Grenadine
Grenadine is a nonalcoholic bar syrup commonly used as a cocktail ingredient, distinguished by its sweetness, mild flavor, and red color. Popular in mixed drinks, grenadine syrup was traditionally made from pomegranate, but today is most prevalently made from commercially produced natural or artificial flavors, as well as substitute fruits.
Name
Grenadine syrup was originally prepared from pomegranate juice, sugar, and water, with its name deriving from the French word grenade, for pomegranate.It is not related to the Grenadines archipelago, which takes its name from Grenada, itself from Granada, Spain.
Modern and commercial variants
As grenadine is subject to minimal regulation, its basic flavor profile can vary widely from the original pomegranate to combinations of unspecified natural and artificial flavors, to the use of other fruits, such as blackcurrant, elderberry, raspberry, and gooseberry.To reduce production costs, manufacturers have widely replaced fruit bases with artificial ingredients. The "Rose's" brand is by far the most common grenadine sold in the United States, and is formulated from high fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, FD&C Red #40, natural and artificial flavors, and FD&C Blue #1.
Use
Grenadine is commonly used to mix both modern and classic cocktails, including:- El Presidente – rum, orange curaçao, vermouth, and grenadine
- Mary Pickford – white rum, pineapple juice and grenadine
- Queen Mary – beer, grenadine and maraschino cherries, drizzled with cherry syrup
- Singapore sling – a gin-based sling cocktail
- Tequila sunrise – tequila, orange juice and grenadine
- Ward 8 – whiskey, lemon juice, orange juice and grenadine
- Zombie – a rum-based Tiki cocktail
- Terremoto – a traditional chilean cocktail made with pipeño wine, pineapple ice cream and grenadine