I’ve been suspiciously quiet on my drinking vinegar experiment, but I have an excuse. I wrecked it. As in, burnt-sugar-on-the-pan, kitchen-smelled-for-hours wrecked it.

But don’t worry! I just finished round two, and the results were wonderful. I tweaked the recipe a bit this time, following the advice of Brook over at Learn to Preserve. Instead of boiling the strained liquid for an hour, I just simmered it for five minutes. The boiling is where I went wrong last time – maybe my proportions were off, but I ended up reducing the liquid down to a gooey, stringy mess in one pan and a crusted, black, stinky mess in the other.

This time, I strained my mixture into a saucepan, added ½ cup of honey, and stirred until the honey dissolved. I set the heat to medium-low and let it simmer for five minutes. When it cooled, I poured a few tablespoons over ice and topped it off with soda water for a refreshing, delicious drink. The vinegar was nice and tart with a sweet pear aftertaste.

The rest is in my refrigerator waiting to be added to a summery cocktail. Cheers!