Burly Beverages Pineapple Nutmeg Shrub Syrup
Burly Beverages Pineapple Nutmeg Shrub Syrup blends pineapple juice, nutmeg, mace, and allspice with apple cider vinegar and turbinado sugar — a colonial-era-style drinking vinegar built for sodas and tiki cocktails. It comes in a 16 fl oz (473mL) bottle, and one bottle makes 16–20 sodas or up to 32 cocktails. Available to order online from Del Mesa Liquor in San Diego, CA.
- Size: 16 fl oz (473mL)
- Ingredients: pineapple juice, nutmeg, mace, allspice, apple cider vinegar, turbinado sugar (brand copy)
- Made in: Sacramento, California — handmade in small batches
- What it is: a shrub — a vinegar, fruit-juice, and sugar preservation syrup dating to the colonial era
- Yield: one bottle makes 16–20 sodas or up to 32 cocktails (brand claim)
A Shrub, Not a Bush
If you haven't met a shrub, you're in for a treat: it's a sweet-tart drinking vinegar made from fruit juice, sugar, and vinegar — a preservation method that dates back to colonial America, long before refrigeration. Burly Beverages, the Sacramento, California small-batch maker founded in 2015, makes its shrubs by hand from real produce and unrefined sugars; one of the brand's shrubs even made Slow Food's Ark of Taste list. This one leans tropical and warm-spiced. See all the Burly Beverages syrups and shrubs or browse mixers.
Tasting Notes
Bright, juicy pineapple up front, warmed by nutmeg, mace, and allspice, with the apple cider vinegar adding a tangy, appetite-whetting edge. Sweet, tart, and aromatic at once — quenches like nothing from a soda gun.
How to Enjoy
Stir into seltzer or club soda for an amazingly quenching soda — the brand's tip is coconut-flavored sparkling water for a light piña colada soda. It also enhances tiki cocktails (pair with seltzer and/or spirits plus spiced or floral bitters), and works as a marinade or the starter for a sweet-and-sour sauce.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a shrub syrup and how do you use it in cocktails?A shrub is a drinking vinegar: fruit juice preserved with sugar and vinegar. Use it like a cordial — a splash in seltzer for soda, or in place of part of the sweet-and-sour component in tiki drinks and sours.
Does shrub syrup need to be refrigerated?Shrubs keep well thanks to the sugar and vinegar, but once opened, refrigeration preserves the freshest flavor — treat it like a juice-based syrup.
What goes well with pineapple and nutmeg in a drink?Rum (naturally), coconut, lime, allspice, and ginger — this shrub was practically built for tiki. It also lifts vodka or gin sodas with a tropical-spiced twist.
Can you use shrub syrup in cooking?Yes — Burly suggests this one as a marinade or as the base of a sweet-and-sour sauce, where the vinegar and fruit do double duty.
Skip the soda gun — make it tropical with Burly Pineapple Nutmeg Shrub Syrup from Del Mesa Liquor.