Aromatic Vinegars: Scents + Shrubs

In our modern era, we tend to think of vinegar as a cleaning agent, for pickling veggies and for making home-based remedies... did you know that until recent times VINEGARS were used as a solvent for perfumery? Alcohol-based perfumes are actually a relatively new invention, though that's usually the matrix we think of for fancy fragrances. The perfume house, Guerlain actually got its start as a manufacturer of fancy vinegars.

The term 'Perfumer' has narrowed over time. Perfumers were once responsible for smelling salts, flavoring cigars and making sanitizers like 'toilette waters'. And Alchemy is intrigued.

The vinegar we use around the house contains weak acetic acid. More potent forms of acetic acids are used in manufacturing, laboratories and agriculture. When you combine acetic acid and ethyl alcohol, a new chemical is created that smells sweet and fruity. Which adds complexity to fragrances formulated entirely from plants.

My attempts at fruit wines failed, but I'm not even a little sad. The Meyer lemon, lavender and strawberry wines ended up as vinegar. A happy accident if you ask me... early experiments are proving that the combination of those vinegars, alcohol and plant essences DO smell delicious.

Early perfumery and early modern medicine often overlapped processes and ingredients. Tinctures of herbs soaked in alcohol become ‘bitters’, digestives, aperitifs, and perfume). When herbs are soaked in vinegar, the filtered product is called ‘drinking vinegar’ or a shrub.

Shrubs were popular before sweet carbonated drinks became mainstream. Shrubs are a tasty way to enjoy fizzy water.

Here’s my favorite one:

1-1.5 cups dried Crimson Berry Tea (Herb Co.)
16 oz bottle of Braggs Apple Cider Vinegar

Combine the two in a large glass jar. Allow to steep 3-6 weeks in the fridge. Filter. Add some to your favorite sparkling water. Experiment until you get the right amount for you. Dried, herbal tea blends lend themselves to shrubs like this. Have fun.