Dry January Treats - Winter Mocktail Punch

I love Mocktails.  I do a program on making mocktails and I enjoy them in my entertaining. The key to a good Mocktail is creating a rich selection of flavors that will give you the richness of alcohol without the alcohol.

The key for this Mocktail Punch is to make your own grenadine.  Generally grenadine is just a colored sugar water when you buy the store bought stuff.  Some companies will make it with lemon juice and the original pomegranate juice (which is how it got the name, as grenade is pomegranate in French.). But a homemade grenadine can have so much more depth of flavor as you use pomegranate juice and lemon balm.

To do that you need: 

1 cup Pomegranate juice

1 cup sugar/honey

1 cup fresh or 1/2 cup dried lemon balm

dash of lemon juice

Warm the pomegranate juice in a saucepan and add 1 cup sugar or honey and stir until dissolved.  Then add the lemon balm stir until combined.  Remove from heat add a squeeze of  lemon juice and allow to cool to room temperature before straining out the lemon balm. Bottle and use within 2 weeks and keep refrigerated.

Winter Mocktail Punch

2 cups apple cider

1 cup sprite or 7up

2 Tbls handmade pom-grenadine

Combine apple cider and pom-grenadine with ice in a shaker and shake 30 seconds to chill.  Then add chilled Sprite or 7UP.  Top off with a few skewered cranberries or sliced apples.

Make it a bit more fun by stirring in a couple spoonfuls of raspberry syrup to make it more like a wintertime party punch.