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A dear friend of mine began Howling at the Moon Press. She was brilliant and kind and would be thrilled to see you using her book and bringing these recipes to life. She passed many years ago, but I’ve sent one of the videos you’ve done to her son. He loved it. I’ll send him the shrub video as well. Thank you for keeping Diana’s dream alive.

Birch sap is treated the same as maple sap.
Simmer it for hours until it thickens.

Max, I have to say that putting these together was a great idea. I wonder if you're keeping track of how much mileage you're getting from the hard tack clack. I have lost count. I'd say we could make it a drinking game but it's not like Bob used to be. Another drinking game that's more recent was Norm. If you don't know, ask your folks.

"Hey, you spilled shrub in my mead!"
"You spilled mead in my shrub!"
Kombucha (inspired by old Reese's commercial)

Instead of sparkling water in your raspberry shrub, how about Prosecco?

On your drinking in the colonies, you should look Francis Marion” The Swamp Fox”. He always added vinegar to his and his men’s drinking water during the Revolution.

Drinking history! LET'S GO! Thanks For these compilations max!❤❤❤❤

Switchel is still fairly common in New England and Northern NY farm country. It's meant to be a refreshing drink you can drink a couple glasses of after doing work in the heat, because it won't sour your stomach like drinking a bunch of water will. I've never heard of it being served with any kind of alcohol. But maybe in a different context that was common. A friend of mine in college grew up on a farm in northern NY and I joined them for a hay making party one summer. Her mom made a giant quantity of Switchel, served in one of those big 5 gallon orange drink dispensers. They sweetened it with maple syrup which came from their own trees and molasses.

Birch sap water needs to be boiled down like maple sap. There is a soda called Birch Beer in New England. It’s similar to root beer/sarsaparilla, but sweeter and less earthy.

I prefer the results when you don't heat the fruit at all. Just change up the order, add the sugar to the mashed (or cut up fruit) and macerate overnight (or longer if it's a harder fruit) then add the vinegar and let it set another day or so and strain. Heating dulls the fresh fruit flavor.

Can we just take a moment to appreciate how many miles the hardtack (clack clack) has gone without getting old?

Max you scratch a nerd itch i was barely aware of. Food history grabs me by the elbow and holds my attention, your presentation is excellent and your sense of humor adds to and doesnt take away anything from the lesson. Thanks for your work!

Used to make sukanjabin syrup from celestial seasons mint tea, the entire box. Cider vinigar and sugar. Mix with i e water in 5 gal gatoraid water cooler. Reffeshing on an August day!

The funny thing is that coming across these compilations and falling asleep to them is how I ended up finding your main channel!!

I've made switchel several times and it's actually a genuinely good drink! Definitely benefits from fresh ingredients and also a slightly lighter touch on the vinegar. It's a fine balance between being VINEGAR and a nice summer's day sipper.

I buy shrub mixers from Apple State Vinegar. They have great variety, blueberry & lemon, ginger & apple, turmeric & carrot etc. I make them with just soda water and Om times with rum ot gin. Delicious and refreshing.

Well this is good timing, I'm buried in raspberries at the moment!

I have had birch beer.

Thanks Max.