Grenadine

[The Knize]

Any one tried making their own grenadine syrup? I did not start with fresh pomegranates, as suggested in a recipe a link for which is posted elsewhere on this forum. I may try that yet. But I did start with not from concentrate 100% pomegranate juice, plus some pomegranate molasses, some orange zest, and a tad of lemon juice. I was not impressed. Not that flavorful and not all that bright a red, so that a drink made with it does not get a nice pink hue, but something more muddy. Whereas this stuff is incredible: Small Batch Grenadine by Jack Rudy Cocktail Co.

Anyone have any thoughts on this?

I was not happy making my own orgeat syrup either. Seemed hard to get a strong almond flavor out of real almonds.

 

[TexLaw]

Hoo, boy! I've never tried it, but making one's own grenadine doesn't sound like fun at all.

That Jack Rudy sounds like like the way to go for me. At first, $24 sounds pretty pricey, but a pint of grenadine will last me a very long time.

 

[The Knize]

Actually, making grenadine was very easy per the recipes I was using. Basically just combine sugar, pomegranate juice, and other ingredients, and stir over low heat until the sugar dissolves. I guess I did put in some lemon juice and vodka after I pulled from the heat. I read somewhere that the lemon juice juice helps keep the color bright red. The vodka helps as a preservative. I used very little vodka.

Like I said, I did not start with fresh pomegranates, but if one has an orange juicer--and I know I used to--that did not look too bad. Maybe a tad messy, but what the heck. I suppose with fresh juice one would need to strain the syrup.

Compare that to orgeat, where I had to roast then pulverize almonds, heat (as I recall), let sit, and then strain using compression--I am guessing I was weak on that step, and still came out with pretty weak stuff. Or lime syrup (like Roses) which took a lot of scraping zest off limes. That was pretty good, but I do not find myself drinking a lot of gimlets. Even ginger syrup was more work than grenadine, but I have to say that making one's own ginger syrup is worth the effort!

I can find that Jack Ruby brand grenadine locally consistently for about $17. The Jack Rose seems to be my go to cocktail these days and my recipe uses between 1/2 and 3/4 oz of grenadine, which is not too bad. But I do find myself going through it.