Shots of sugar anyone? What I really like to see in grenadine is tartness that can hold up in cocktails and offers more than just sweetness. Do you have a favorite grenadine you swear by? Side note: These are my preferences, but I encourage you to experiment and form your own opinion around what works best for you!
I make my own of course. I use pomagranate molassas, and orange blossom water. Usually 1:1. I've done it with cranberry as a flavor boost. thats pretty good. Fun Vid!
For me (probably because of locality) it's Joaquin's. I was actually really surprised to see it absent from your list. Speaking of Joaquin's, have you ever heard of or used Kummel? I happen to be picking some up today on a curiosity buy, no clue what I'm gonna do with the stuff, and can barely find any info online about it.
Liber & Co definitely makes some fine syrups. I use their orgeat and passion fruit. I actually get my grenadine from a local (left coast) company; Sonoma Syrup Co. I know I should make my own but, you know, laziness.
Liber & Co. really does knock it out of the park. Their grapefruit shrub is mighty fine and their gum syrup is great, too, if you don't have time to make your own.
Well actually the first grenadine was made with pomegranates but it was "replaced" (at least here in France) with a combination of red fruits with lemon juice. That's why I was confused to see you using pomegranate for your homemade. Also if you are interested about various syrups, you can go take a look at all the Monin syrups, it can be worth the time. Edit: checked on their site, they have a pomegranate syrup
I'm honestly surprised grenadine could be anything besides pomegranate. In Spanish "pomegranate" is "granada" it seems like that would be the root word for grenadine. romance language things I guess.
@@yaboirico5221 It is the root word, "grenade" in french, the red fruits one was named because it reminded some of pomegranate, it is related just not the same thing.
What I love about this video is that grenadine was the very first syrup I encountered making cocktails where I questioned the quality. My Bols Grenadine (Europe) seemed to overpower the cocktails with candy sweetness. Short of a good "real" option, it looks like homemade in small batches is the way to go.
The cocktail you “made” is actually already a drink - rum, citrus juice, and grenadine is a Bacardi cocktail. The name is quite confusing but I like making them at home when I want a drink but want something super simple and quick to throw together
The best video on grenadine. I don't remember how store-bought grenadine taste as I make my own at home. Don't think I can ever go back to mass-produced grenadine. Homemade is always a winner.
I'm the same way - I didn't know how the store-bought stacked up. I was blown away at how different they are not only from homemade grenadine, but from each other! Thanks, Georgi!
Interesting note on "natural flavors": I work for an environmental consulting firm and while doing work at a plant that processed pine trees, I learned that pine oil distillates were used to make "natural cherry flavors" The site was so disgusting to work on that I won't touch any cherry flavored food item unless its an actual cherry. It wouldn't surprise me if it's what's used in the bookend Grenadines.
Do you know the only difference between a natural and artificial flavor? The source, and only the source. You can have the same chemical, but if it was extracted from a plant or animal, it's natural. If it was synthesized, it's artificial, even if they're the same final product.
New to you channel but I absolutely love these videos it's clear you know your stuff when it comes to drinks and I love hearing what you have to talk about, keep it up!
So appreciate this. Had the pleasure of making our own with your recipe but you know you'll use it a couple times then... It's like the difference between fresh citrus juice and the bottled stuff
Hey Anders, amazing video as always. Once I randomly bought grenadine from a Turkish shop. It was the best thing ever, so rich and tart. It was aged in a barrel. Unfortunately it was used up way too quickly, and I never found the same product again. 🤣
Barrel aged grenadine?! That sounds incredible! I would have used it up too 😂 the tartness is really what I look for in grenadine. Would have loved to try it!
My son and I do a cocktail oriented podcast and often we just don't have the time to make out own syrups. Lieber&CO is our fall back grenadine, hands down.
I love your recipe. I also like the bright red color for some of my party drinks. So when I make a batch, I split it and add a few drops of red food color to half the mix for the fun cocktails.
When I make homemade grenadine, my recipe is similar to Anders, but I do use hibiscus (Jamaica) flowers at the end and let it steep in the liquid for a minute to get the natural red color and a little bit of tart. It doesn’t take many to get the red color.
Home made syrups are easy to make and generally cheaper and better. I get why a bar might not want to take the time, depending on the bar, but a hobbyist? I mean the point is to make fantastic stuff for you and your friends. Take the time to do it right and really show off.
Whenever someone mentions grenadine I get flashbacks to when I first started tending bar. It seemed every place had a 25lb box of grenadine syrup or powder collecting dust in the corner of the walk-in cooler.
This was an awesome video for me in that (a) I love side-by-side tastings, and (b) I really don't know that much about grenadine. As a Portlander I was pulling for BG Reynolds, I've used several of his other products and they're all great (but I've never tried his grenadine). I think I might be ready to try your homemade recipe. Thanks again for another great video!
Here in Boston what I can find is Daily's, Giroux, Rose's, Master of Mixes, Favorite Day (Target brand), Powell & Mahoney, Stirrings, Jack Rudy, Yes Cocktail Co, and Small Hand Foods. Dunno if I'm just not looking hard enough
Nice video! I finally bought a "better" brand of grenadine.. although I still keep the Rose's around, my wife likes it :P ...I rarely make my own as I just don't use grenadine often so it's just not worth it.. Great video as always Anders!
