Monin Grenadine Syrup

Appearance: Lurid dark purple/red. Aroma: Synthetic berry-flavoured cordial. Flavour and Texture: Intensely sweet generic berry flavours with a tart kick from citric acid. The texture is thick and syrupy. I don't really want to beat-up Monin specifically. This review could just as easily have been for any other commercial grenadine syrup. They are all pretty much equivalent and far removed from the genuine article. Even the best brands are concocted from flavourings and colour rather than pomegranate juice or concentrate and they all contain preservative, have a generic artificial "berry" flavour and often an aroma of vanilla, which is completely wrong. The bottom-shelf products can be truly wretched and have a synthetic appearance, smell and flavour. Real grenadine is very easy to make yourself, will cost you less than the commercial stuff and tastes infinitely better. Put 250ml of pomegranate juice into a saucepan with 250g of white sugar and 30ml of pomegranate molasses. Heat, stirring all the time, until the sugar is dissolved (don't let it boil). That's it. Let it cool, bottle it (the recipe makes just under 500 ml) and keep it in the fridge. It will last a couple of weeks. That's my recipe. Google it or search Youtube and you'll find dozens more. Once you taste the difference real grenadine makes to your cocktails and mixed drinks you will never turn back. There are many syrups, extracts, infusions, macerations, tinctures and liqueurs you can easily make at home, and it's very satisfying to transform a good cocktail recipe into a great one by using ingredients you have made yourself. Oh - and as for Molin grenadine syrup, it's one of the better ones so it's ... "Inferior" : 65/100 (1.5 stars)