Shrub Drinks
Simply described, shrubs are an old fashion drinking vinegar. They can be taken in a small undiluted dose as a tasty medicinal shot. They can be added to carbonated water for a soda drink or mixed with alcohol and used in craft cocktails.
The Secret Behind Our Shrub Drinks
Our name, Shivelight, is an old English term used to describe the sunrays that pierce a forest canopy. We chose this name because of the warm and joyful feeling that image elicits. Sunbeams through forest trees are simple yet incredibly evocative of comfort and well being. We are confident our product is similar in nature.
Shivelight Premium Beverage Company takes pride in using only the most superior quality ingredients in our shrubs. Our purpose is to not only produce the highest quality products on the market, but to also honor the agricultural traditions of Montana. Luckily, doing these both as the the same time is an easy overlap.
Simply described, shrubs are an old fashioned drinking vinegar. They can be sipped in a small undiluted dose as a tasty medicinal shot. They can be added to carbonated water for a soda drink or mixed with alcohol and used in craft cocktails. Our shrub drinks are more distinctive than any product on the market because of our focus on specific, premium quality ingredients that are sourced locally from sustainable family-owned and operated Montana farms.
But What’s In It?
Raw Honey
In each of our shrubs, we use raw knapweed honey from the Wustner Brothers in Missoula. Their hives are secluded in Montana’s pristine Sapphire Mountains, surrounded by national forest lands. This means their bees are free to forage on wildflowers, knapweed, and other wild sources. And, because Wustner Brothers Honey is unheated and unfiltered, their raw wild honey maintains a myriad of nutritional value that is often extracted with processed honey. Plus, Wustner Brothers is dedicated to educating their community on healthy and sustainable best land management practices to ensure the longevity of these honey harvesting traditions. We use Wustner Honey in everything we make.
Flathead Cherries
The Orchard At Flathead Lake provides the cherries we use in our Flathead Cherry shrub. Flathead lake is the largest natural body of freshwater west of the Mississippi River. The gorgeous shoreline of the lake is home to several, highly regarded small cherry orchards. The Orchard At Flathead Lake is a family farm, with children living among the trees. Therefore, the owners are adamant about organic and risk-free growing practices. Their farming methods not only provide rich delicious cherries, but a healthy and sustainable harvesting tradition.
Montana Ginger
Most of us think of Ginger as typically a tropical plant, but in some unique areas of Montana’s landscape, like Camas Prairie, water bubbles from the ground at 87 degrees. That is why we partner with Deluge Farms to provide freshly grown Montana Ginger. Deluge Farms is the only commercial ginger producer for 500 miles in any direction.
Bitterroot Valley Apples
Healthy Harvest Fruits is a family run orchard in the Bitterroot Valley of Montana that supplies the apples we use in our Bitterroot Apple And Cinnomon Shrub. The Bitterroot Valley is a place of towering craggy peaks and deep canyons that are well known for their ruggedness. The Lewis and Clark expedition crossed this range in 1805 with noted difficulty. Today, the rich valley that sits under these mountains supports a wide range of agricultural endeavors. Notable among them are the small apple orchards that produce high quality fruit.
We Are Proud To Call Montana Home
And perhaps the most signature flavor of all, our Montana Huckleberry Shrub Drink is made from the most mythical berry in the Pacific Northwest. Huckleberries insist on growing in wild places and strongly resist being cultivated. Therefore, Huckleberries have become symbolic of wildlands and one of Montana’s unique flavor profiles.
With each of our unique flavors, we aim to showcase the natural and agricultural heritage of Montana. Montana has an extensive fruit growing history, with historic orchards. It is important for us to know our farmers. As we carefully selected each of our ingredients, we partnered with growers who represent the hardworking community of Montana farmers. With all of our locally sourced premium ingredients, we are confident you will taste the difference in the quality of our Shivelight drinking shrubs. There are multiple ways to enjoy shrub drinks and multiple reasons to include them in your daily diet.
What Our Customers Are Saying
“I took my first nip tonight with vodka. It didn’t disappoint. Awesome alternative to the same old mixers. Loved every sip.”★★★★★
“Complex and refreshing! Such a perfect healthy alternative to so many sugary beverages and mixers.”
★★★★★
Try Making Your Own Shrub Soda
Are you searching for a healthy alternative to sugary sodas? Wouldn’t it be great to offer craft non-alcoholic drinks to your guests? Would you like to find a unique beverage that represents the family agricultural traditions of Montana, rather than generic national brands?
The sweet and tangy mixture of our shrubs is often blended with carbonated water of your choice for a delicious shrub soda. We encourage you to explore all our flavors. You may find your children prefer our delicious taste over soft drinks, which are packed with refined sugar and sodium. When you mix our delicious shrub drinking vinegars with carbonated water, not only can you replace unhealthy beverages with more healthy and meaningful drinks, you can prolong the valued traditions of Montana’s agriculture.
According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, nearly half of American teens and adults drink, on average, one can of cola a day. It’s no wonder that cola consumption is one of the main contributors to an array of health concerns like obesity, diabetes, heart disease, and liver dysfunction.
What’s Wrong With Traditional Sodas?
High amounts of artificial sweeteners, caffeine and sodium can prevent the absorption of nutrients that build bones and strengthen the heart. Adults with a history of cola consumption often show vitamin deficiencies and disrupted sleep patterns. Regular consumption of colas can lead to long term health concerns, like high blood pressure, diabetes, obesity, and heart disease.
