Everyone Is Drinking Shrubs

Shrubs (drinking vinegars made with fruit and sugar with roots in early American and British drinking culture), have been quietly beasting in Melbourne. Blending acidity, sweetness and often a dose of seasonal experimentation, here these lightly fermented drinks are being reimagined through the lens of sustainability, seasonality and craft. They’re now on menus at some of the city’s most exciting cafes, restaurants and bars.

Carmen Newton, co-owner of Hot-Listed Masses Bagels, has made shrubs part of the Collingwood cafe’s identity. She makes small batches of seasonal shrubs in-house using fruit macerated with raw sugar and varying vinegars such as malt, white wine and apple cider. Many use the leftover fruit from the cafe’s house-made jams. “They’re seasonal, low-waste and give us a creative way to work with produce beyond just food,” she says. Her matcha shrub, made with green mandarin and cardamom, has become an unlikely hit. “It catches people off guard in the best way – it’s layered, refreshing and not too sweet.”

Just a short walk away in Carlton, coffee shop Assembly has been serving seasonal shrubs on and off for nearly a decade. Owner Christina Trabucco describes them to customers as “a fizzy, lightly fermented drinking vinegar. It’s sour and sweet and delicious.” Like Newton, she says the drink – which Assembly typically makes from seasonal fruits such as sour cherries, nectarines and pomegranate – often sparks curiosity. “We get a lot of questions, but it’s a lovely moment to talk about fermentation, flavour and the ingredients we’re working with.”

Sam Peasnell, beverage manager of Hot-Listed Etta in Brunswick East, takes shrubs into a restaurant setting. His team slowly ferments seasonal fruit with sugar to create syrups (similar to preparing a Korean cheong), then blends them with vinegars made in-house from spent wine and kitchen scraps.

Shrubs are a common cocktail ingredient, and at Etta, Peasnell has used a plumcot shrub in a Black Manhattan, and is currently developing a fermented beetroot, curry leaf, tarragon and wine shrub.

“They’re incredibly versatile,” Peasnell says. “We use them in cocktails and non-alc drinks. They’re a great way to preserve beautiful produce, reduce waste, and create something truly unique. Plus, they deliver that punchy acidity bartenders are always chasing.”

Peasnell believes their rise in popularity is part of a broader shift. “Non-alc programs are becoming more thoughtful. People aren’t just asking for kombucha anymore. They want drinks with structure, with body and complexity.”

He name-checks Masses as his favourite place to drink shrubs in Melbourne: “Carmen’s shrubs with matcha are so refreshing, tangy, bright, and totally original.” He also highlights Barragunda Dining in Cape Schanck and Molli in Abbotsford as venues doing interesting work with the fruit vinegars. You’ll also find a quince number at Standing Room Coffee and a standout wild berry shrub at Cremorne newcomer Sogumm.

Whether it’s a fizzy stone fruit number at Assembly, a vinegar-spiked matcha at Masses, or a boozy shrub cocktail at Etta, these drinks are offering something rare: originality. Each one is built from scratch, tells a story, and showcases the kind of behind-the-scenes process Melbourne venues do best.

“Shrubs give us a way to be creative and thoughtful, and to make something that people might not expect, but absolutely love,” says Trabucco.

“People aren’t asking for shrubs by name yet,” Newton adds. “But they know they want something interesting, something refreshing, something that feels like it was made just for them. That’s where shrubs really shine.”