Grenadine

Real grenadine is a pomegranate-based syrup. The name comes from the French grenade, pomegranate. A traditional grenadine is made by reducing pomegranate juice with sugar, sometimes adding a drop of orange flower water for aromatic complexity. Color is deep ruby-red, somewhere between magenta and burgundy. Flavor is tart, fruity, slightly tannic, with a sweet finish.

The red corn-syrup product sold under the grenadine label in most American supermarkets has no pomegranate in it. It’s corn syrup, water, citric acid, red dye, and artificial flavor. It tastes like sweetened red food coloring. Using it in a serious exotic cocktail will undermine the drink.

The real grenadines worth buying

• Sonoma Syrup Co—widely available, made from real pomegranate.
• Liber & Co—Texas-based, smaller producer, excellent.
• B.G. Reynolds—the same exotic-cocktail-syrup producer behind serious falernum and orgeat options. Excellent.
• Pratt Standard—Washington, D.C.-based, very good.

You can also make grenadine at home: reduce 2 cups POM Wonderful pomegranate juice over low heat to 1 cup, dissolve in 1 cup sugar off heat, add a few drops of orange flower water if available, bottle and refrigerate. Keeps 3–4 weeks.

Real grenadine appears as a colorant and aromatic in many canonical exotic cocktails: the Zombie, Doctor Funk, Bacardi Cocktail, Mary Pickford, Singapore Sling, and others. In each case the corn-syrup version produces a noticeably worse drink. Don’t substitute.