The Recipe Card

Cardamom Pear Shrub

Orchard fruit, green spice, and a little vinegar snap.

• cardamom pear shrub1.5
• sparkling water4
• fresh lemon juice0.25
• ice

1. 1.Simmer the Shrub. Everything goes into the pot cold — chopped ripe pears, sugar, apple cider vinegar, and the crushed cardamom pods — then comes up slowly to the gentlest simmer your stove can hold. Ten minutes at a bare bubble, stirring once or twice, until the pears slump.
2. 2.Strain and Bottle. Pull it off the heat and let it steep, covered, another fifteen minutes — half the extraction happens on the way down. Then fine-strain into a clean bottle, cool completely, and refrigerate. It keeps a month.
3. 3.Build over One Big Cube. Set one large cube in a rocks glass and pour the shrub over it slowly — a slow-melting cube keeps the drink cold without watering it down. Lemon juice over the top if you want extra snap.
4. 4.Crown with Pear. Top with sparkling water poured gently down the side of the glass, stir once, and lay a pear fan and a cracked cardamom pod on top.

Shrubs · Rocks · A thin pear fan and one cracked cardamom pod