A sweet and sour pear shrub combined with vodka, lemon juice, honey, and champagne creates a delicious, sweet, and boozy New Year’s Eve cocktail!
Happy New Years Eve friends!
I can’t believe it’s already the end of 2018. It’s been a wonderful year and I am so grateful for all of your love and support following my blog. It means the world to me that you all read my stories and make my recipes. I cannot wait to bring you more deliciousness in 2019!
I wanted to leave you all with one last recipe – and what better way to end 2018 and ring in the near year than with a cocktail!
My Pear and Ginger Sparklers. It combines a pear ginger shrub (this delicious sweet and sour concentrated syrup that combines a fruit, sugar, and vinegar) with vodka, lemon juice, honey, and champagne, of course! It’s a festive, delicious, and boozy cocktail – which is perfect for NYE!
Let’s get to shaking!
First, let’s talk about this shrub. And I’m not taking about a bush or a plant outside, which is honestly what I thought of when I first saw a shrub on a menu. It’s actually this fabulous, flavorful juice that you can add to cocktails to create a richer, more flavorful drink.
I recently had an amazing cocktail at a swanky cocktail bar in Chicago. It had so much flavor, sweet, sour, fruity, yet was still smooth and balanced. It was literally addicting! I asked the waitress how it got its flavor and she explained they used a homemade shrub. After doing some research, I realized that shrubs can be made at home and are relatively easy to make!
To create a shrub, you will need a fruit, a sweetener, and a vinegar. I used pears because they are a beautiful, light winter fruit. To sweeten the shrub, I used honey because it is an unrefined sugar that has a more complex, robust flavor than regular white sugar. Plus, honey and pears pair well together. Finally, I used apple cider vinegar because it’s mild in flavor and pears and apples have a similar flavor profile.
In a medium sauce pan, combine the pears, honey, and water. Bring to a soft boil. Lower to medium-low heat and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. The pears will release their juices into the water and soften. Remove from heat.
Add in grated ginger. The ginger gives the shrub a nice spicy punch that helps wake up your taste buds! Cover pan and allow to sit for another 10-15 minutes so flavors can continue to meld together.
Strain mixture with a sieve to discard pear pieces (pressing pears into the sieve to extract their remaining juices).
Add mixture back to pan along with apple cider vinegar and bring to low boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. I like to heat the mixture once you add the apple cider vinegar because it helps tame the bite of the vinegar and allow for a more mellow vinegar flavor.
Pour mixture into air tight container and store in fridge for up to 2 weeks.
**This shrub is also delicious paired with sparkling water. Just add an ounce of the shrub to a glass and top with your favorite flavor of sparkling water. I pair it with the pear peach or lemon flavor LaCroixs.
Time to make the cocktail! To a shaker, add lemon juice, vodka, the pear ginger shrub, a splash of honey, and some ginger pieces and muddle the ginger for a couple minutes. I like to add more ginger and muddle it so you really get that ginger flavor (you can skip the muddling ginger step though if you prefer). Add ice and shake vigorously. Pour the mixture between two glasses and top with champagne or prosecco!
Viola! Your NYE cocktail is complete! And it’s a good one. This cocktail it sweet from the honey, a little sour and spicy from the shrub and ginger, bright from the lemon, boozy from the vodka, and crisp and sparkling from the champagne. It’s beautiful & complex and tastes like it came from a high-end cocktail bar. Perfect for a classy NYE party. Or, if you’re like me, and just staying in for a romantic date night!
I hope you all have a wonderful NYE! I can’t wait to bring you even more creative and delicious recipes next year! See you in 2019!
P.S. My new year’s resolution is to bring you even more recipes more frequently in 2019 and to bring you things you really want to see. So please leave a comment below on some recipes you would like me to make in 2019. Thanks!
Pear and Ginger Sparklers
Ingredients
Pear and Ginger Shrub
- 3 ripe pears chopped
- 1 cup water
- ½ cup honey
- 2 tablespoons grated ginger
- ½ cup unfiltered apple cider vinegar
- 3 thyme sprigs optional
Pear and Ginger Cocktail
- 2 ounces pear ginger shrub
- 2 ounce of vodka
- Juice of half of a lemon
- Splash of honey
- 2 inch piece of ginger skin removed and cut into chunks
- bottle of prosecco or champagne
- Pear slices for garnish
Instructions
Shrub
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In a medium sauce pan, combine pears, honey, and water. Bring to a soft boil. Lower to medium-low heat and allow to simmer for 25 minutes. The pears will release their juices and soften. Remove from heat.
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Add in grated ginger. Cover pan and allow to sit for another 10-15 minutes so flavors can continue to meld together.
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Strain mixture with a sieve to discard pair pieces (pressing pairs into the sieve to extract their remaining juices).
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Add mixture back to pan along with apple cider vinegar and bring to low boil and simmer for 2-3 minutes. Remove from heat.
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Pour mixture into air tight container and store in fridge for up to 2 weeks.
Cocktail
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In a shaker, combine all of the ingredient, except champagne. Muddle the ginger for about a minute so it releases its flavor. Add ice and shake vigorously.
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Divide the mixture between 2 glasses. Top with champagne until glass is 3/4s of the way full. Garnish with pair slice.
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Serve, sip, and enjoy!
