On Saturday, I spent a good chunk of my day making grenadine from scratch. The process involved making pomegranate molasses (from juice because I did have one or two other things to do that day). I also made lemon poppy seed muffins with the zest and extra juice of the lemons, because I had an hour to spare in the kitchen, but I haven’t settled on a recipe I’m entirely happy with there, so I’m not sharing.
The grenadine, though? I’m more than entirely happy. I was a little dubious about the rosewater when I read the recipe, but it took the grenadine from “This is a very nice pomegranate syrup” to “I want to put this on everything and eat it. We should get some vanilla ice cream.”
I didn’t actually get the ice cream. Instead, I’ve been trying to find drink recipes that would be improved by real, fragrant, fruity grenadine. The first existing recipe in which I tried my grenadine was a disappointment. It was already a sweet drink, and this grenadine made it cloying.
So tonight I went back to basics and created my own cocktail following a classic 3:2:1 formula. I wanted something with a bit of tartness for my second component, and I happen to have a very nice Amalfi Coast limoncello on hand. It was a chance find at our local liquor store, and I won’t be going back to a limoncello that isn’t ridiculously full of lemon oils any time soon. Then brandy to finish it off because it plays so nicely with fruit flavors. Rum would probably work as well, but I’m not a big rum fan.
The final recipe:
0.5 oz grenadine
1.0 oz limoncello
1.5 oz brandy
Normally, I would say this should be stirred, but good grenadine and good limoncello are both a little cloudy. This drink won’t be hurt by shaking. Cocktail heathen that I am, I drink most of mine stirred with the ice still in them. A stronger flavor up front that loosens up over time suits me perfectly. Have yours however you prefer.
But goodness, if you have a chance to try this cocktail? Take it. If you find someone who makes their own grenadine, or you find yourself moved to make your own, make this drink and try it. This is the happiest a drink recipe has made me since our Perfect Margarita, and it’s far less dangerous. I didn’t want to stop drinking it, but I wanted to pause to savor every sip. It was a highly aromatic treat–lemon and pomegranate and rose, all complementing each other.
It had just one problem. It didn’t have a name. From what I Google tells me, I didn’t reinvent someone else’s cocktail, so the naming is up to me. So I spent a little time thinking about where the ingredients originated and have been used, as well as the lore and language of the area, and I settled on a character I’d enjoy having a drink with.
Behold the Lady Dunya Cocktail. I’ll be making these again.
For the life of me I can’t think of one common drink that has grenadine in it. (Not necessarily popular now, but something you’d find in a drinks book or would know the name if you heard it.) This is a complete memory failure in progress.
F, a classic tequila sunrise is made from gold tequila, orange juice and grenadine syrup. It also happens to be one of your five-a-day!
F- I’ve had a layered shot called “pineapple upside down cake” that had grenadine on the bottom. It was almost 10 years ago since I’ve been in a bar that serves it, so I don’t remember what else goes in it.
Yep, tequila sunrise is the one that comes to mind most quickly. Also Singapore sling, hurricane, and Shirley Temple. I most often have it in something called a cherry bomb, which also involves cherry vodka, limoncello, and lime juice.
Next step: homemade limoncello.
I’ll try it, but the lemons we get here are different.