Sweet pumpkin, spicy ginger, and warming spices come together to create an irresistible glass of pumpkin shrubs. This deceptively simple drink is like fall in a glass; it's perfect on its own or mixed with your favorite spirit.
Today is one of the best days in autumn besides Halloween and Thanksgiving. Today is #virtualpumpkinparty day! This is the day that food bloggers from everywhere share a tasty pumpkin recipe for everyone to enjoy! This is the second year it's been around and I've been waiting for it since the first one ended last year. And in case you were wondering, yes, I did realize when I made my short-lived pumpkin ban that I would need to make a pumpkin recipe for this. But since I knew I was joining in again before I made that ban, I considered it an exception to the rule. Not that it matter anymore that I broke my ban making pumpkin brioche and brown butter pumpkin chocolate chip cookies.
I have an obsession with shrubs. They are a drinking vinegar with a very long history in the world because of its health benefits. I started making my own at about the same time I started making my own kombucha. During the summer I had plans of sharing a few shrub recipes with you, but after being sick and moving, it completely slipped my mind. It wasn't until I started brainstorming unique recipes to share for the virtual pumpkin party that I came up with the idea of making pumpkin shrubs. My original idea was making pumpkin fries, which I might still make one day. I've had that idea in my head and written down in my notebook since last year, so who knows when that'll actually happen.
I've never had anything like pumpkin shrubs before. If you've never felt like you really could pinpoint what the actual flavor of pumpkin is, this drink will show you just that. Sure, you can taste the ginger and spices and vinegar in the shrubs, but the taste of the pumpkin is unmistakable. I used my signature blend of pumpkin spices: ginger, cinnamon, and cardamom. They are my favorite and work especially well here in the pumpkin shrubs. Fresh ginger gives the shrubs a wonderful spiciness, while the cinnamon and cardamom gives it this really amazing warmth. Together, it is like pure fall in a glass.
A sip of pumpkin shrubs will have you dancing in a pile of golden yellow and ruby red leaves in your infinity scarf and boots. It's perfect to drink on its own, but you can also add a touch of sparkling water to dilute it a bit since it is a thicker drink. I personally love to use it in a cocktail. Personally, I love adding bourbon or even vodka. I have this maple infused bourbon in the house and it is really good with the pumpkin shrubs.
The best part about pumpkin shrubs is that it is a very simple process to make. It is simply a matter of mixing the ingredients together, waiting, and then straining out the juice.
Pumpkin Shrubs
Ingredients
- 2 lbs 6 oz pumpkin puree*
- 1 ¾ cups granulated sugar
- 1 ¾ cups apple cider vinegar
- 3 tablespoons freshly grated ginger
- 1 tablespoon plus 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 ½ teaspoons ground cardamom
Instructions
- In a large bowl, mix together all the ingredients. Cover tightly and store in the refrigerator for 48 hours.
- Strain the juice from the pumpkin puree using a cheesecloth. For best results, strain the puree two or three times to get as much of the liquid from it.
- Pass the strained juice through the cheesecloth to ensure there are no bits of puree in the juice.
- Store the juice in an air tight container.
Notes
You can find everyone's tasty pumpkin recipes on Sara @ Cake Over Steak's and Aimee @ Twigg Studio's blogs!
Maureen says
Can’t wait to make this! Any idea what the shelflife is?
Amanda says
Apologies for the delay! It should last up to a year in your refrigerator in an airtight container such as a mason jar! Shrubs by nature have a long shelf life!
Denisse | Le Petit Eats says
This has the most gorgeous orange hue and I bet it would taste amazing with that maple bourbon, yum! I love all these photos, especially the pour shot...I've been practicing that technique myself but can't get it quite right, whatever I'm pouring always looks blurry :/ Would you mind sharing what shutter speed and other settings your camera was set to to get that particular shot looking so sharp? I'd be so grateful for the tip!
Amanda says
Hi Denisse! Thank you! I was worried that it would come out brownish because of the spices I used, but I was really happy with the final color. Here are the stats of the shot: ISO 400 F 3.5 Speed 1/320 secs. Shot with a 35mm fixed lens next to a south facing back door at about 12:30-1pm. I hope that helps!
traci | Vanilla And Bean says
This sounds just perfect, Amanda! You know I've just discovered shrubs (thank you Liz ^^) so I'm so excited to try some different varieties. I'm blown away with this pumpkin shrub because, hello? Pumpkin!? Genius, Amanda! Beautiful captures and delicious work my dear! Looking forward to those pumpkin fries 😀 !
Joyce @ Sun Diego Eats says
Love shrubs and did not realize they were so easy to make! Much easier than having to keep your SCOBY alive for kombucha, I'll have to try this out soon !
Amanda says
Yes, they are so so easy! Other fruits have a longer process unless you use the "hot method" You know someone threw out my SCOBY by accident? I was devastated!
Sarah | Well and Full says
Maple bourbon + this shrub sounds FANTASTIC. I'll be over in an hour to have some, okay? 😉
Amanda says
Bring over some pumpkin hummus and it's a deal!
heather (delicious not gorgeous) says
i love the color of this!! and i've never had a shrub before, but kombucha (someone called it buch and said it like BOOCH the other day and it sounded very off to me even though it's not that bizarre) is so refreshing that i bet this would be amazing.
Amanda says
I totally call kombucha "booch" sometimes when I wanna feel like I am one of the cool kids haha. You will love shrubs, especially if you love kombucha! It's sweeter and doesn't have any carbonation, but it still has that bite to it.
Medha says
Seriously gorgeous photos! These are so fun and I love the idea of making a pumpkin shrub- also the cardamom sounds so yum in there 🙂
Aimee | Wallflower Kitchen says
This sounds DELICIOUS and your photos are gorgeous. Love <3
Liz @ Floating Kitchen says
GIRL! This is brilliant. I've only made shrubs with berries and never in a million years would have thought about using pumpkin. Super cool. And the color is FAB. Oh and you know I'm definitely adding bourbon!
Amanda says
I've only had it with berries too, but then I heard someone talking about tomato and cucumber shrubs, then I realized that you can really make shrubs with anything, so why not pumpkin? I tried it with a few different types of bourbon and rye, definitely see if you can use some maple bourbon because it was amazing together!