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How to make rum shrub, a homemade rum liqueur recipe with oranges, lemons, sugar, and autumn spices. It’s a sweet and festive drink traditionally served in Cornwall, England. You can sip it neat or use it to make gorgeous cocktails. The recipe takes only minutes and needs about a week for the spices to infuse. When finished, you’ll have about two wine bottles (1.5 L) of homemade rum liqueur.

Homemade rum liqueur recipe with oranges, lemons, sugar, and autumn spices. It's a sweet and festive drink that you can sip neat or use in holiday cocktails. #christmasdrinks #rumrecipe #liqueurrecipe

Recently, a friend gave me a small bottle of an amber liquid she called shrub. I’d never heard of it before and was pleasantly surprised by its sweet and rich aroma. Traditional shrub is made from rum that’s sweetened with sugar, citrus, and festive spices. It has the consistency of light, simple syrup, and tastes incredible. I was hooked. Unfortunately, I couldn’t find it for sale anywhere locally, which meant that I needed to learn how to make it myself. It wasn’t difficult, and my recipe is shared below.

In my research for it, I found out that shrub is an entire liqueur category with quite an illustrious history. In the days of bootlegging and smuggling, rum or brandy barrels used to be sunk in harbors off the south coast of England. When the coast was clear, they were pulled back up, but unfortunately, the liqueur’s sojourn in the sea often left it with a brackish flavor. Small amounts of saltwater seeped through the barrels’ seams into the spirits.

Instead of throwing it out, some long-forgotten genius discovered how to disguise the saltiness with sugar and spices. It made the rum delicious and, more importantly at the time, saleable. While it was an invention of necessity, rum shrub is now enjoyed as a sweet and delightful drink perfect for warming up a chilly winter’s eve.

Famous Rum Liqueur Recipe

Since then, rum shrub has become famous as the drink made by Phillips of Bristol, which is now sadly discontinued. There are other brands of shrub still available for those who want to buy it and that’s good news for C ornwall! It’s a traditional tipple in bars and pubs there and is usually served with even more rum. Shrub has also been discovered by trendy bars and mixologists. Its sweet and spiced flavor complements mixed drinks and cocktails beautifully.

How to make rum shrub, a homemade rum liqueur recipe with oranges, lemons, sugar, and autumn spices. It's a sweet and festive drink that you can sip neat or use to make gorgeous cocktails. #christmasdrinks #holidaycocktails #rumrecipe #liqueurrecipe

Though I can’t be sure which herbs and spices are used in the original recipe, I looked at traditional shrub recipes, took an educated guess, and came up with a similar and delicious drink. Sweet with the fruity flavor of oranges and lemons, complemented by rich autumn spices. My version is a little stronger than the original, so you can enjoy it poured neat in a chilled glass without being overwhelmed by sweetness.

Ingredients & Substitutions

The ingredients I’ve used follow a traditional rum shrub recipe and include sixteen ounces of dark rum, citrus zest (peels), cinnamon, cloves, ginger, sugar, and wine. They’re all easy to find at most supermarkets and create a tasty drink. However, if you need to make substitutions or want to make your own variations, feel free to do so. It may not be exactly like the original, but it may be even better!

Ingredients for rum shrub laid out on the counter including white cane sugar, Captain Morgan dark rum, a bottle of chardonnay wine, two oranges, a lemon, ginger, and spices. — The ingredients for rum shrub are common in most supermarkets.

I’ve not used white rum or spiced rum to make this recipe before. If you do, be aware that spiced is already infused with spices and sweeter. Other types of spirit may work, too, such as bourbon, brandy, or al cohol-free dark rum. You could also use pineapple juice or lime juice instead of orange and lemon juice. The spices could be different, too, or include additional flavors such as vanilla bean or star anise.

More Liqueur Recipes

Rum shrub is not to be mistaken for the colonial-era shrub recipes from the United States. That shrub drink is a cocktail or soft drink made with vinegared syrup diluted with water or spirits. There are many other liqueurs that you can make at home, though, including these delicious recipes:

Rum Shrub Recipe

Tanya Anderson

How to make rum shrub, a Victorian rum liqueur recipe made with dark rum, citrus, ginger, and spices. It takes about a week to infuse and is perfect for autumn and winter parties and gatherings. Makes about two wine bottles (1.5 L) of sweet and golden liqueur.

5 from 3 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 30

Infusing time 8

Total Time 30

Course Drinks

Cuisine American, British

Servings shots

Calories 68 kcal

Equipment

large glass jar (sized 2 quart (2 liter) or larger)
lemon zester
measuring cups
cheesecloth/muslin (or jelly bag)
saucepan

Ingredients

To Make the Infusion

1 pint dark rum (473 ml)
2 large oranges (zested and juiced)
1 unwaxed lemon (zested and juiced)
1.5 inch piece of ginger (sliced, 4 cm)
1 cinnamon stick
1/8 tsp nutmeg (grated)
8 cloves (whole)

To Sweeten the Rum Liqueur

2 TBSP honey
2 cups white sugar (400 g)
1 bottle white wine (750 ml)

Instructions

Infuse the Rum with Spices and Citrus

Zest the oranges and lemon. Zesting involves removing just the outer layer of peel from the fruit while avoiding any white pith. You can use a lemon zester to help with this step.
Juice the oranges and the lemon. You should get about 1/8 cup of lemon juice and 3/4 cup of orange juice from the fruit. If there's more than this, that's fine.
Peel and slice the ginger into quarter-inch pieces.
Place all the ingredients from the section 'To Make the Infusion' in a large glass jar.
Store the jar in a dark place for a full week. Take it out once a day to give it a gentle shake.

Strain & Sweeten

After a week, strain the liquid through a muslin, cheesecloth, or jelly bag at least twice, if not three times. Remove as much of the solid particles in the liquid as possible.
Leave the liquid to settle for a few hours – preferably overnight.
Warm the entire bottle of white wine in a saucepan on low until the wine is warm and starting to steam. However, do not let it reach a simmer, or you'll lose alcohol to heat and evaporation.
When warm, take the wine off the heat. Stir in the honey and the sugar until completely dissolved, and allow the wine to cool to room temperature.
Gently pour the infused rum into the sugared wine, leaving as much sediment in the container as possible. Though not harmful, any residue of fruit and spices will be unsightly and can cloud your liqueur.
Pour the homemade rum shrub into clean, sterilized bottles. Next, store them in a dark place and allow them to mature for a week before serving*.
Due to the fresh juice used in this recipe, try to use the liqueur within four to six weeks. Refrigeration will help to prolong the shelf-life.

Notes

Spices note: It’s important to use whole spices rather than powdered ones so that the liqueur ends up as clear as possible. It’s more challenging to filter out powdered spices than whole ones, but if you only have powders and don’t mind some haziness, then go ahead and use them.

White wine note: Use any that you would like. I recommend using an inexpensive chardonnay or pinot grigio.

* This week helps to clear the alcohol but also adds mellows out the flavor, but if you can’t wait that long, go ahead and have a sneaky sample.

Nutrition

Serving: 1ozCalories: 68kcalCarbohydrates: 8.02gSodium: 17mgPotassium: 4.7mgSugar: 8.02gVitamin C: 0.1mg

Keyword liqueur, rum

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