It’s that time of the year again when the grocery store has ripe pomegranate in stock. And that means you can start preparing your grenadine stores to get you through the holiday season.
I know I went over the making of grenadine back in our Drink! issue but I thought I’d go over it again for those who missed it. And this time, I’ll include handy-dandy visual aids for those who can’t read. (All photographs were taken by my daughter, by the way.)
Step One: Acquire a ripe pomegranate from your friendly local grocer.
Step Two: Split that pomegranate in twain.
Step Three: Ream that pomegranate on a juicer.
Step Four: Note how much pomegranate juice you have. This was a particularly juicy fruit. I managed to wring more than a cup from it. Room temperature fruits juice much better than refrigerated ones, by the way.
Step Five: Decant your pomegranate juice into a glass bottle that has a really good stopper. I’m using a cleaned-out maple syrup bottle.
Step Six: You will need an amount of super-fine sugar equal to the amount of pomegranate juice.
Step Seven: Decant your sugar into your glass bottle.
Step Eight: Add an ounce of vodka as a “preservative.” (No, seriously. It will keep a lot longer. Without the booze, it will go moldy after a couple months.) This is an optional step
Step Nine: Shake vigorously until the sugar is completely dissolved.
That’s it. You now have a lovely bottle of homemade grenadine. I guarantee this will taste much better than anything you could buy in a grocery store.
And if you’re looking for a cocktail to try your grenadine with, may I suggest…
The Boxcar
1 1/2 oz gin
1/2 oz triple sec
1 oz fresh lime juice
1/2 egg white
1/4 oz fresh grenadine
Shake vigorously without ice. Add ice to shaker and shake again too chill. Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass
The Boxcar is a variation on the Pink Lady for those who find it embarrassing to order the latter on account of its name but aren’t put off by the blushing hue. The only differences are that lime juice stands in for lemon and triple sec replaces the cream. That means the drink is slightly sweeter while being considerably more sour. Personally, for this sort of beverage, while I enjoy (and have just a few moments ago enjoyed) a Boxcar, the Pink Lady is as far as I’m concerned a perfectly balanced drink and in future I’ll stick with that.
Incidentally, if I still have yet to convince you that egg whites are a safe and rewarding cocktail ingredient, you can drop it from the Pink Lady but then you’ll have a Do Be Careful Cocktail.