Real Pomegranite Grenadine

So last night was my first night with a bottle of real pomegranite grenadine sitting on my shelf (most all commercial brands are just sugar, food coloring and artificial flavoring with little to no pomegranite taste, and I abhor the stuff).

In honor of the occasion I made two rather similar drinks using my newfound product, The Ward Eight and the Jack Rose.

The Ward Eight has a fun story behind it, named after Boston's 8th district it is reported that Tom Hussion of Locke-Ober Cafe in Boston invented the drink to celebrate the victory of Democrat Martin Lomansey to the Massachusettes General Court in 1896.  The drink is essentially a Whisky Sour with grenadine in it, although maybe some cocktail historian will correct me on that.

Ward Eight
2 Ounces Rye Whisky (Alberta Premium)
1 Ounce Simply Syrup (1:1)
1 Ounce Lemon Juice
1/2 Ounce Grenadine
Dash Angostura bitters

I need to try this again, the drink was certainly good, but I had to add some whisky after shaking to cut down on the sweet, most certainly less genadine (1/4 oz next time) and fresher lemon juice (I squeezed this stuff 2 days ago and had no fresh lemons).  This would most certainly be an interesting drink with Bulleit Bourbon which is heavier on the rye than most bourbons, however I do like the biting nature 100% rye whisky gave this drink to overcome the cloying sweetness this drink could have had on the finish (given my poor mixing).  I will post updates to this as I try new recipes in the future.  Also I loved the addition of bitters to this drink...but i like bitters in moderation in just about any drink.

The Jack Rose on the other hand has no such story, and uses what is often a hard to get ingredient, Applejack (American Apple Brandy).  I have a bottle of Laird's 7 1/2 yr 100% apple brandy I picked up from Astory Spirits (a FANTASTIC store if you're in NYC) but its availability in BC is non-existant.  Applejack itself is possibly the earliest produced spirit in the United States, Laird Distillery hold Distillers permit #1 in fact.  It drinks essentially like whisky with an apple flavor and makes a great old fashioned.

Jack Rose
This is my modified version of the resipe
1 1/2 oz Apple Brandy
1/2 oz Bulleit Bourbon
3/4 oz Simply Syrup
1 oz Fresh Lemon
1/2 oz Grenadine
Dash Bitters

Again, I overshot on the sweetness, 1/4 oz grenadine next time and FRESH lemon, not my 2 day old stuff, although I love the addition of bitters, gave the drink a refreshing spicy note, definitely need to tinker with this but I can see the majesty of the dirnk waiting to be revealed as in the Ward 8, it comes off as cloyingly sweet due to my mistakes, but the marriage of Apple Brandy and Pomegranite united by citrus is not the be overlooked, although its basically a variant of the sour family like the Ward 8 it has a certain elegance the Ward 8 will not regularly achieve, the apple pomegranite combination is truly fantastic.

That's all for now, I most certainly will be experimenting with these in the future as they are fantastic recipes.