THIS HOLIDAY SEASON,  in addition to the Christmas tree - try a shrub - well a shrubb is the correct name for this drink is spelled.

This drink from Martinique is easy to make at home and also will work as a toddy for ticklish throats. (And if you have a taste for Grand Marnier or Cointreau, you're gonna love it.) The very potent drink (second in popularity only to ti punch - and that's another story) is a blend of the island's famous rhum agricole (which is made with suger-cane juice instead of molasses), and tangy citrus peels and sweetened with cane sugar.

SHRUBB HOW-TO 
4 cups white rhum agricole (try Dillon or Clement; totalwine.com)

2 whole orange peels

2 cups simple syrup

1 vanilla pod

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon 
 - Add orange peel to rum, and leave to stand at room temperature for four days.

 - Remove orange peel, add vanilla and cinnamon.

 - Let stand for three days.

 - Strain through a fine sieve.

 - Enjoy as you would a liqueur: neat or over ice.