Drinking Vinegar substitute

Best substitute

Quick Homemade Shrub (Vinegar + Sugar + Fruit)

Equal parts apple cider vinegar, sugar and fruit juice or jam; use 1:1 for the drinking vinegar called for

Best for cocktails and mocktails

Close match

This is what commercial drinking vinegar actually is, so making it is a genuine replacement rather than an approximation.

Other drinking vinegar substitutes

Ranked, with the exact amount to use

2Switchel (Cider Vinegar, Honey, Ginger)
Different taste
Use 1 tablespoon cider vinegar + 1 tablespoon honey + a few thin slices fresh ginger for every glass
The old American haymaker's version of the same drink, and the right substitute when the recipe wants something refreshing rather than fruity.
What changes
Best for
long cold drinks, post-exercise drinks, whiskey and rum cocktails, iced ginger sodas
Warmer and spicier than a fruit shrub, with honey's floral edge in place of clean sugar sweetness, so a spritzer made with it tastes more like ginger beer than like fruit soda. Let the ginger steep at least ten minutes or you will taste the vinegar more than the ginger.
3Kombucha
Taste and texture differ
Use Replace the drinking vinegar and its soda water together, roughly 4 parts kombucha for every 1 part shrub
Already tart, lightly sweet and fizzy from fermentation, so it fills the same slot in a drink with nothing to mix.
What changes
Best for
mocktails, spritzers, tall highballs
Much weaker and more diluted than a vinegar syrup, and it brings a faintly yeasty, cidery funk that a clean fruit shrub does not, so the drink tastes softer and less punchy. Because it is already diluted, do not add extra water or soda, and taste before adding sweetener.
4Lemon or Lime Juice + Simple Syrup
Different taste
¾ part citrus juice + ¾ part simple syrup for each 1 part drinking vinegar
The standard sour-and-sweet pairing from cocktail making, which covers the acid and sugar jobs cleanly.
What changes
Best for
cocktails, sodas, punches
This gets you a bright, straightforwardly citrusy drink and loses the whole point of a shrub, which is the round, slightly musty, mouth-watering tang vinegar gives. Perfectly nice; just not the same drink. Adding a scant quarter teaspoon of cider vinegar per serving brings a surprising amount of that character back.
5Verjus
Different taste
Use the same amount then add 1 teaspoon sugar or honey per 2 tablespoons
Unripe grape juice, tart but not vinegary, and a common bar substitute when a recipe wants sourness without harshness.
What changes
Best for
wine-based cocktails, delicate mocktails, dressings
Softer and greener than a vinegar shrub, with a grape-skin quality and much less bite, so the finished drink tastes gentle and slightly winey. Since verjus is unsweetened you have to add the sugar yourself, and it does not keep as long as a shrub once opened.
6Balsamic Vinegar + Simple Syrup
Different taste
Use 1 teaspoon balsamic + 1 tablespoon simple syrup for every drink
A workable improvisation for dark or berry-forward drinks when cider vinegar is not in the house.
What changes
Best for
strawberry and blackberry drinks, whiskey and gin cocktails
Assertively sweet, woody and grape-like, and it will tint a pale drink brown, so use it where the colour and the heavier flavour are welcome. Start with less than you think - balsamic overpowers a glass far faster than cider vinegar does.

What is Drinking Vinegar?

Drinking Vinegar is Drinking vinegar is a sweetened, fruit-flavoured vinegar syrup meant to be diluted into a drink rather than used as a condiment, sold and written about under the names shrub, switchel, sipping vinegar and vinegar cordial.

Cooking tips

The job drinking vinegar does in a glass is acid plus sweetness at the same time, which is why a shrub makes a soft drink taste like a real cocktail. Any substitute has to cover both, so swapping in plain vinegar alone gives you something harsh and swapping in plain syrup gives you something cloying.
Always dilute. Drinking vinegar is a concentrate, and the normal pour is about 1 to 1.5 tablespoons in a tall glass topped with soda water or still water. Drinking any vinegar neat is unpleasant and hard on tooth enamel and the throat.
Cider vinegar is the most forgiving base for homemade versions because it is mild and fruity. White wine and champagne vinegar are cleaner and work well with delicate fruit; plain distilled white vinegar is too aggressive to sip.
For a cold-process shrub with much better fruit flavour, cover chopped fruit with an equal weight of sugar, leave it in the fridge overnight until it turns syrupy, strain, then stir in an equal volume of vinegar. It costs one day of waiting and tastes far better than anything you can stir together on the spot.
Taste any substitute in the glass before you commit to a batch. Vinegar strength varies from 4 to 7 percent acidity between bottles, so two shrubs made to the same recipe can land in genuinely different places.

Frequently asked questions

Is a shrub the same thing as drinking vinegar?

Effectively yes. Shrub is the historical American and British name for a sweetened fruit-and-vinegar syrup, switchel is the ginger-and-honey version, and sipping vinegar, vinegar cordial and drinking vinegar are the modern retail names for the same idea. If a recipe calls for any of them, a homemade fruit-vinegar-sugar syrup covers it.

Can I just use apple cider vinegar straight instead?

Not on its own, and not undiluted. Plain cider vinegar has the acid but none of the sweetness, so a drink made with it tastes thin and sour rather than refreshing, and drinking vinegar neat is bad for your teeth and throat. Stir the vinegar with an equal amount of sugar or honey and a splash of juice first, and you have a real substitute rather than a mouthful of vinegar.

Can I just leave it out of the drink?

You can, but you lose the whole character of the drink rather than one detail. Vinegar is what makes a shrub soda taste grown-up and mouth-watering instead of like sweet fruit juice. If you want to skip vinegar entirely, use lemon or lime juice with a little syrup - the drink will be bright and pleasant, just simpler.

Does drinking vinegar need to be refrigerated?

Bottled commercial versions usually say refrigerate after opening, and homemade ones definitely should be. A cooked shrub with a high sugar content keeps a month or more in the fridge; a cold-process one made with fresh fruit is best inside two to three weeks. If it smells yeasty or fizzy or grows anything, throw it out.

Is it safe to drink vinegar every day?

This is a food question rather than a medical one, so treat it that way: diluted vinegar drinks are an ordinary beverage, but vinegar is acidic enough to erode tooth enamel and to irritate the stomach or reflux, especially undiluted or in quantity. Dilute well, drink it with food or through a straw, rinse with water afterwards, and talk to a doctor rather than a recipe site if you have reflux, ulcers or are taking medication.

Related substitutes

More alcohol & vinegars substitutes

Drinking Vinegar substitute

Other drinking vinegar substitutes

2Switchel (Cider Vinegar, Honey, Ginger)

3Kombucha

4Lemon or Lime Juice + Simple Syrup

5Verjus

6Balsamic Vinegar + Simple Syrup