Make your own Grenadine

This is all you need!

A few posts ago I wrote about the abundance of local vegetation that can be utilized behind the bar as well as in the kitchen.  I thought we’d fire up the beginning of March and make a batch of homemade Hibiscus Pomegranate Grenadine. This recipe is succulently simple and luscious, a sweet and tannic syrup that will make your Ice Teas majestic and your Clover Club’s sing. Escaping the dreadful “high fructose corn syrup machine of doom“ is also an added bonus.

Let’s get dirty…

Local deliciousness

What’cha need!

2 – 4 medium sized local Pomagranates

6oz dried hibiscus

1 cup of the White Death (granulated sugar)

2 cups H2O

Pomegranates are decidedly evil little suckers. Maybe that’s why the French call them “Grenades” (hence, grenadine). While they’re juice is just so damn tasty, the after effects of slicing one open can leave you looking like a Dexter Morgan slideshow and in need of a good drycleaner. I suggest laying a few layers of that old Crucian Trader out over your cutting board first. Slice your pom’s in half and squeeze the juice out into a saucepan. If you haven’t already, it’s time to invest in a nice handheld citrus squeezer. Don’t worry about digging the flesh out or straining the seeds quite yet, what we want here is the juice. You’ll notice that our local pomegranates have a nice, light pink colored juice. (We are going to make it a shade or 12 darker by adding the dried hibiscus. We also want to impart a subtle floral tannin to the grenadine as well, which the hibiscus excels at.)

Squeeze!

Take about 6oz of dried hibiscus (half a bag of the kind found at Plaza Extra in the Middle Eastern isle) and just drop it in the saucepan with the juice and give it a stir. Add your 2 cups of H2O and put on a burner on low heat. We just want to gradually warm it up and help the hibiscus release some flavor. Keep an eye on the pot, stirring occasionally, after about 10 minutes or when the water as taken on a deep purple color.

Now, strain out the hibiscus and any seeds and flesh that may be leftover from your juicing. Toss out the mash.

Add 1 cup of White Death (what my Old Man likes to call granulated sugar) to your mix and bring to a simmer on the stove, stirring continuously. Once the sugar is dissolved, take your grenadine off the heat and add 1oz of Light Rum (to help preserve it). Let your Grenadine cool in the fridge for a couple hours and then you’re ready to go!

Make sure you keep your Grenadine refrigerated as the Caribbean heat has been known to do strange things to those left out in the sun too long.

Done.