My at home go to cocktail is usually just Pom juice, vodka or bourbon depending on mood, a couple of drops of orange oil topped off with seltzer water. I’m gonna make the homemade grenadine instead and see how it goes. Great vid Anders and Az!!!
Great video Anders! Actually, I believe instead of the Monin Grenadine a better choice would be the Monin Pomegranate Syrup. After all, pomegranate is what the taste profile should be based on. The ingredients are Pure Cane Sugar, Water, Natural Flavors, Citric Acid, and Natural Pomegranate Flavor. I hope if you ever do round two you try this one, as I am curious about your thoughts!
You could probably improve the color of your homemade one by making your own juice reduction (i use Pom) instead of molases. Mine comes out pretty red. Takes a bit of time but worth the effort i think.
One grenadine I like uses no syrup. Basically just take 4 cups Pom pomegranate juice and reduce on stove to about 2cp (or 1.5cp) depending on your desire. I also add a little fresh lemon juice. If you want a grenadine molasses just reduce to 1 cup (great on lamb)
Love grenadine, and like you I'm all about the flavor. Became slightly obsessed with it a few years back, and tried a bunch of store-bought brands and also experimented with various recipes. My favorite recipe for homemade grenadine is thick, tart, and not overly sweet. It only has 3 easy to find ingredients. Pomegranate juice, simmered down to 1/3 its original volume, cane sugar, and lemon juice. If I want to make a big batch, I'll start with a 48 oz bottle of pure pomegranate juice, slowly simmer it down to 16 oz (takes the better part of an hour), add 1.5 cups of granulated cane sugar, and the juice of 1 lemon. Store in the fridge and use within 3 weeks. One of my favorite drinks to make with it I call a Ruby Old Fashioned... typical old fashioned spec with rye and angostura, just sub in 1/4 oz of the grenadine instead of the simple syrup. Hope you give it a try sometime!
Your invented cocktail is really a Shrunken Skull. Same proportions of rum to lime juice to grenadine as in your Shrunken Skull video! Just different type of rum, and served up instead of with crushed ice.
Very useful, if you're doing another of these, could you do orgeat? Because sometimes I don't know if what I'm making is correct, and it would be helpful to have something to measure against
It took me a while to get around to watching this one, and I feel strangely vindicated with the choice of Liber & Co. I started buying from them solely because they're a local Texas company, and especially in these past 2 years it's important to support your local economy. However, as I've tried more and more of their products the more I have no interest in trying other brands. Their grenadine, orgeat, and passion fruit syrups are my favorites, but they also have an excellent blood orange cordial and two different grapefruit cordials that help to make some unique cocktails.
If anyone has had a kidney transplant and cannot have pomegranate, Torani grenadine syrup is a very nice substitute that does not interact with immunosuppressive medicines.
Anders, this was great! The thing I don't like though is I haven't seen most of these grenadine brands in my area so I can't just run out and grab them. Lol. To the interwebs I go!!!!
I want to make a Grenadine cocktail mow. My wife said I can't as it's only 1000hrs here in UK! I said well it's 1700hrs in Ander's & Oz's bar! She said it's always 1700hrs in your bar :-) Clock needs a new battery I guess? Great comparison video
I will NEVER EVER buy bottled grenadine again. Your homemade recipe is far superior, super easy to make and more importantly, inexpensive. I use Trader Joe’s organic pomegranate juice for $4.99
This was a very helpful video. We don't make many cocktails that use grenadine so I feel like homemade would just languish in the back of the fridge, right next to the bottle of Rose's we bought for something. I'm intrigued by the Liber & Co.
I'm so glad you found the video helpful! I really liked the Liber & Co. and if you're used to using Rose's grenadine, I think you'll see it offers so much more in the cocktail. Thanks for the comment - and happy mixing!
Great video! And I agree, home-made is always best. I don't use grenadine in anything I make but I'd do your home-made one if I did. Liber & Co. if I didn't have time to make my own.
Most of these are not available in Iceland but I have been making your recipe for a while and I have no interest in trying others. True, I wish the color was a bit more red but hey it works.
Do you think maybe you could boost the visual appeal of the homemade grenadine with a bit of hibiscus syrup? You might be able to dispense with the rosewater and pick up your floral notes that way.
Did you know that the cocktail you made for the final test is a tiki drink known as a Shrunken Skull? I happen to be drinking one as I watch this video (home made grenadine).
The liquid alchemist seemed to throw you for a loop - not that it was bad, just not what you associate with grenadine. I think it would be cool to see you work through designing a drink that worked well with it.
The only grenadine I’ve tried so far is Rose’s and I really didn’t like it. It tasted like cough syrup so I just haven’t tried to make cocktails with grenadine again. I’m gonna try again with Liber & Co.
my biggest rpoblem with homemade grenadine is: I don't use enough of it. I made my own a few times and had to throw it away most of it because it got moldy. wish there was a way to get it as shelf stable as store bought syrups
Making homemade is kind off difficult where I'm at. Sure I can buy the pomegranate molasses, and orange blossom/rose water on Amazon. You cannot buy pomegranate juice anywhere near me, well not 100% juice anyway, it's always a juice cocktail. So while at the my local liquor store they only handle Rose's grenadine, however they had one bottle from Luxardo that I picked up. It doesn't seem to be a bad one, it beats Rose's which isn't much of an achievement, but I wonder what everybody thinks of it. Should I not buy it again?