We find that our shrub drinks serve as a healthy alternative for those who want a carbonated beverage without all the health concerns. Rich whole fruits macerated with raw honey, unfiltered apple cider vinegar, all blended with a little water are the only ingredients in our shrubs. We don’t even add preservatives or stabilizers.
We recommend 1 part shrub drink to 5 parts carbonated water of your choice for a remarkably flavorful soda, but it is of course up to your taste. Shrub sodas are delicious while providing all the health benefits of whole fruit macerations, raw honey, and unfiltered apple cider vinegar. We are confident you will prefer the delicious flavors of our surprisingly healthy beverages.
Shrub Drink Recipes
In the seventeen and eighteen hundreds, vinegar was used to preserve fruit concoctions which were later mixed with alcohol for traditional punches. The slight tangy taste of the vinegar mixture became a favorite, so the desire for vinegar drinks persisted. Now, shrubs can be mixed into many customary cocktails.
For a list of our favorite drink recipes, please explore the Shivelight Premium Beverage Company website. To highlight our Montana heritage, many of our drink recipes are named after Montana places or Montana events, such as our Mission Mountain Mojito and our Woodstove in a Blizzard.
Here are two of our most popular drink combinations.
Crown Of The Continent
- 1 oz Shivelight Huckleberry Shrub
- 2 oz Tequila Blanco
- 1 oz Triple Sec
- 1 wedge of each lemon, lime, and orange
Start by muddling the fruit at the bottom of a shaker. Add ice and mix in the remaining ingredients. Shake vigorously then drain into a martini glass. Garnish with a lemon wheel.
The Antique
- 1 oz of any flavor of Shivelight Premium Beverage
- 2 oz of Bourbon or Rye
- 1 slice of Orange
- 2 dashes of Angostura Bitters
In a rocks glass, muddle the orange with the bitters. Fill the glass with ice then add shrub and whiskey. Stir gently and garnish with a lemon.
Though we offer you many delicious recipes on our website, we encourage you to explore the flavors of all our shrubs. Be sure to share any of your own recipes to the Shivelight Premium Beverage Company’s Facebook page.
How We Make Shrubs
There are two indispensable commitments in everything we do – quality and Montana. We are dedicated to using the highest quality ingredients local Montana farms have to offer, and we are keen on showcasing Montana’s rich natural and agricultural history.
Throughout our entire process, we are dedicated to using quality ingredients. To make our shrubs, we start with whole, specifically sourced fruit. We set ourselves apart from other shrub beverage companies by not using low-quality bulk produce. Overripe and bruised fruit is often used for shrub drinks. But we use fresh, high quality, locally harvested fruit from family-owned farms.
Using that whole, quality fruit, we make a fruit maceration that is blended with raw artisanal Montana knapweed honey to make a syrup. Many shrubs on the market are sweetened with refined or cheap heated and processed honey. Raw honey, like that which we source from Wustner Brothers, is rich in phytonutrients and antioxidants. Our goal is not only to source the highest quality ingredients but to also not interfere with the magic of those ingredients.
Once the fruit and honey are blended into a smooth syrup, we add our vinegar. Once again, many shrub drinks choose to use cheap white vinegar, which has been highly processed. Shivelight carefully selects unfiltered apple cider vinegar which has experienced fermentation. With each choice we make, we ensure that our beverages are the best tasting and the most nutritious there is.
A small amount of water is blended in for balance, but no preservatives or stabilizers are added. All of our flavors are varied with a range of sweetness and tart flavor profiles. We encourage you to try them all to decide on your favorite.
A Delicious Shrub Beverage
The early version of a European shrub drink evolved from medicinal cordials because of the widely accepted theory that vinegar prevents and cures many ailments. Vinegar drinks are not only delicious, but they are also known to cleanse and restore the digestive tract. Let’s take a closer look at the possible health benefits of shrub drinks.
Unfiltered apple cider vinegar has a rich concentration of pectin and proteins that form during fermentation. These raw nutritional materials and enzymes have positive effects on the digestive system. They are known to coat the gastrointestinal tract to help prevent stomach cramps, gas, and bloating.
The health benefits of drinking shrub drinks daily, preferably before meals, are widely reported. Many people experience an improvement in digestion because of an increase in the absorption of nutrients. And many customers experience less heartburn, a decrease in intestinal problems, and relieving constipation. Shrub drinks are also helpful in appetite suppression for those who hope to lose weight.
With a shrub beverage, you will certainly feel refreshed but the health benefits go much deeper. You will surely feel the cleansing effect of vinegar complemented by the fruit fibers.
Popular Shrub Flavors
Each of our flavors showcases our dedication to using artisanal honey instead of processed white sugar or cheap honey, quality Montana fruit, and top-shelf apple cider vinegar rather than shoddy refined white vinegar. Our choices in premium ingredients translate to the incredible taste. No matter if you partake in shrub drinks for a delicious treat or for specific health purposes, Shivelight Premium Beverages are of the highest quality on the market.
We have four delicious flavors to choose from, which include Ginger Honey, Huckleberry, Flathead Cherry, Bitterroot Apple, and Cinnamon. All our premium ingredients are sourced from local farmers in Montana.
It is easy to get started with our product. Our unique flavors are sold individually, so you can start with just one. Or you can explore one of our six-bottle mix and match samplers. This way you can compare them as you try them all.
If you have any questions or concerns, please feel free to give us a call or send us an email. We are a family-owned and operated business, located outside of Missoula, Montana. We aim to bottle and share the rich flavors of Montana with everyone.
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