Real Grenadine

Combine 250 g unsweetened pomegranate juice with 250 g white sugar. Add 5 ml orange-blossom water after cooling and adjust with up to 5 ml lemon juice if the fruit lacks brightness.

Warm only enough to dissolve the sugar. Prolonged boiling dulls fresh fruit aroma and can create a jammy result. Cool, taste, adjust acidity, then bottle.

Refrigerate and use within two weeks. Use 10–15 ml in a Shirley Temple or as a supporting fruit sweetener. Discard if it ferments, molds or develops an unusual aroma.

Pomegranate sugar varies with fruit and commercial composition. Juice plus equal added sugar is not identical to a pure-water 1:1 syrup: fruit solids also contribute to readings. A refractometer helps compare batches but cannot classify every dissolved solid as sucrose. Record the unsweetened starting product.

Heat only enough to dissolve sugar. Prolonged boiling concentrates the mixture and produces jam-like notes. Adjust lemon to the actual juice rather than adding it automatically; keep floral water restrained. Red color alone proves neither real pomegranate character nor quality, as commercial formulations vary.

Combining syrup with citrus before a sparkling mixer reduces prolonged stirring. More syrup from a sharper pomegranate batch adds both sugar and acid. Test actual density for layering. Swollen caps or gas in the syrup are not intentional carbonation and require discarding questionable product.