Create a fig shrub drink mix with cardamom for a fun, alcohol-free drink during the holidays.
The following Fig Cardamom Shrub can be added to drinks with and without alcohol, as well as turned into a simple shrub soda.
Ingredients
- 3 to 5 green cardamom pods, cracked open
- 1 cup whole frozen, fresh, or dried figs
- 1 cup pure organic cane sugar
- 1/2 cup apple cider vinegar
- 1/2 cup balsamic vinegar
Directions
- Toast the cardamom pods in a pot over medium-low heat, just until pods become fragrant, from 30 seconds to 2 minutes. Then, add the figs, sugar, and both vinegars, stirring to dissolve the sugar and increasing the heat to medium.
- Once the sugar has dissolved and the figs have softened, mash the fruits gently with a wooden spoon and coax them into releasing their juices. Control the heat so the shrub doesn’t reach a boil. Infuse for about 20 minutes, tasting as you go, until the cardamom spice flavor is present without becoming overly bitter.
- Strain out the figs and cardamom pods. Bottle in a clean container with a lid, and store in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.
Fresh figs can be harvested for only a few weeks a year. They don’t keep, and they don’t travel well, so if you’re lucky enough to have a fig tree in your yard, the pressure is on to eat all the tasty fruits. When you see them at the store in late summer, grab them. Lucky for you, you can extend that short window by preserving them in a shrub. We kind of love how much of a diva figs are, and drinks do too – the flavor is distinctive and holds up well to a wide variety of liquors.
This is a shrub we prefer to process hot, as the caramelly flavors from the cooked figs are the end goal. If you’re making this outside of fresh fig season, dried figs will also work; when heated with vinegar, they’ll rehydrate.
Whole cardamom pods may not be in your pantry yet, but they can be found easily and affordably online or on well-stocked grocery store shelves.
Shrub Soda
A shrub soda assuages the sweet tooth while balancing the stomach with naturally fermented vinegar, aiding digestion. Not all palates will love these, but if you love pickles and don’t mind kombucha, you’re going to fall fast for the sweet-sour combination of shrub sodas.
Combine 1 ounce Fig Cardamom Shrub (or other shrub) and 6 ounces seltzer in a Collins glass full of crushed ice. Stir gently. Garnish.
– Excerpted from Drink Your Garden (Countryman Press) by Belinda Kelly and Venise Cunningham
Originally published as in the December 2025/January 2026 issue of MOTHER EARTH NEWS magazine and regularly vetted for accuracy.
