird, but I've never been a vinegar head. I just thought that's a pre-deep thought. Um, but the the magical properties of balsamic vinegar because it's made from grapevust. Oh, yeah, yeah. Transformation, abundance, and raw vitality.

SPEAKER_02 30:14

Ooh, get you some raw vitality. I know, right?

SPEAKER_01 30:18

I feel very vital.

SPEAKER_02 30:20

So yeah, your uh your vinegar uh properties, you've got your general vinegar properties, but then you your vinegar properties are also gonna be affected by what it's made of. So, like apple cider vinegar is literally made with apples. So you're gonna have some of that in there, which you know, feminine energy, love, fertility. You know, if you're doing it if you're rice vin rice wine vinegar, you know, you're gonna have the properties of the rice and so on.

SPEAKER_01 30:48

Yeah. This is a very powerful intellectual that I just had because I've got gin. Strawberries for like love and feminine energy and creativity. I've got balsamic, retransformation, abundance, raw vitality.

SPEAKER_02 31:05

Get it. And if you were wondering what I was sipping on, because I had my I had my uh my smash drink earlier, and and there that shows up. Uh I have a video of me making the smash, me making the shrub, and I actually have a a video in the video of me making the little drink that I made, so you can see that. But um, but this is just this is a uh the cocktail that we used in our Letha episode. I am enjoying it thoroughly, so be sure to check that out on our Letha episode. Mm-hmm. So good. And that was made with the strawberry syrup. Anyway, so final deep thoughts. Let's say making your own shrub is a unique bit of kitchen witchery. It's it's deeply tied to both European and American roots. So if you identify with those roots, that's that's part of your heritage, and this is something that you can enjoy and be a part of. But it's with a new and a modern twist, because obviously we have new and modern ways of making this. You can be creative, experimental, make as much as or little as you need. You can do like half a cup, half a cup, half a cup kind of a thing, you know, just make a little bit of- You do you-boo. You do you boo. And just like with all the other elements of cocktail making that we've discussed, it's just it's just as fluid and fun. Fun, yeah, as all the rest. And versatile. There, it's literally right in front of me. Versatile and fun. So the next time you run across a knight who says knee, me, you'll be able to offer them a strawberry. Um I can't help myself. I just can't.

SPEAKER_01 33:07

And I don't want you to. When I saw all the Knights of V stuff in the script, I was beyond delighted. And when I shared that with Shaya, she informed me that if I had not gotten her jokes, our friendship and this podcast would be over. Yeah. I wouldn't be able to. I hope you all are too.

SPEAKER_02 33:35

Just like your best friend Medieval historian, Dr.

SPEAKER_01 33:40

Eleanor Janega.

SPEAKER_02 33:42

Yes, yes, yes, yes. So I see, and I knew with all my heart that you would appreciate this joke as much as I did. Because we are both those robins. Yes. He boldly ran away.

SPEAKER_01 34:01

Uh oh my god, y'all. Thank you so much for coming on our journey. Yes. We're loving sharing our witches liquor cabinets with you. So please take a moment to like, to subscribe to our YouTube channel, to our podcast, follow us on Instagram, and let us know.

SPEAKER_02 34:26

Yeah, let us know also if you make a shrub. Share a picture of it with. Let us know what you make. Let us know what you think. I'm really curious about this, probably even more than any of the other ones, because it's so freaking weird and unusual. Yeah. Just not something you think of. So let us know for sure if you make a shrub.

SPEAKER_01 34:46

Subscribe to our news newsletter, head over to our website, clickbangerscocktails.com, subscribe to our newsletter. Yeah, thank you. Thank you so much. Until next time. Hi!