We’ve all known pregnant women who crave pickles and ice cream and a whole host of other foods – my mother ate enough carrots to tinge her skin orange – but it was my friend’s puckery vinegar cravings during her first trimester that introduced me to the shrub.

Dating back to pre-refrigeration days, these drinking vinegars grew out of necessity: sugar was added to crocks of fresh fruit to slow spoilage and the mixture fermented. Just like spreading berry preserves in the dead of winter, spiking sparkling water (or a more adult potable) extends the flavors of warmer months year round.

Popular in colonial America, shrubs have made a comeback, showing up on cocktail menus everywhere. Suspender-clad, sleeve-gartered, cap-askewed hipster bartenders aside, shrubs are worth a second look.

MORE: Make gorgeous fruity vinegars at home – here’s a step-by-step guide!

Despite having never had a shrub in my life, when gifted this this spiced strawberry rhubarb finishing vinegar, I knew exactly what I was going to do with it. I poured a few spoonfuls of the tawny rose syrup, thin enough to drizzle but thick enough to leave a slick on the spoon, into a glass and filled it with sparkling water. Suitable for finishing a salad or de-glazing a pan into a gastrique, the vinegar wasn’t quite sweet enough for drinking, so I dropped in a sugar cube (or two!) for some extra fizz.

Bottoms up!

P.S. I think congratulations are in order – I managed to get through the past three paragraphs about shrubs without a single topiary reference!