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Spiced Blood Orange Shrub

Spiced Blood Orange Shrub recipe
Photographs by Emma Fishman

Warm spices and winter citrus come together to make this punchy spiced blood orange shrub with a soft, festive hue. You probably won’t even miss the alcohol, but if you do, spike each drink with about 1½ oz. vodka or whiskey. And 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.

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What you’ll need

Ingredients

8 Servings

4 medium blood oranges
1 1" piece ginger, peeled, coarsely chopped
1 3" cinnamon stick
6 cloves
½ cup sugar
¼ cup (or more) apple cider vinegar
Club soda (for serving)
  1. Step 1

    Remove zest from blood oranges in wide strips with a vegetable peeler, leaving as much pith behind as possible. Set half of 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.

    Step 2

    Bring ginger, cinnamon stick, cloves, sugar, remaining blood orange zest, and 1 cup 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.

    Step 3

    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.

    Step 4

    To serve, pour 3 Tbsp. shrub into each of 8 ice-filled glasses. Top off each with 4–5 oz. 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.

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