This is a must-make pomegranate mocktail drink recipe perfect to serve on special occasions, New Year's Eve, during dry January, or to celebrate your favorite holiday season.
A royalty amongst fresh fruit—ancient Greek Mythology regarded pomegranates as a symbol of life and good fortune.
So, it's the perfect non-alcoholic beverage anytime you want to make a toast on new beginnings. Plus, it's ridiculously easy to make and ready in no time.
This refreshing mocktail is our absolute favorite. Everyone always loves this fun drink, and it is also a great option if kids or pregnant friends wish to join in the cheering.
Don't let the simplicity of this pomegranate mocktail recipe fool you. This drink is delicious and has a gorgeous color that looks festive and elegant and in every way inviting.
Just like my Refreshing Piña Colada Mocktail, Sparkling Pineapple Mojito Mocktail, or Grapefruit Mocktail, it relies on whole fruit, cocktail glasses, and beautiful garnishes to make it the perfect drink.
It's not just about the flavors but also about the presentation. Let's make it!
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Why You'll Love This Delicious Drink
- Simple ingredients quickly turn into a flavorful mocktail.
- Fresh mint leaves nicely balance the sweetness of the fruit juice and add a touch of sophistication.
- This red liquid is beautiful, colorful, flavorful, and full of health benefits!
- It's a festive and elegant pomegranate mocktail.
- Serve the virgin drinks in fun individual glasses or make a punch bowl.
Ingredients
See the recipe card for complete information on ingredients and quantities.
You'll need the following main ingredients to make this healthy pomegranate mocktail.
- Pomegranate juice: go for unsweetened 100% pomegranate juice, not a blend. If you plan to juice the fruit yourself, which I recommend, you'll need about 4 to 5 large whole pomegranates or the equivalent amount of arils. You'll appreciate the drink's freshness and infinitely better flavors.
- Fresh mint leaves: Don't forego this herb. It adds a deliciously bright flavor and a wonderful scent to this non-alcoholic mocktail. Mint also wonderfully cools down the sweetness of this citrus pomegranate mocktail.
- Clementine or orange juice: You only need ¾ cup of juice, which is equivalent to juicing two or three large fresh oranges. Freshly juiced blood oranges are a great choice, too.
- Sparkling water: Bubbly water adds a fun fizz. Sparkling white grape juice with no added sugar is another option but will make the healthy mocktails a bit sweeter.
- Coconut sugar: You need a bit of sugar to coat the rim of the glasses. Light brown sugar is a great alternative, but I find the taste of coconut sugar nearly as sweet with still that hint of caramel.
- Garnishes: Extra pomegranate arils from one whole pomegranate, fresh orange slices, lemon slices or lime wedges, frozen or fresh cranberries, extra mint leaves, and fresh rosemary sprig. All great options to make it festive for a special occasion.
How To Make This Easy Mocktail Recipe
See the full recipe with measurements in the recipe card.
Step One (Picture 1 above) - Place the pomegranate juice, orange juice, and mint leaves in a blender. Blend until well combined.
Step Two (Picture 2 above) - Transfer to a large bowl. The mixture will be covered with fruity foam. That is normal. Optional: Pour the juice through a sieve to remove any bits of mint leaves if you still have them.
Step Three (Picture 3 above) - Take a sieve and scoop off most of that foam. Stir the rest back in.
Step Four (Picture 4 above) - Stir in the sparkling water. Place in the fridge to cool while you pick your favorite glasses and prepare your garnishes to make it all festive.
Helpful Tips
- After blending, I like to skim off most of the foam but stir a bit back in to simulate the bubbles of real champagne (optional but recommended).
- If your blended drink still contains small mint pieces (it should not), then place the sieve over a serving bowl or pitcher and pour out the juice to sift them out.
- Add sparkling water last. Blend and strain the juices and mint leaves before adding sparkling water. Otherwise, your sparkling water will be less fizzy or bubbly.
- Make sure you refrigerate in advance your sparkling water to add an instant splash of cold to the juice.
- The drink's color and foam heavily depend on the type of juice you use. You will get a whiter foam with store-bought pomegranate juice and a more pinkish-colored foam with homemade juiced fruits. So, if you can, try using fresh pomegranate fruits instead of store-bought juice.
- Have a larger crowd and want to make a non-alcoholic punch bowl, or count for extra refills, double or triple the recipe.
- Try to go for an unrefined golden coconut sugar that has finer crystals. If your sugar has larger individual granules, I recommend first blending or grinding it into fine pieces before using it to coat the rim of the glasses.
- Store fresh mint in the fridge for up to one week or longer. Then, when ready to make this pomegranate drink, rinse the leaves and gently pat them dry.
How To Make Non-Alcoholic Drinks Extra Festive
- Drink out of elegant glasses.
- Create sugar rims on the glasses.
- Add a couple of pomegranate seeds to the bottom of the glasses. It is a cute little surprise with that last sip.
- Decorate the rims with a slice of citrus fruits or extra fresh mint leaves.
- Add garnishes like citrus fruit slices, cranberries, mint leaves, or rosemary leaves for decoration.
