Fresh Pomegranate and Mint Drink

It's the day after New Year's, and I was hankering for some fresh fruit, but not enough to head to the shops, which I wasn't sure would be open. Then I spotted it: the pomegranate on the shelf, which my Chinese grandmother had given us, along with the message to "bear many seeds" (despite her already having a great-grandchild).

The message might as well have been "work hard and reap the rewards', because this was one of the more fiddly fruits to tackle. As with corn kernels, you need patience and a light touch if you want to remove the seeds whole. Apparently, you can also hold a pomegranate half over a bowl, and eject the seeds by smacking the rind with a large spoon, but I haven't tried this technique yet.

Pomegranate with some seeds removed.

Rather than chewing each seed and spitting out (or swallowing) the hard centres, I put them into a bowl and squeezed the juice out using a potato masher, before straining to make a refreshing drink. This was a relatively sweet fruit, so I did not need to add any sugar.

Juice squeezed and strained.

Fresh Pomegranate and Mint Drink
Adapted from Archana's Kitchen

Serves 2.

1 cup ice cubes
a couple of large mint leaves

sugar (optional), to taste
1 pomegranate
1/2 lemon
1 cup soda water or ginger beer

Method

1. Fill jug with ice cubes and mint, and stir to bruise the leaves. If your pomegranate is more sour than sweet, and you are not using a sweetened mixer such as ginger beer, feel free to add some sugar here.
2. Juice pomegranate and lemon, and strain into jug.
3. Add soda water or ginger beer.
4. Taste and adjust as required.
5. Garnish with a slice of lemon or sprig of mint.
6. Serve chilled and enjoy!

Fresh pomegranate and mint drink.