SPICED BLOOD ORANGE SHRUB

Photographs By Emma Fishman

Warm spices and winter citrus come together to make this punchy spiced blood orange shrub with a soft, festive hue. If you can’t get your hands on blood oranges, use orange zest and blood orange juice or a mix of 3 oranges and 1 lemon to mimic the sweet and slightly tangy flavor of blood oranges.

8 SERVINGS / 30 MINUTES PLUS COOLING

INGREDIENTS

4 medium blood oranges

1, 1 in. piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped

1 3 in. cinnamon stick

6 cloves

½ cup sugar

1 cup water

¼ cup apple cider vinegar, plus more if needed

Ice, for serving

Club soda, for serving

METHOD

Remove zest from blood oranges in wide strips with a vegetable peeler, leaving as much pith behind as possible. Set half of the zest aside for serving. Slice oranges in half; squeeze juice through a fine-mesh sieve set over a measuring glass or small bowl (you should have about 1 cup juice). Discard pulp and seeds; set juice aside.

Bring ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, sugar, remaining blood orange zest, and water to a boil in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until sugar is dissolved and mixture is reduced by half, about 5 minutes. Let cool, then strain syrup through a clean fine-mesh sieve into a clean measuring glass; discard solids.

Stir vinegar and reserved blood orange juice into syrup. Taste shrub—it should be a well-balanced sweet-and-sour flavor; add more vinegar by the tablespoon if needed.

To serve, pour 3 tablespoons shrub into each of 8 ice-filled glasses. Top off each with 4–5 ounces club soda and stir gently to combine. Garnish with reserved zest.

Do ahead: Shrub can be made 6 weeks ahead. Pour into a 1 pint glass jar; cover and chill.

This recipe was originally developed for Bon Appetit.