I know.  The name of this cocktail is a bit much, but until we come up with a name… This was so good and will be so good this summer. It’s light, refreshing, beautiful and comes together in just minutes. It was hard to leisurely sip. BUT but we recommend you do ~ there’s a hefty pour of rum in this one. The marionberries came from our friend’s organic summer garden. We’ve got a couple gallons of berries in the freezer so we thought we’d whip up a shrub to enjoy with some of Mac’s Christmas rum. This is going to be a favorite.

Hot Honey Marionberry Shrub Rum Cocktail with Lime

per cocktail

• 1-1/2 ounces good rum (we used light)
• 1-1/2 ounces Marionberry Shrub (see recipe below)
• 1 tsp fresh lime juice
• Splash of lime sparkling water
• 1/2 to 1 tsp drizzle of hot honey (depending on how hot your honey is)
• Lime juice on the rim and a slice for garnish
• Ice cubes

Rub a wedge of lime juice around the edge of your glass. In a shaker, fill with ice and pour rum, shrub and lime juice in.  Shake well and pour into a low-ball glass or martini glass. Add a splash of sparkling water, the drizzle of hot honey and garnish with a lime slice.

Additional cocktail ideas:  After rimming the glass with lime juice, you could edge it with sugar.  We didn’t, but it would be delicious and even more beautiful.  We think these ingredients along with some fresh muddled mint would make a great mojito as well!  That’s up next!

MARIONBERRY GINGER MINT SHRUB

There are hundreds of combinations you can use to make a shrub ~ the point is to concoct something that marries well and if using alcohol, serves well in a glass.  In our recipe testing, we found that the shrubs we made definitely brightened the cocktail, particularly if we added just a bit of citrus.  What we’ve read is that unlike citrus, a shrub can be shaken in a cocktail and it doesn’t “cloud” the beverage like citrus tends to do. So if shaking, consider adding citrus directly to the glass.

makes two 16 oz bottles

INGREDIENTS

• 6 C fresh or frozen marion berries, thaw them out first
• 2 tsp sea salt
• 2 C organic cane sugar
• 3 pieces of fresh organic ginger, about 2″ each with skin, chopped
• 1 cup fresh organic mint, chiffonade or chopped (you could use basil)
• 2 C apple cider vinegar, with or without mother

In a large glass jar, combine berries and ginger with the sugar.  Toss the berries to coat them in sugar and then macerate them with wooden spoon or stainless potato masher.  All this mixture is strained later, so don’t worry about seeds.  Cover with a tea towel and place in a cool, dark location for 48 hours.  You’ll want to stir the mixture a couple of times each day.

In another jar, add vinegar and mint chiffonade.  Cover with tea towel and place in cool dark location for 48 hours.

After 48 hours, strain the berry mixture using a fine mesh strainer.  Pour strained mixture into a glass bottle. Strain the vinegar and add this to the berry mixture. Stir to combine. Seal the bottles. To age the shrub, leave in the refrigerator for 10-14 days. Then cocktail! Your shrub will last up to 6 months in the fridge.

Cooks Notes:  I have a friend who used her shrub mixture after only one day.  It’s up to you, but I think the two day method has more flavor.