Pomegranate Sour

The words we use to name food, the food item or object itself, and the season in which we harvest said food share a symbolic relationship. A salient example that represents the undercurrents between food, language, and mythology is the pomegranate.

The pomegranate is indeed a curious fruit with a dichotomic association with regeneration and destruction. For millennia across Europe, Persia, Ancient Greece, Roman mythology, and Abrahamic religions, the pomegranate has symbolized marriage and fertility. Ironically, the term “grenade” also derives from “pomegranate”–fittingly named after the way shrapnel in a grenade imitates the jewel-like arils that explode upon smashing a pomegranate. Their respective outcomes seem to balance each other on the karmic scales as well: each seed has the potential to generate new life, yet each piece of shrapnel has the potential to terminate new life. 

Moreover, the Fall–a season that represents significant changes in atmosphere, temperature, and color–typically witnesses the harvesting of pomegranates. Fall welcomes the end of the heat-induced desperation that accompanies the Summer and ushers in a wave of reds, yellows, and oranges. The air is now much too cool and the days are much too short to maintain the green of the season that once was. The signals of decay and destruction that engulf our surroundings are haunting unknowns. But confronting such deaths reveal a divinely arranged wisdom that is beckoning to be indulged in, much like the glistening rubies that adorn the insides of a pomegranate.

Perhaps the irony of the pomegranate is not irony at all. Perhaps the symbolic contradiction of the pomegranate is the cycle of life and death, love and war, regeneration and deterioration. 

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Pomegranate Sour

Course: Cocktails

Keyword: Drinks (Alcoholic), Pomegranate

Author: Shawn

Ingredients

For the spiced pomegranate simple syrup:

• 1 cup POM 100% pomegranate juice
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• ½ large cinnamon stick
• 1 star anise
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 whole allspice berries
• ¼ tsp kosher salt

For the pomegranate sour:

• 2 oz white rum
• 1 ½ oz pomegranate juice
• 1 oz spiced pomegranate simple syrup
• ½ oz lemon juice freshly squeezed
• 1 large egg white
• Pomegranate seeds for garnish

Instructions

For the spiced pomegranate simple syrup:

• In a medium saucepan, add all of the ingredients and over medium-low heat, bring the mixture to a gentle simmer. Stir continuously until the sugar dissolves.
• Once the sugar has dissolved, remove from the heat and allow the spices to steep for 4 hours, or better yet, overnight.
• Strain the whole spices from the simple syrup and store in an airtight container. Store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

For the pomegranate sour:

• Add all of the ingredients to a shaker, except the pomegranate seeds, and shake for 20 seconds to emulsify the egg white. Add ice and shake again until just chilled, about 5 seconds.
• Strain into a chilled coupe glass and garnish with the pomegranate seeds.

Notes

I don’t suggest using another kind of pomegranate juice aside from the POM brand. I’ve tried other pomegranate juices just for the color of the cocktail to come out a weird, beige color. However, if you’re okay with the aesthetics of a beige cocktail, then by all means ignore this message! 

Enjoy! <3