Pilar Valdes' The Queen’s ‘Granate (pomegranate mocktail) (The Queen's Gambit)
ingredients
For Pomegranate Shrub:
- 1/2 cup fresh pomegranate arils
- 1/2 cup minus 2 tablespoons white sugar (for a rounder flavour, try turbinado sugar)
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
For Mocktail:
- 3 oz Pomegranate Shrub (homemade or store bought)
- 300 ml Club Soda
- 2/3 oz or 1 ¼ tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice, peel saved for garnish
- 1 oz aquafaba
- 2 tbsp fresh pomegranate arils, for garnish
- Ice, for shaking
prep
In a small saucepan combine the sugar and vinegar. Bring to a boil, stirring, until sugar is completely dissolved. Remove from heat. Transfer the pomegranate arils, and the vinegar mixture to a heat proof container and allow to cool. Refrigerate overnight.
Place the pomegranate shrub, lemon juice and aquafaba in a cocktail shaker. Shake vigorously, about 15-20 seconds. Add ice and shake until fully chilled, about 30 seconds more. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass (I love serving this in a coupe) and top each glass with about 80ml club soda. Garnish with a lemon twist and fresh pomegranate arils.
** Alternative version: Not wanting to do aquafaba fizz, no problem!
Fill a cocktail mixing glass with ice. Pour in 3 ounces pomegranate shrub, lemon juice and club soda. Stir until thoroughly combined. Place Party Ice (see recipe below) in a chilled cocktail glass ( I love serving this in a coupe glass), and pour mocktail over ice. Garnish with fresh pomegranate arils and a lemon twist. Enjoy!
** NOTE: This should be served very cold :-) Let’s garnish w a few pomegranate arils and a curly lemon twist! Thank you so much.
This sparkling mocktail has a shrub (aka drinking vinegar) as its base. A shrub is basically a combination of fruit, sugar/ sweetener, and vinegar, and is a wonderful and complex base for mocktails and cocktails—they're incredibly versatile and easy to make (or you can buy it at the store!), and you can use a host your favorite fruits and vinegars.
For this mocktail, we are tipping our hat to a cocktail fizz and topping it off with a frothy foam, like most fizzes. If you're not wanting to do the fizz, no problem, we've included a version below without it. I also love to make "Party Ice", where herbs and fruit are frozen in ice —makes things super beautiful and adds a layer of flavor and texture as the ice melts.)
