Mixers

Pomegranate Juice

Pomegranate juice is pressed from the fruit's seeds and sold unsweetened: dark red, tart and slightly drying, with nothing added in a bottle labelled 100% juice. It gives our Cauldron Punch its colour and tart base. Grenadine is a different thing, a syrup; the house grenadine is this juice warmed with an equal weight of sugar.

Quick Facts

ABV0% ABV

Legal categoryNon-alcoholic

Flavour Strengthmedium bold

Our keeping timeOpened: five to seven days refrigerated.

Storage

Refrigerated once opened, always: it is fresh juice and behaves like one.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Pomegranate Juice

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

Dark fruitTanninSharp berry

Tasting Notes

Cranberry’s depth without its bitterness: dark, dry and lightly astringent, closer to wine than to squash.

Tart, dark and unsweetened

Bottled pomegranate juice is the pressed juice of the seeds with nothing added. It tastes tart and slightly drying, more like a dry red wine than a sweet fruit juice, and its colour is a deep red.

That dryness is what a drink takes from it. In the Cauldron Punch, 500ml of it gives the bowl its red and a tart base, while the blackberry liqueur and 250ml of simple syrup supply the sugar.

Grenadine is a syrup made from it

Grenadine was traditionally a pomegranate syrup; many commercial bottles now use flavourings and other fruit instead. The house grenadine goes back to the juice: one part sugar to one of juice by weight, dissolved over a low heat without boiling, and good for a week chilled.

Pomegranate juice against grenadine and cranberry juice drink

Made from

Pomegranate juice: Pressed pomegranate seeds
House grenadine: Pomegranate juice and sugar, 1:1 by weight
Cranberry juice drink: Cranberry juice from concentrate, water, sugar

Sugar added

Pomegranate juice: None
House grenadine: Half its weight
Cranberry juice drink: Yes

Taste

Pomegranate juice: Tart, dry, dark fruit
House grenadine: Sweet and fruity
Cranberry juice drink: Sweet-tart red fruit

Keeps once opened

Pomegranate juice: Five to seven days refrigerated
House grenadine: One week refrigerated
Cranberry juice drink: As the label says, refrigerated

Job in a drink

Pomegranate juice: Colour and a tart base
House grenadine: Sweetener and colour
Cranberry juice drink: Length and colour

	Pomegranate juice	House grenadine	Cranberry juice drink
Made from	Pressed pomegranate seeds	Pomegranate juice and sugar, 1:1 by weight	Cranberry juice from concentrate, water, sugar
Sugar added	None	Half its weight	Yes
Taste	Tart, dry, dark fruit	Sweet and fruity	Sweet-tart red fruit
Keeps once opened	Five to seven days refrigerated	One week refrigerated	As the label says, refrigerated
Job in a drink	Colour and a tart base	Sweetener and colour	Length and colour

Swap one for the other and sugar and acid move in opposite directions. Juice where grenadine was meant leaves a drink sharp and thin; grenadine where juice was meant leaves it sweet and heavy.

Buy it as 100% juice and keep it cold

Read the label. A bottle of 100% juice, from concentrate or not, is what the punch wants; a juice drink is sweetened and usually made up with cheaper juices. Opened, it lasts five to seven days refrigerated. It stains, so open it away from pale cloth.

Using it

Using Pomegranate Juice

Usage

500ml in the Cauldron Punch, where it gives a tart, deep red base while the blackberry liqueur and the syrup bring the sugar. Buy 100% juice; to make grenadine from it, warm it with an equal weight of sugar.

Pro Tip

One bottle covers two jobs. Pour some straight into a punch, and warm the rest with its own weight in sugar for a week's grenadine that tastes of pomegranate.

Top Tips

Buy bottles labelled 100% juice; juice drinks are sweetened and often padded with apple or grape.
Do not pour it where a recipe says grenadine, or the other way round: one is tart, the other sweet.
Refrigerate it once opened and use it within five to seven days.
It stains cloth, so open it away from anything pale.

Possible Substitutions

Cranberry Juice: brighter, more bitter, the same job in a punch
Grenadine: with the other sugar halved

Production Method

Pomegranate seeds pressed and the juice strained. Bottles labelled 100% juice have nothing added; some are made from concentrate. Grenadine is a separate product: the house version is this juice warmed with an equal weight of sugar.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

Is pomegranate juice the same as grenadine?

No. Pomegranate juice is the unsweetened juice of the fruit. Grenadine is a syrup: traditionally pomegranate juice and sugar, though many commercial bottles now use flavourings and other fruit. The house grenadine dissolves sugar into the juice, one part to one by weight, over a gentle heat.

Which pomegranate juice should I buy?

A bottle labelled 100% juice, with nothing else on the ingredients list. Juice drinks add sugar and are often stretched with apple or grape, which thins out the tart, dry character a punch uses it for. Whether it is from concentrate matters less than having nothing added.

How do I make grenadine from pomegranate juice?

Weigh equal amounts of juice and caster sugar, say 250g of each, and warm them gently, stirring until the sugar dissolves; do not let it boil. Cool it, bottle and date it, and use it within seven days, refrigerated. That makes about 400ml.

How long does pomegranate juice last once opened?

Five to seven days, kept cold with the cap on. It is a fruit juice with nothing to preserve it, so keep it cold from the moment it is opened and pour it away if it fizzes or smells fermented. An unopened bottle keeps to the date on the label.

What drinks use pomegranate juice?

Among our recipes, the Cauldron Punch, a dark rum and blackberry liqueur bowl in which 500ml of pomegranate juice gives the colour and a tart base. Its body and dryness also make it a sound base for an alcohol-free punch, lengthened with sparkling water.

Is pomegranate juice sweet?

Less than most fruit juices. It has natural fruit sugar but tastes tart and slightly drying, closer to a dry red wine than to orange juice. That is why the Cauldron Punch pairs it with a liqueur and simple syrup, and why it cannot stand in for sweet grenadine.

Make something

Made with Pomegranate Juice

Featured In These Cocktails

Cauldron Punch

Often Used With

Grenadine

Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 10 October 2026

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