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salivation, shrubs are particularly hydrating and thirstquenching while also lending themselves to a wide range of applications and flavorings.

Shrub usage fell off as home refrigeration became more common and soft drinks began to flood the market. With the resurgence of craft cocktails and mocktails, shrubs have been making a comeback and gaining in popularity as both a beverage and recipe enhancer.

In 2018, McCord and Cozzolino decided to make the leap to bottle and sell their shrub creations and Siren Shrub Co. was born.

McCord describes Siren Shrubs as having a tart profile as a result of the vinegar with an umami note in the taste. She compared it to some of the flavors of Kombucha or that you might find in pickling with the tartness.

She explained that the shrub is a non-alcoholic concentrated syrup. Traditionally, a shrub would be mixed with either still or carbonated water for a refreshing beverage. Shrubs also complement cocktail recipes adding aromatics, fruit flavors and bitters.

McCord also uses Siren Shrubs in cooking. The company’s website at sirenshrubs.com has large and growing collection of recipes that feature various flavors of the shrubs. McCord notes that shrubs are versatile and can lend their flavors not only to beverages, but also can be used in dressings, salads, dips and vinaigrettes.

McCord takes a hands-on approach when it comes to the recipes. All of the recipes on their website were created in McCord’s own kitchen. Which is also where they work on new shrub recipes developing new flavors to add to their line up.

Siren Shrub contain just three ingredients — organic apple cider vinegar, produce from one of their local farm partners, and organic cane sugar.

These farm partners include: Seaquist Orchards of Sister Bay where they produce Montmorency Tart cherries; Whitefeather Organics of Custer which produces the basil and lemongrass used by Siren Shrub Co.; Tapped Maple Syrup of Stevens Point produced from sap collected each season from the Solin family’s heritage sugarbush, near Neva.; The Glass Orchard of Eau Claire which was established in 2017 by owners, Jon Chapman and Dawn Passineau, and is the source of the honey crisp apples used by Siren Shrubs Co.; Park Ridge Organics of Fond Du Lac provides Siren Shrub Co. with jalapeños; Lonely Oak Farm of Milladore provides rhubarb for Siren Shrub Co.

McCord said they are proud to partner with Wisconsin farms for their ingredients. McCord noted that one of the challenges for Siren Shrub is that with their commitment to using produce sourced from Wisconsin providers, they are faced with limitations on the types of flavor profiles that are possible as well as having limited growing seasons. This has pushed them to be creative, for example, citrus trees do not grow in Wisconsin so in order to get those types of flavors they have to use things like lemongrass.

In addition to their bottled products, Siren Shrub Co. also offers ready to drink canned sparkling shrubs in a variety of flavors.

SIREN SHRUB CO