A seasonal pink drink: Pomgrané

My last efforts at creating some interesting after-dinner drinks left me with some alcohol left over, so I put my mind to what fruit might be in season and appropriate for another experiment.

As is usually the way, within 5 minutes of having begun this zen-like contemplation my father-in-law walked in to say he'd just got back from seeing a nephew who, as well as helping him out with his computer, was covering a mound of pomegranate seeds with sugar and grappa in a large jar.

Pomegranate pips, fresh from the fruit and ready to soak'n'shake

So there was my next fruit. Turning to the trusty Liquori Casalinghi ("Housewives' Liqueurs") I found a recipe for a digestivo made from melograno: Pomgrané.

Beautiful fruit bought from the local cooperative

The recipe called for a simple mix of pips, alcohol, sugar, water and some herbaceous leaves. Not knowing quite which plants they came from (or how much a difference a few leaves would make if I found them) and wanting to dilute the alcohol a little with something a bit, well... botanical, I adapted the recipe to include the remains of a bottle of Bombay Sapphire gin instead of some of the 95º alcohol.

Pipping the melograni and getting the ingredients together

Here's my adapted recipe:

Ingredients:

400g (approx) Pomegranate pips
100ml Bombay Sapphire gin
200ml 95º alcohol
300ml water
150g sugar

I found that 4 beautiful, ripe and ready fruit weighing about 1.5 kilos gave me enough pips.

Put all the ingredients into a 1 litre jar.
Leave for 1 month, shaking regularly.
Filter, bottle and leave for 5 months before drinking.

All the ingredients just added to the jar and freshly shaken.
(As I type 3 days later it's taken on a vivid pink hue and the pips are floating in suspension)

I imagine that cousin Gianni's grappa-based version will be sweeter and ready sooner, but my jar is already a vivid pink, the pips suspended and translucent. Can't wait till the six months are up!

Salute!