For some, grenadine is the bright red, super-sweet syrup you can find in grocery stores across America. But if you haven’t tried the real-deal grenadine, then you are missing out on a complex syrup that can add rich, jammy fruit flavor to your classic co*cktails and mocktails alike.
With only 4 easy-to-find ingredients (Pomegranate Juice, Sugar, Lemon, and Orange Blossom Water), you can make grenadine at home. We will even learn how to make pomegranate molasses along the way, how neat!
Be sure to write down today’s date because it is a momentous occasion; today is the day you become a lean, mean, grenadine-making machine.
So let’s make some homemade grenadine!
But First, Rapid Fire Questions!
What is Grenadine Syrup?
Real grenadine is not “pomegranate syrup”, but it is made with pomegranates.
Pomegranate syrup is only pomegranate juice and sugar. Grenadine has the addition of pomegranate molasses and orange blossom water (or Rose Water). This gives the syrup a deep, fruity flavor.
How to make Pomegranate Molasses at home.
Pomegranate Molasses is basically pomegranate juice reduced to… well, molasses. We add just a small amount of sugar to the juice, as well as a splash of lemon juice which will keep our molasses from crystallizing while it reduces by half over VERY low heat.
You can absolutely use store-bought pomegranate molasses to make grenadine, we just prefer the homemade because of its depth of flavor.
Why does grenadine look so different at the store?
The bright red bottle of grenadine that most of us had always known as grenadine is… well it’s really just sugar syrup with some added flavors, citric acid, and A LOT of red food coloring.
Nothing wrong with that necessarily, but it is not a good stand-in syrup for grenadine used in classic co*cktails.
What can I substitute for Grenadine syrup in co*cktails?
Depending on the drink, you can substitute pomegranate syrup or even cherry syrup. You could experiment with other rich fruity syrups or even jam in a pinch. If you happen to have Luxardo Maraschino cherries laying around, try using the syrup the cherries are kept in.
If you are using grenadine for its ombre-causing properties, try sinking any vibrant colored syrup. Think strawberry, blueberry, or raspberry syrups, to name a few.
Is Grenadine Syrup Vegan?
When you make homemade grenadine using certified organic sugar, it is vegan. This is because organic sugar cannot go through the same bone char refinement that non-organic sugar can.
You can also use beet sugar, which doesn’t involve any bone char.
Can I make this grenadine with fresh pomegranate seeds?
Yes! If you are a lucky son of a gun with lots of fresh pomegranate seeds, you can juice the seeds with a hand juicer or even muddle the seeds in a co*cktail shaker. Strain the juice and follow the recipe below.
If your fresh juice is more tart than it is sweet, try omitting the lemon from the homemade molasses. I recommend this because store-bought juice tends to be sweeter and really needs the lemon.
What’s the shelf life of this grenadine syrup?
This syrup will keep in the refrigerator for a month (or longer if you decide to freeze it), but be sure to always, always use the “smell test”. For best storage practices, wipe the lip and sides of whatever bottle or container you are storing your syrup.
How much does homemade grenadine cost?
In total, we spent about $12 USD to make this syrup which yields about 2.5 cups of syrup.
- 4lb bag of Sugar – $2.84
- 16oz bottle of Pom Wonderful 100% Pomegranate Juice – $3.54
- 1 Lemon – $0.63
- 10oz bottle of Orange Blossom Water $5 (best prices will be at your local international market)
For the sake of transparency, I have decided to include the true, upfront costs rather than the price of the amount of ingredients. Orange blossom water does cost $5 upfront but we only used a few cents worth of the bottle. Obviously, we didn’t use all 4 pounds of sugar or 10 ounces of orange blossom water, and we will be able to use these ingredients in other recipes (like orgeat ).
Yield: 2.5 Cups
Grenadine Syrup
This pomegranate-flavored syrup adds fruity complexity to co*cktails and mocktails
Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time25 minutes
Total Time30 minutes
Ingredients
For the Homemade Pomegranate Molasses
- 0.5 cup or 125g - Pomegranate Juice
- 1 Tablespoon or 12g - Sugar
- 1 Lemon, halved
For the Grenadine Syrup
- 1.5 cups or 300g - Sugar
- 1.25 cups or 300g - Pomegranate Juice
- 1 to 2 Barspoon(s) - Orange Blossom Water
- Homemade molasses or 2 T of store-bought pom molasses
Instructions
- Make Pomegranate Molasses: In a small saucepan, combine .5c Pom Juice, 1T Sugar, and the juice from 1 half of the lemon (reserving the other half for later).
- Over low heat, stir the mixture constantly until sugar is melted.
- Allow the mixture to reduce over low heat for about 20-30 minutes, stirring often and scraping the sides of the pot so that none of the mixture crystallizes onto the sides of the pan.
- When the mixture has reduced about 50%-75% you can remove from the heat and add the juice from the other half of the lemon.
- Assemble the Grenadine: In the same saucepan with the homemade molasses (or 2 Tablespoons of store-bought pom. molasses), combine the rest of the sugar and about 3-4 tablespoons of the pomegranate juice.
- Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved. You may need to pop this back onto the stove over low heat for 2-3 minutes, stirring constantly, to help the sugar melt.
- Remove from heat and while stirring, add the remaining pomegranate juice.
- Allow syrup to cool before adding 1 barspoon or .25 teaspoon of Orange Blossom Water (or Rose Water). After tasting your grenadine, you can decide If you'd like to add another barspoon of Orange Blossom Water.
- Store in an airtight container, keep refrigerated(or frozen), and enjoy!
Notes
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