Our recipe for homemade Grenadine syrup is a fresh, fruity, and colorful way to bring flavor into your cocktails. It is made from Pomegranate juice and flavored with lemon juice, orange flower water, and pomegranate molasses. And with our recipe, you need less than 30 minutes to create this amazing ingredient for cocktails.
Generally, Grenadine has a pretty bad reputation amongst cocktail enthusiasts. Its bright red color and overly sweet taste are immediately associated with low-quality versions of a Shirley Temple or Tequila Sunrise.
The problem with these drinks isn't really the Grenadine, though. Instead, the problem is using a cheap store-bought version of Grenadine. Those syrups are typically artificially flavored and colored and made from cheap and super sweet corn syrup. Definitely not the ingredients you want in your Grenadine syrup.
Therefore, if you plan to make cocktails using Grenadine, I recommend using our recipe and making your own. The color is more natural, the taste is fresher, and the pomegranate flavors are much more pronounced.
Ingredients to make Grenadine at home
The main ingredient you need to make homemade Grenadine syrup is pomegranate juice. I recommend making it fresh out of real pomegranates and not using a bottled version. For our recipe, you need about two cups of it. So two large pomegranates should be enough.
Besides pomegranate juice, you need an equal amount of sugar, a teaspoon of orange flower water, a splash of lemon juice, and two ounces of pomegranate molasses. The molasses helps to get an even richer and more intense flavor into your Grenadine syrup.
Freshly made Grenadine syrup should be stored in the fridge and used within four weeks. To increase the shelf life of your homemade Grenadine, you may add an ounce of Vodka to the recipe. Vodka is neutral and won't affect the taste. And that way, you can use it for up to 6 months.
Juicing pomegranates
There are different ways to make juice out of fresh pomegranates. But all of them require quite some amount of work. One way is to cut pomegranates in half and use a citrus press to get as much juice out of them as possible. But with the small and fiddly kernels, that can be quite a challenge. That's why I do it differently:
First, I separate all the kernels from the fruit peel and pith. I know I make this sound so effortless when already this is quite a pain. But once you have managed that, it gets easier.
Now, put a batch of kernels in a vessel where you can muddle them to release their juices. Then pour the mix through a sieve into a measuring cup. Rinse and repeat until you have juiced all pomegranate kernels.
Equipment
- 1 Orange Blossom water
- 1 Muddler
- 1 Jigger
- Swing top bottles
Ingredients
- 2 pcs Large pomegranates - (or 2 cups of pomegranate juice)
- 2 cups Sugar
- 2 oz Pomegranate molasses
- 1-2 tbsp Fresh lemon juice
- 1 tsp Orange blossom water
- 1 oz Vodka - (optional)
Instructions
- Remove the kernels from the pomegranates and juice them as mentioned above.
- Add pomegranate juice, sugar, and pomegranate molasses into a small saucepan and simmer on low to medium heat. Stir occasionally.
- To make sure your Grenadine has a bright red color, you should carefully watch the syrup while heating it. It should simmer but never boil. If your Grenadine starts boiling, the color will turn brown-ish.
- Remove the syrup from the heat once the sugar is dissolved. Add orange flower water, fresh lemon juice, and Vodka and stir again until everything is combined.
- Let the Grenadine cool down to room temperature before bottling. Then store it in the fridge and use it within six months.