Mixers

Grenadine

Grenadine is a red bar syrup named from grenade, French for pomegranate, and the house version is just that: pomegranate juice and sugar in equal weights, warmed gently and never boiled. Many bought bottles contain no pomegranate at all, only sugar, acid, flavouring and red colouring. It colours and sweetens a drink in measures of 5 to 22.5ml.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

Flavour Strengthlight medium

SeasonYear-round

Our keeping timeCommercial, opened: two to three months refrigerated. Home-made: one week refrigerated.

Storage

Keep it refrigerated once opened. A bought fruit grenadine lasts a couple of months chilled; home-made keeps a week.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens. Recipes change: check the bottle.

The ingredient

About Grenadine

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

PomegranateSweetFruityLight tartness

Tasting Notes

Sweet and lightly tart with bright red fruit character and subtle acidity when made from real pomegranate. Artificial versions are sweeter and less complex.

Pomegranate syrup by name, often not by contents

The name is French: grenade means pomegranate, and grenadine began as pomegranate juice, sugar and water. Little regulation governs the word, so the bottle on a supermarket shelf may be glucose syrup, acid, flavouring and red dye. Rose’s, the commonest grenadine in the United States, contains no pomegranate. The drinks were written for the fruit version, which is tart as well as sweet.

The house version is juice and sugar, warmed but never boiled

Equal weights of pomegranate juice and caster sugar, 250g of each, warmed gently until the sugar has gone, make about 400ml. Keep it under a simmer: boiling reduces the juice and dulls the fruit, and the house recipe is not a reduction. Pomegranate molasses and orange flower water are optional, a teaspoon and two drops. It keeps one week in the fridge.

House grenadine against bought bottles and the swaps

House grenadine

Pomegranate: Juice, half the weight
Colour from: The fruit
Keeps once open: One week, refrigerated
In a drink: Tart, red fruit

Bought, fruit-based

Pomegranate: Listed near the start
Colour from: The fruit, sometimes added colour
Keeps once open: Two to three months, refrigerated
In a drink: Close to house

Bought, flavoured

Pomegranate: None
Colour from: Dye
Keeps once open: Months, often unrefrigerated
In a drink: Sweet and red only

Raspberry syrup

Pomegranate: None
Colour from: Raspberry
Keeps once open: One week home-made
In a drink: Different red fruit

Syrup	Pomegranate	Colour from	Keeps once open	In a drink
House grenadine	Juice, half the weight	The fruit	One week, refrigerated	Tart, red fruit
Bought, fruit-based	Listed near the start	The fruit, sometimes added colour	Two to three months, refrigerated	Close to house
Bought, flavoured	None	Dye	Months, often unrefrigerated	Sweet and red only
Raspberry syrup	None	Raspberry	One week home-made	Different red fruit

Density makes the sunrise

Sugar syrup is heavier than spirit or juice, so grenadine poured last falls through the drink. The Tequila Sunrise is built on that: 45ml of tequila and 90ml of orange juice, then 15ml of grenadine down the side. A shaken drink such as the Jack Rose, with 22.5ml against applejack and lemon, is pink all through.

Using it

Using Grenadine

Usage

Measured at 5 to 22.5ml, mostly for colour and a tart red-fruit edge. It is the only sweetener in a Jack Rose, the sunrise in a Tequila Sunrise, and the pink in a Pink Lady or Bacardi Cocktail.

House Recipe

Ratio1:1 by weight (pomegranate juice to sugar)

MakesAbout 400ml

Our keeping timeOne week refrigerated

Ingredients

250g pomegranate juice (about 240ml), bottled or fresh
250g caster sugar
Optional: 1 teaspoon pomegranate molasses
Optional: 2 drops orange flower water

Method

Warm the juice gently and stir in the sugar until it dissolves, without letting it boil.
Off the heat, stir in the pomegranate molasses if using.
Cool, add the orange flower water a drop at a time, then bottle.
Label with the date and refrigerate.

Food safety

Fruit juice with nothing preserving it but sugar: keep it cold, and discard it if it fizzes, smells fermented or grows mould.

Pro Tip

Set the citrus in a sour first, then bring the grenadine up to it. Its sweetness varies more from bottle to bottle than simple syrup’s does.

Top Tips

Read the ingredients: pomegranate should come first or near it.
Warm the juice and sugar only until the sugar disappears. Boiling cooks the fruit flavour away.
Pour it last down the inside of the glass when a recipe wants the sunrise layer.
Date the home-made bottle; it keeps one week.

Possible Substitutions

Raspberry Syrup: a different fruit profile
Simple Syrup: with pomegranate juice: approximate

Production Method

Pomegranate juice and the same weight of sugar, heated just enough to dissolve the sugar and never boiled. Commercial versions may use other fruit concentrates, flavourings or colouring in place of pomegranate.

History & Context

Grenadine was first made from pomegranate juice, sugar and water; the name comes from the French grenade. The syrup is lightly regulated, so many commercial versions replace the pomegranate with other fruit or with flavourings and dye.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

What is grenadine made of?

Originally pomegranate juice, sugar and water, and that is what ours is. Many bought bottles are different: Rose’s, the most common brand in the United States, lists corn syrup, water, citric acid, preservative, flavourings and red dyes, with no pomegranate. Check the ingredients list.

How do you make grenadine?

Warm 250g of pomegranate juice, bottled or fresh, and stir in 250g of caster sugar until it dissolves, without letting it boil. Off the heat, add a teaspoon of pomegranate molasses if you like, cool it, add a couple of drops of orange flower water, then bottle and date it.

How long does homemade grenadine last?

A week in the fridge, as for every fruit syrup we make. Juice and sugar with no preservative spoil like any fruit product, so discard it if it fizzes, smells fermented or grows mould. A bought bottle, once opened, keeps two to three months refrigerated.

Is grenadine alcoholic?

No. Grenadine is a non-alcoholic syrup, which is why it goes into a Shirley Temple. Some liqueurs and cordials use the name or the colour, so check the label of anything that looks unusual. Ours is pomegranate juice and sugar with nothing else required.

Why does grenadine sink to the bottom?

It is denser than the spirit and juice already in the glass, so poured last it drops through and settles. The Tequila Sunrise relies on that, with tequila and orange juice built first and the grenadine run down the side. In a shaken drink the shake mixes it through.

What can I use instead of grenadine?

Pomegranate juice with simple syrup, roughly two parts syrup to one of juice, gets close for one drink. Raspberry syrup gives the colour with a different fruit. Pomegranate molasses is far more concentrated and sour; a few drops in simple syrup works, a full measure does not.

What drinks use grenadine?

Twenty of ours. The Jack Rose takes 22.5ml, the most of any; the Tequila Sunrise, Pink Lady, Monkey Gland and Shirley Temple take 15ml; El Presidente 7.5ml; and the Zombie only a teaspoon. In each it adds colour and a tart fruit note.

Make something

Made with Grenadine

Featured In These Cocktails

Singapore Sling Rum Runner Bahama Mama Tequila Sunrise Jack Rose Zombie

Show all 20 cocktails

Bacardi Cocktail Doctor Funk El Presidente Harvard Hurricane Mary Pickford Mexican Firing Squad Monkey Gland Pink Lady Rum Punch Shirley Temple Silk Stocking Slippery Nipple Ward Eight

Often Used With

Updated 10 October 2026

Back to Ingredients Guide