A cool and refreshing cucumber mint vinegar-based homemade lemonade that’s tangy and sweet. Perfect for a hot summer day!
Ever heard of a “shrub” (as in drink, not bush)? It’s basically a fruity vinegar-based liqueur or soda. The acidity of the vinegar adds flavor and intensifies the flavor of the fruit, similar to how the acidity of the lemon balances out the sugar in the lemonade and makes the lemonade taste lemony.
You can use vinegar to make lemonade with fruit without it being sweet.
If you’re unfamiliar with shrubs, the whole vinegar concept can seem a bit unusual. But believe me, it works!
I made a batch of these for some friends the other day and they’ve all been begging for the recipe. It’s wonderfully refreshing on a hot summer day.
Many thanks to Payam Fardanesh from Silk Road Soda for introducing the whole concept of vinegar based sodas and this cucumber mint combo in particular. It’s my favorite flavor of all their lemonades and a classic Persian drink.
This particular recipe is adapted from a recipe for Sekanjebeen, a mint vinegar syrup, from Ariana Bundy’s Persian cookbook Pomegranates and Roses.
Cucumber Mint “Shrub” Soda
ingredients
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4 cups of water
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1-3/4 cups granulated sugar
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1-1/3 cup white vinegar (plain white vinegar can be substituted)
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A handful of mint leaves
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1 cucumber, peeled, chopped if skins are thick
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Seltzer water
method
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Boil water and sugar:
Put 4 cups of water and sugar in a saucepan. Bring to a boil and let simmer uncovered for 10 minutes.
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Add white vinegar, boil and reduce:
Add white vinegar and cook uncovered for another 15 minutes, until liquid has reduced to a few cups. (Now you have plain vinegar syrup.)
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Add mint leaves:
Stir in the mint leaves and cook for another minute. Remove from the stove and let cool for at least 30 minutes.
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Strain the mint leaves and chill the syrup:
Strain the mint leaves and pour the vinegar syrup into a glass. Refrigerate until ready to use.
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Mix with cucumber, ice and soda water:
Fill a glass with ice cubes and several pieces of cucumber. Add the syrup and soda water in about a 1:3 ratio, syrup to water or whatever works for you to achieve the desired intensity for your soda. Stir with a spoon.
Serve immediately, garnished with a sprig of mint if you like.
