Pomegranate’s tart-sweet flavor really lends itself to cocktails. This lovely pink-hued libation, with plenty of lime to balance the sweet Cointreau, is perfect for setting the mood and piquing the appetite for Thanksgiving and other holiday celebrations. For a crowd, simply multiply the ingredient quantities and use a larger vessel with plenty of ice.
For DIY authenticity, squeeze your own pomegranate juice. But beware — it’s a messy procedure and the juice stains! Wear an apron and work by a sink.
Start by rolling the whole fruit around on the counter. You will hear the juice sacks surrounding the seeds popping and releasing their juice. When you no longer hear that popping sound, and the fruit feels good and squishy, hold the pomegranate over a bowl to catch the initial gush of juice and carefully cut off the stem end of the fruit. Invert the fruit over a glass and let the juice drip out, gently squeezing the fruit to help release the juice.
To eek out any remaining juice, set a fine-mesh strainer over your bowl and set it in the sink. Cut open the fruit and pull out the seeds, which should be quite loose now, dropping them into the strainer. (Save a few for garnish, if you like.)
Press the seeds against the strainer with your fingers until only the dry, white seeds remain. Discard the dry seeds and pour the juice from the glass through the strainer, too.
One large pomegranate yields about 4 ounces (1/2 cup) of juice, enough for two cosmos.
- Ice
- 2 ounces fresh-squeezed or bottled 100% pomegranate juice
- 1½ ounces citron or plain vodka
- ½ ounce Cointreau
- ½ ounce fresh lime juice
- 1 drop Angostura bitters (optional)
- Lime wedge or twist, or a couple of pomegranate seeds, for garnish
- Fill a cocktail shaker or pitcher with ice. Add the pomegranate juice, vodka, Cointreau, lime juice, and the bitters, if you are using them.
- Shake or stir vigorously for at least 30 seconds.
- Strain into a martini glass. Garnish with a small wedge or twist of lime, or a couple of pom seeds. The seeds will drop to the bottom but are a fun reminder of the basis for the drink as you finish it.
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