A refreshing, tropical glassful from Brigadiers restaurant, London EC4, to help you through the dark days of winter. The shrub makes enough for 15-20 servings, but it keeps in the fridge for a week and makes a lovely soft drink with soda or ginger ale.

Serves 1

For the mango shrub

125ml apple cider vinegar

250g caster sugar

125g fresh mango flesh – the riper, the better

25ml water

For the cocktail

25ml mango shrub (see above)

100ml ginger ale

100ml hoppy IPA (I like Siren Sound Wave IPA)

You can make the shrub up to a week ahead. In a saucepan, bring the vinegar to a boil, then add the sugar, turn the heat to medium, stir to dissolve, then leave to cool. Put the mango and water in a blender, and blitz to a puree. Strain through a fine sieve and pour into the cooled syrup. Stir, decant into a sterilised bottle, seal, and refrigerate. It will separate over the course of the week, so shake gently every two or three days to mix everything back up.

To make the shandy, measure the shrub and ginger ale into a chilled beer glass (chill it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes), give it a quick stir, then top with IPA and serve.

• James Stevenson, group bar manager, JKS Restaurants