Cocktails with Pomegranate juice
Pomegranate juice is pressed from the arils of ripe pomegranate — deep red, sweet-tart and slightly astringent.
How it's used
It brings a deep red and a sweet-tart, faintly tannic fruit that grenadine only imitates. It is more astringent than sweet, so it cannot replace grenadine measure for measure. The tannin is the useful part: it gives a drink some grip. Most bottled juice is made from concentrate and tastes jammier than fresh, so taste it before you balance the drink.
Substitutes for Pomegranate juice
Fresh pomegranate juice
Swaps one for one. Press halves straight down on a lever press, or the rind’s tannin turns the juice bitter. A large fruit gives up to 150 ml.
Cranberry juice cocktail
Works in the same amount. Expect a slightly sharper, less sweet drink.
Pomegranate molasses
Mix one part molasses with four to six parts water, to taste. The color comes out darker and the sourness stronger.
A syrup, not a juice. It can replace part of any sugar syrup by the barspoon, but it will not stand in for the juice.
