Drinking vinegar substitutes
Drinking vinegar substitutes — 6 options, ranked, with the exact amount
Use Quick homemade shrub (vinegar + sugar + fruit)
Same amount as the drinking vinegar
Equal parts apple cider vinegar, sugar and fruit juice or jam. For the drinking vinegar called for
This is what commercial drinking vinegar actually is, so making it is a genuine replacement rather than an approximation.
Make it yourself in two minutes: stir 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar with 2 tablespoons sugar or honey and 2 tablespoons fruit juice or jam, and use that anywhere a recipe calls for drinking vinegar or shrub. If you need a bottled stand-in, kombucha works in a tall drink and a mix of lemon juice plus simple syrup works in a cocktail. Never drink vinegar undiluted.
- Verdict —
- Works
- Best for —
- cocktails and mocktails
Updated 19 Aug 2026 · no sponsored swaps
Every option, one card
Ranked| # | Substitute | Instead of drinking vinegar | Verdict |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Quick homemade shrub (vinegar + sugar + fruit)cocktails and mocktails | Same amountEqual parts apple cider vinegar, sugar and fruit juice or jam. For the drinking vinegar called forWorks | Works |
| 2 | Switchel (cider vinegar, honey, ginger)long cold drinks | 1 tablespoon cider vinegar + 1 tablespoon honey + a few thin slices fresh ginger per glassTweak it | Tweak it |
| 3 | Kombuchamocktails | Replace the drinking vinegar and its soda water together, roughly 4 parts kombucha per 1 part shrubYou'll taste it | You'll taste it |
| 4 | Lemon or lime juice + simple syrupcocktails | ¾ part citrus juice + ¾ part simple syrup per 1 part drinking vinegarTweak it | Tweak it |
| 5 | Verjuswine-based cocktails | Same amountThen add 1 teaspoon sugar or honey per 2 tablespoonsTweak it | Tweak it |
| 6 | Balsamic vinegar + simple syrupstrawberry and blackberry drinks | 1 teaspoon balsamic + 1 tablespoon simple syrup per drinkTweak it | Tweak it |
Quick homemade shrub (vinegar + sugar + fruit)
similar taste and texture
This is what commercial drinking vinegar actually is, so making it is a genuine replacement rather than an approximation.
- Best for
- cocktails and mocktails, sodas and spritzers, salad dressings, iced tea
Stir until the sugar dissolves - warming it for thirty seconds helps - and let it sit ten minutes so the flavours marry. Raspberry, strawberry or peach jam gives the fruitiest result; pure juice gives a cleaner, thinner one. It keeps a couple of weeks in the fridge and tastes fresher and less syrupy than most bottled versions.
Switchel (cider vinegar, honey, ginger)
different taste, similar texture
The old American haymaker's version of the same drink, and the right substitute when the recipe wants something refreshing rather than fruity.
- 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.
Kombucha
different taste and texture
Already tart, lightly sweet and fizzy from fermentation, so it fills the same slot in a drink with nothing to mix.
- 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.
Lemon or lime juice + simple syrup
different taste, similar texture
The standard sour-and-sweet pairing from cocktail making, which covers the acid and sugar jobs cleanly.
- 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. Nice; just not the same drink. Adding a scant quarter teaspoon of cider vinegar per serving brings a surprising amount of that character back.
Verjus
different taste, similar texture
Unripe grape juice, tart but not vinegary, and a common bar substitute when a recipe wants sourness without harshness.
- 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.
Balsamic vinegar + simple syrup
different taste, similar texture
A workable improvisation for dark or berry-forward drinks when cider vinegar is not in the house.
- 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.
Questions
5 questionsIs 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.
Tips for substituting drinking vinegar
5 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.