Drinking Pomegranate All Day Long
November 08, 2013
This post was sponsored by PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur but written by me.
PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur plays up its versatility as a cocktail mixer, so let's do a cocktail thought experiment to see how it fits into cocktails from day to night.
PAMA is a bit unique for a liqueur in that it is both sweet and sour, so you can't always swap it out 1 for 1 with another liqueur. In fact, as they recommend on the website, to add PAMA to a base cocktail that has a sweet and sour element, all you need to do is cut back on your base spirit by half an ounce, add PAMA, and leave the sweet/sour balance as it is.
But not all drinks are sours. Let's think about how PAMA might (and might not) fit into drinks throughout the day.
Breakfast Drinks
- Mimosa - A little splash of pomegranate sounds lovely and will kick it up a notch
- Champagne Cocktail - Not if you want to be traditional
- Bellini - With PAMA added to the traditional peach puree or just used instead of it
- Bloody Mary - Probably not a good fit
- Irish Coffee - Pomegranate whipped cream, if you want to get all molecular about it
- Screwdriver - I suppose this would make the drink more of a Vodka Sunrise, but it would give the normally thin drink some nice texture for a change.
- Ramos Gin Fizz - Yeah a tiny dash of PAMA might be a nice twist.
Daytime/Summertime Drinks
- Gin & Tonic - Mayyyybe
- Paloma - Oh sure, tequila loves pomegranate as well as grapefruit. You'd have to watch the sweetness or use a dry grapefruit soda like the brand Q Soda.
- Collins - I would imagine a Vodka or Gin Collins would work best with PAMA.
- Buck - Pomegranate/Grenadine/PAMA goes great with ginger ale/beer. I'd see it mixing best with ginger beer and dark spirits like bourbon/dark rum/anejo tequila.
- Caipirinha- Absolutely.
- Mojito - Sure, a no-brainer.
- Pisco Sour - Yes.
Classics
- Manhattan - When you add anything citrusy (besides bitters/zest), I say you're no longer in Manhattan territory, but we've probably all had enough Pomegranate Manhattans to know that the flavors work pretty well together.
- Daiquiri - Yep
- Sidecar - Swap out the Cointreau with PAMA? I can see it.
- Martini - I suppose it would be more of a "Martini" circa 2001 if you were adding juicy ingredients.
- Cosmopolitan - Oh yes, I remember these
- Mai Tai - PAMA instead of orange curacao? Seems like it would work, but I am a Mai Tai loyalist
- Aviation - I'm not sure I'd call it an Aviation after swapping out creme de violette with PAMA, but it sounds kinda good right?
- Blood and Sand - I'm surprised I haven't tried this variation yet, it seems like an obvious substitution.
- Margarita- Of course
- Whiskey Sour - Yep
After-Dinner/Nightcaps
- Neat - While many people enjoy liqueurs as digestifs, I shy away from having anything with sugar in it too late at night. Personally, I'll stick with PAMA as a mixer.
- Hot toddy - Oh yes, this sounds delicious. Now I'm looking forward to colder weather as an excuse to add PAMA to the combination of hot water, lemon, and whiskey/dark rum/anejo tequila.
PAMA's Take: I was looking through the recipes on the PAMAPros website, and well, most of the drinks I've theorized are already there, including this version of a Ramos Gin Fizz where they left out the gin entirely.
RAMOS REMIX
Glass: Collins
1 oz. PAMA Pomegranate Liqueur
1 oz. Egg White
1/2 oz. Simple Syrup
1/2 oz. Fresh Lime Juice
1/2 oz. Fresh Lemon Juice
1 Tbs. Half and Half
Club Soda
Method: Combine milk and egg in one half of a Boston shaker and all the ingredients except club soda in the other. Shake without ice for 15 seconds, add ice and shake vigorously for 45 seconds. Strain into chilled glass and top with club soda.
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