Grenadine Syrup

Traditionally grenadine syrup is made from pomegranate juice and sugar which is reduced to a syrupy thick consistency. It can also be made with raspberry, redcurrant, blackberry or cherries. It has a bright red color that is used with alcohols to make attractive cocktail drinks. It is often used in fruit cakes and custards to give a complex fruity and tart flavor.

The primary ingredient for making this syrup is a fresh ripe pomegranate. This fruit is peeled and the ruby red seeds are mixed with granulated sugar to make this delicious syrup.

Other ingredients that are used for making this syrup are a mixture of blackcurrant juice and refined sugar, redcurrant juice with sugar, raspberry juice with sugar and blackberry juice with sugar.

Although using fruits other than pomegranates will give you almost the same color of the syrup, the flavor will vary from juice to juice. Bottled grenadine juice that is available in most supermarkets does not use pomegranate but uses artificial ingredients with a high fructose corn syrup base.

Ingredients

• Pomegranates, 2
• Water, 1½ cup
• Granulated sugar, 1 cup

Method
Cut the pomegranate into half and remove all the seeds into a bowl. Place a heavy saucepan on the burner and add the pomegranate seeds with 1½ cups of water. Allow the water to simmer at low heat and mash the pomegranate seeds with a wooden ladle so that the juices are released.

Simmer this mixture for another 10 to 15 minutes and then pour this mixture through a cheese cloth into a bowl. Press the juices out of the seeds firmly and discard the seeds.

Place the pomegranate juice back onto the heat and add the sugar. Reduce heat and let it simmer for 10 to 15 minutes till you get a syrup like consistency. Let the syrup cool down before pouring it into bottles.

Ingredients

• Pomegranate juice, 2 cups
• Sugar syrup, 1 cup

Method
Combine the pomegranate juice with the sugar syrup and shake together in a tightly closed jar. This is an excellent way to make grenadine syrup for cocktails although the resulting syrup is more watery in consistency.

You can use crème de cassis, raspberry syrup, cranberry juice cocktail concentrate or maraschino syrup, which is a cherry flavored syrup, as a substitute for grenadine syrup. The calorie content of this syrup is around 54 for 1 tablespoon of the syrup. Store brought syrup can be cloyingly sweet and hence it should be used only in moderation in cocktail drinks.