The drinking of vinegars has links to the old fashioned ‘Shrubs’ very popular in Victorian times. If you ever read ‘What Katy Did’ you might recall Cousin Cecy made a concoction up that she called ‘Hydromel’ made from weak vinegar.
Shrubs were popularised by Temperance Bars and there is a well known one in Rawtenstall called Fitzpatricks that is like a tiny jewel box with its rows of coloured glass bottles and old fashioned counter. I once saw Jane Horrocks sing its praises in a documentary and I was fascinated by its heritage in a part of the country where working men’s clubs and traditional pubs predominate and promulgate a strong image of what adult male drinking *should* be like.
I predict that the drinks of the temperance movement are going to become VERY fashionable in the coming year (I wrote about it a few weeks ago on my site as part of my food predictions for 2015/16), all those concoction made from roots, shoots and parts of the plant we might not think about using. The marriage of kitchen counter pharma / herbalism and making do, if you like although amateurs need to be VERY careful- some parts of plants that we eat are lethally toxic (rhubarb root for one).
Here is where I wrote about these bars: http://nicmillerstales.com/2014/12/16/the-best-thing-i-ate-2014/