the pamplemousse cocktail

My husband and I are having a party soon — all part of my commitment to myself to entertain more. One thing I realized during the planning process, though, is that if you call a party a cocktail party, you should probably serve a cocktail. And, let me preface this post by saying that I am much more of a wine person than a cocktail person. In fact, I’ve never made what could be considered a cocktail. I mean, mixing up some rum and Coke doesn’t really count, does it?

So, the pressure is on to find a cocktail recipe that I can’t screw up.

My husband has agreed to help me with the taste-testing — tough job, I know. So, last weekend I set out on a mission to find a cocktail recipe that didn’t have a ton of steps, used alcohol that we had on hand or could easily find, could be made in advance, and could  triple or quadruple for a crowd. And it had to taste fabulous, too. Can’t forget that.

In my search for the perfect cocktail, I found a few candidates on Epicurious. One potential was the Pamplemousse Cocktail, from Bon Appétit. Since I’m really not comfortable with messing up expensive alcoholic beverages, I followed the recipe pretty much to the tee. The cocktail got great reviews online, so I decided not to mess with a good thing. A handful of weeks ago, the great folks at Pom Wonderful sent me some of their pomegranate juice to try, so I was able put it to excellent use in this cocktail.

And, folks. We may have a winner.

Yield: Serves 6.

The Pamplemousse Cocktail

Ingredients:

7 tablespoons water
5 tablespoons Pom Wonderful pomegranate juice
1/4 cup sugar
4 teaspoons honey
1 1/2 cups vodka
3/4 cup fresh grapefruit juice
1/4 cup fresh lime juice
18 fresh mint leaves, plus 6 sprigs for garnish
ice cubes

Directions:

Make pomegranate simple syrup by bringing the first 4 ingredients to a boil in a small saucepan, stirring to dissolve sugar. Cool. This step can be done one day ahead, covered, and refrigerated.

Combine pomegranate simple syrup, vodka, grapefruit juice, lime juice, and mint leaves together in a large pitcher. Fill pitcher with ice cubes and stir vigorously. Strain drink into martini glasses. Garnish each glass with mint sprig and serve.