Comments:

I made the raspberry shrub, it was excellent, but I thought too sweet. I will make it again, but next time I will cut the sugar by a 1/3rd to 1/2.

I am making a pomegranate shrub using the raspberry shrub recipe, and for this recipe I will cut the sugar by 1/2.

Questions:

Did anyone else find the raspberry shrub too sweet?, and did you make it again with less sugar?

For the pomegranate shrub, I used 700 grams of pomegranate pips, I think this may not be enough. The seeds are a high proportion of the total pip, compared to the seed/juice ratio for a raspberry. I have the feeling I didn't use enough and it may be too sour and too sweet. Does anyone have experience with pomegranate pips?, what do you think?

For the pomegranate shrub I did cut the sugar by 1/2. I'm thinking I can always add sweetness with a few splashes of simple syrup. This should work, but is the sugar necessary for flavor extraction?

Update: the pomegranate shrub was sweet enough with 1/2 the amount of sugar, 1.5 cups sugar to 700 grams of pomegranate, but the pomegranate taste was, I think, a little to subtle. The seeds are a high percentage of the pip. I'll make another batch as follows: 1000 grams pomegranate pips, 1.5 cups sugar, and 2 cups vinegar, and report back.

Comments:

I made the raspberry shrub, it was excellent, but I thought too sweet. I will make it again, but next time I will cut the sugar by a 1/3rd to 1/2.

I am making a pomegranate shrub using the raspberry shrub recipe, and for this recipe I will cut the sugar by 1/2.

Questions:

Did anyone else find the raspberry shrub too sweet?, and did you make it again with less sugar?

For the pomegranate shrub, I used 700 grams of pomegranate pips, I think this may not be enough. The seeds are a high proportion of the total pip, compared to the seed/juice ratio for a raspberry. I have the feeling I didn't use enough and it may be too sour and too sweet. Does anyone have experience with pomegranate pips?, what do you think?

For the pomegranate shrub I did cut the sugar by 1/2. I'm thinking I can always add sweetness with a few splashes of simple syrup. This should work, but is the sugar necessary for flavor extraction?

Update: the pomegranate shrub was sweet enough with 1/2 the amount of sugar, 1.5 cups sugar to 700 grams of pomegranate, but the pomegranate taste was, I think, a little to subtle. The seeds are a high percentage of the pip. I'll make another batch as follows: 1000 grams pomegranate pips, 1.5 cups sugar, and 2 cups vinegar, and report back.

Picking a few off the old bush.

I know that stuff breaks down and feeds the soil, but the leaves looked really poorly by the end of harvest and I'm wondering if I should remove the dead leaves and mulch to keep it from happening again next year? Or just leave it and pull the plants I was going to to improve air flow which was a problem. You can see the plants that I haven't cut back yet and they've got browning and spotting.

If it's not a big deal yhough, I'll leave them and just add fresh mulch. I know I'm cutting back late but it's now or never.