Grenadine

What is Grenadine?

Grenadine is a pomegranate syrup that was super popular during the ‘tiki’ drinks craze of the 1930s and 1940s. It provides a candy-like sweetness and fruitiness to your drinks that you cannot replicate with other ingredients – or most shop bought grenadine for that matter. Its use in cocktails is very prevalent today and it features in many of our favourite drinks. It’s an essential syrup to make for your home bar! Plus, it’s amazing over pancakes!

Why should I make Grenadine?

It’s super easy and quick to make. Yes you can buy it, our recommendation though is to make it yourself, you know exactly whats in it, its lasts for months and months (stored properly!) It’s cheap and frankly, better than most shop bought grenadine (most of which is just ‘sweet red’ with no pomegranate actually inside). It adds an amazing flavour and texture. If you like sweet drinks, make some grenadine-based cocktails.

Grenadine cocktails are some of our favourites, so we’ll be adding many more grenadine cocktails to barorder over the next few months. Here’s a great one check out, the Queen’s Park Hotel Super Cocktail. This drink showcases the importance of a really good grenadine. Another great example, and one of our favourites, is a 12 Mile Limit.

Ingredients

• 600g granulated white sugar
• 400g of unsweetened Pomegranate juice, yes weigh your juice. Make sure its unsweetened, we’ll add the sugar!
• Optional but great, 1tsp of Pomegranate Molasses. It’s great in salad dressings too
• Optional but great, 1/2tsp of Rose Water – it’s very strong, add just a little – don’t be tempted!

How to make it.

1. Preheat a saucepan on a low heat
2. Add in the Pomegranate juice, Sugar and Pomegranate Molasses, if you’re using it
3. Stir to combine until all the sugar is dissolved
4. Keep it on a low heat and stir constantly, don’t let it boil or simmer
5. Keep going until all the sugar grains are gone, it should be a deep and dark red colour
6. Once fully combined remove from the heat and add the Rose water. Give it a stir and you’re done

Storing your Grenadine

Store in the fridge in an airtight bottle that has been sterilised beforehand. Stored this way it will last about a month. Our recipe above will make enough Grenadine for a few months!

Our tip, freeze it! It will last for months and months in the freezer. Then decant a little syrup into a bottle in the fridge as you need it. Perfect, an indefinite supply of homemade grenadine!