by Angela Perez
The Pomona Shrub Co., located in Wilmington’s new and very-hopping “Soda Pop District,” is sponsoring a pop-up dry bar every Friday in January for Dry January. The scheduled dates are Jan. 12, 19, and 26 from 6 p.m. – 9:30 p.m. at 921 Princess Street (downtown), Wilmington, NC.
What is Pomona Shrub Co.? As many cocktail lovers know, “shrubs” are the basis for the flavor profile of many complex cocktails, with alcohol and without. A shrub is a syrup made from vinegar, fruit, and herbs. Pomona Shrub company notes that mixtures “were incredibly popular in 17th century England, made their way over to colonial America, thrived during the Prohibition, and serve as wonderful craft mixers for alcoholic or non-alcoholic beverages today.”
Bethany Carpenter founded the company in 2021. According to their website, she “took her first shrub flavor, Lemon Lime, to several holiday markets around Wilmington and the Raleigh area. After seeing how loved this vintage mixer was, she expanded to a variety of different flavors and continued to share her shrubs with customers at Wilmington markets and special events.” Bethany now collaborates with local bars and restaurants for their shrub cocktails and mocktails. (Note – many bartenders do NOT like to use the word “mocktails.” They believe it dismisses zero-proof cocktails as just a weak imitation of alcoholic beverages, not a product in and of itself, meriting judgment on its own terms. But that’s another article for another time.)
Pomona’s list of mixers includes:
Lemon Lime
Pineapple Sage
Blackberry Orange Ginger
Cinnamon Apple Nutmeg
Blueberry Basil
Cranberry Rosemary Peppermint
Mango Lime Jalapeño
Purple Magic (Pear Cardamom)
For dry bars everywhere, shrubs are vital for their drink-making. And there are endless books on how to make zero-proof cocktails at home. It’s just a matter of buying a few shrubs, buying the essential tools of the drink-making trade, and starting to experiment at home. I’ve been buying recipe books, and now I just have to start buying the shrubs, bitters, and equipment. I’ll be sharing my exploration of making at-home drinks with you. In the meantime, I’ll check out Pomona’s pop-up bar to dive deep into the works of zero-proof cocktails.
