New Liqueur from HH and Challenge

[pepcycle]

Check out this new Pomegranite Liqueur.

http://www.pamaliqueur.com/main.html

I would think we could use our collective knowledge to create a cocktail to win the "Official Bourbon Cocktail" of the Bourbon Festival.

Pomhattan?

Bourbon Pom Roy?

SBtini?

[cowdery]

I'm not a big liqueur drinker but this stuff is pretty tasty. Not too sweet. Tastes a lot like cranberry, actually. Good with tonic and a lime wedge.

[boone]

We were given some Pama to sample. Let me tell ya :grin: I'm not one to boast anything other than :grin: :grin: "Kentucky Straight Bourbon" :grin: :grin: but this new product is really good. Best, on the market, in my opinion.

Cranberry, sweet yet tart seems to best describe the taste...I can imagine the possibilities for mixing on this one. Straight and a cube of ice is perfect for me. It's made from "pomegranate".

Excellent :grin: , Excellent :grin: , Excellent :grin: , Excellent :grin: . I am very proud that this is our new product. We have another winner with this one...just excellent. Can't say it enough...Most :grin: Excellent :grin:

We just started bottling this...soon to be on the shelves...I can't wait to get more :grin: It will be a stable in my bunker from now on :grin:

Here's a picture of it....

[bluesbassdad]

:grin: :grin: :grin: So Bettye Jo, have you tried Pama yet, and if so, what do you think of it? :slappin:

Yours truly,

Dave Morefield

[Gillman]

Pomegranate is also the main flavouring in (non-alcoholic) Grenadine syrup which is a sweetener for cocktails. Pama, as a liqueur, is an alcoholic beverage meant to be drunk on its own and no doubt (and by the reports so far) is much less sweet than Grenadine. However since Grenadine is used in some bourbon cocktails no doubt Pama would work well, too. Even without tasting Pama I can foresee, say, taking 2 ounces HH 10 year old or Fighting Cock and 1 ounce Pama, shake with ice and pour over more ice, with a slice of lemon. Pama likely would blend well with tequila too since Pama has a tad of tequila in its make-up.

Gary

[JeffRenner]

Pomegranate is also the main flavouring in (non-alcoholic) Grenadine syrup

Sadly, it seems that modern grenadine syrup is more or less concocted with little if any actual pomegranate juice.

Here are the ingredients from the label of Rose's (I can't remember why I have it):

"High fructose corn syrup, water, citric acid, natural and artificial flavors, sodium citrate, sodium benzoate (preservative), red 40, blue 1."

Considering that there is less flavoring than citric acid, I suspect that no actual pomegranates were harmed in making Roses. It seems more to be colored, acidulated simple syrup designed to make tequila sunrises look pretty.

Every fall, when pomegranates are in season, I buy one, thinking to extract the juice and make my own syrup. So far, I've never done it, and even if I had, I don't think I'd use it. A couple of times I've actually opened them up and tried to extract juice, but with little more to show that stained fingers. This past season's is still in the fridge, somewhat dessicated and shrunken.

I've also tried eating the seeds, or pips, but I wasn't impressed. Not much flesh and too much seed, which I gather you are supposed to also eat. I don't see what Persephone found in them, but she did eat only one, after all. Maybe she didn't like them either.

Jeff

[Gillman]

Thanks, Jeff. I have the same bottle. It does state "natural flavors" (as you said) and I assumed this means some genuine pomegranate flavor is included. I plan to buy Pama because this will be the opportunity to see what real pomegranate tastes like, and how close Rose's Grenadine gets. Of course there are (I am sure) Grenadines on the market that use pomegranate as the main flavoring, i.e., from companies other than Rose's. What is the tale about Persephone? It rings a bell vaguely but I can't recall the story.

Gary

[pepcycle]

I've been buying pomegranate juice in the natural foods store. It is very tart. It makes the best Cosmo as a substitute for splash of cranberry.

I made a reduction for a dish and and gastrique with it.

Awesome.

I will try making a reduction and adding to simple syrup as an experiment in homemade Grenadine.

[Gillman]

Hi Ed, if you make that syrup, try it in a Bourbon Daisy. This is essentially a whiskey sour with the sweet element replaced in whole or part by Grenadine. So, say 2 ounces bourbon (that Weller 12 will work!), 1 teaspoon Grenadine or to taste, about 1/2-1 ounce lemon juice, slice of orange and maraschino cherry if desired. I made this recently with Rose's Grenadine and it was very good and I used Jack Daniels for the whiskey. Made with bourbon and home-made Grenadine it would be much better.

Gary

[JeffRenner]

What is the tale about Persephone? It rings a bell vaguely but I can't recall the story.

It the Greek myth about why we have summer and winter. I remember it from high school, or maybe junior high school. In the 60's, no one I knew in Ohio had ever seen a pomegranate. Somehow it stuck with me that Persephone was doomed to spend six months in the Underground with her kidnapper Hades for having succumbed and eaten a single pomegranate seed, after having up until then resisted all the food offered to her after her kidnapping. Then she could spend the rest of the year with her mother, Demeter, the goddess of agriculture.

A quick search found this fairly succinct summary. http://www.ceres.org.za/about.html

Another nugget is that the word pomegranate is the source of the word grenade.

Jeff

[cowdery]

I haven't tried it yet, but I think Pama might substitute well for red vermouth in a manhattan-like drink.

Pomegranates do seem somehow more exotic and sexy than, say, cranberries, but the fact that it basically tastes like cranberry juice probably works in its favor.

[LeNell]

The Pama gets my thumbs up, as well. Captures the tartness of pomegranate without cloying sweetness. Great packaging, too. I have been encouraging customers to experiment with it in place of grenadine in cocktails. It is awfully hard to find grenadine syrup made with real pomegranate. Boulaine makes one and supposedly Fee Brothers, too, although I haven't had it, yet. I've seen recipes for making it at home, but I've never tried it. Ben says he tried once, and the stuff grew mold after one day. (He didn't refrigerate.)

Master Mixologist, Guru, Bar Meister Dale Degroff came up with these cocktails as part of the Pama Point of Sale materials.

CHAMPAGNE DREAMS

1 oz Pama

1 oz Cointreau

1 oz fresh orange juice

3 oz Champagne

Add first three to flute with ice. Slowly pour in Champagne while stirring gently. Strain into flute with orange and cherry garnish.

PAMA Martini

1 1/2 oz Pama

1 1/2 oz Vodka

1/2 oz grapefruit juice

1/2 oz sour mix

1 oz Monin Ginger Syrup

Shake and strain into chilled glass with lemon zest garnish.

These are also fun ideas, although I haven't tried, yet:

PAMA-RITA

2 oz Pama

2 oz Cointreau

3/4 oz fresh lime juice

Shake and pour over ice into margarita glass rimmed with red sugar and lime garnish.

[Paulbrad25]

As a bartender my first choice would be pepcycles cosmo idea as I was in a comp a couple of years ago where a bartender made one with fresh pomegranite as a lament to the modern lack of it in grenadine (also as a bit more of a credible ingredient than grenadine) and it tasted great.

Do you reckon it's flavoursome enough to make a Long Beach Iced Tea out of? I'd have to play with it to come up with some real drinks. Any idea when i can start badgering the boys at Inspirit in the U.K. for a sample?