- Feel free to explore and add your ideas or creations. Maybe serve with stainless steel and crystal stir sticks. If you have good quality ones, they will last forever and can be used for multiple events.
- For a big crowd, use a beautiful large jug or shallow bowl to serve the pomegranate mocktail drink and add the garnishes.
How To Create a Sugar Rim
You can make this non-alcoholic cocktail as festive-looking as you like and adjust it based on the occasion.
Rim coconut sugar on the glasses (see picture below.) It gives a beautiful golden and fancy look and tastes delicious too.
Step One (Picture 1 above) - Wet the glass rims by using a thick lemon, orange, or lime slice. I recommend orange for its naturally sweet taste.
Step Two (Picture 2 above) - Dab each rim lightly into the sugar while slowly turning the glass around to cover all the outer edges.
Step Three (Picture 3 above) - Shake off any excess coconut sugar.
Recipe FAQs
Yes, you can. Don't stir in the sparkling water, and serve over ice cubes. However, I prefer this pomegranate mocktail with a little bubble.
You can make the juice blend of pomegranate, orange, and mint leaves in advance. Store the juice covered in the fridge. Then stir in the cold sparkling water before serving.
Yes, however, the color of this drink may vary if you use store-bought juice versus freshly blended and strained fruits at home.
This virgin drink usually comes together in 10 minutes. It'll be 30 minutes if you also juice pomegranate arils at home.
It's a bit of extra work but well worth the effort because freshly made pomegranate juice at home is sweeter, less astringent, and has so much better flavor.
1. There is already a great step-by-step process for deseeding a pomegranate using water, courtesy of the Greatist, who have tested various techniques, and who claim to have mastered the art of extracting those juicy seeds. Feel free to give their method a try.
2. Although I do not own one myself, there are super affordable pomegranate Deseeders out there that get rave reviews and are worth investing in if you regularly enjoy this healthy fruit.
3. However, if you are not intimidated by dissecting pomegranates, peel and cut them into smaller pieces and gently remove the arils with your fingers. You'll have these tiny red fruits out in no time. Count on ½ cup of juice per pomegranate.
Make sure you wear an apron or something you are not worried about staining!
Once peeled, place the fruit on a flat surface, crown up, and use your fingers to open it gently. If the fruit is very ripe, this should be easy to do; otherwise, use the tip of your knife to gently bore deeper into the white part of the crown until the fruit begins to crack.
Break up into segments, removing any large white piths or membranes.
Take one segment, place it over a bowl, and pop and peel the seeds out by gently rolling your thumb over the red jewels away from the pith as you bend open the segment. Repeat.
More Drink Recipes You Might Like
Looking for a good mocktail or healthy drinks for any occasion, then try out these recipes.
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This festive pomegranate mocktail is very much loved by adults and kids alike. Serve them with these delightful Homemade Biscoff Cookies or Healthy Brie Bites.
It's also a thoughtful drink for pregnant guests, or anytime you want to celebrate new beginnings.
📖 Recipe
Easy And Festive Pomegranate Mocktail Drinks
Mariska RamondinoIngredients
For the pomegranate mocktails
- 2 ½ cups unsweetened 100% pomegranate juice 20 fl.ounces or 600 ml
- ¾ cup unsweetened fresh orange juice 6 fl. ounces or 187 ml, the juice of about two to 3 large oranges
- 6 to 8 large fresh mint leaves plus more to garnish
- 1 cup sparkling water 8 fl. ounces or 236 ml
- 1 teaspoon coconut sugar or light brown sugar or enough to coat the rims of the glasses
- orange slices cut crosswise (for wetting the lip of the glasses and for decoration)
Garnishes (optional)
- pomegranate arils, fresh orange lime and lemon slices, frozen or fresh cranberries, extra mint leaves, and fresh rosemary leaves.
Instructions
Make the pomegranate mocktail drink
- Place the pomegranate juice, orange juice, and mint leaves in a blender.2 ½ cups unsweetened 100% pomegranate juice, ¾ cup unsweetened fresh orange juice, 6 to 8 large fresh mint leaves
- Blend until everything is well combined and the mint leaves are shredded to bits.
- With a slotted spoon, gently skim off most of the foam built up on top of the juice. Set aside some of the foam.
- Pour the juice through a sieve into a large pitcher.
- Stir in the sparkling water and a little reserved foam to simulate the bubbles of champagne (optional).1 cup sparkling water
- At this point, you can add the garnishes if you plan to serve the mocktail in a pitcher or punch bowl. Or proceed to garnish the individual glasses.pomegranate arils, fresh orange lime and lemon slices, frozen or fresh cranberries, extra mint leaves, and fresh rosemary leaves.
How to create a sugar rim
- Slice crosswise through the orange and cut out a thick round slice—use the rest for garnish.orange slices
- Place the orange slice on a flat surface or cutting board. Place the coconut sugar on a small plate next to the piece of orange.1 teaspoon coconut sugar or light brown sugar
- Take small champagne glasses or serving glasses of choice.
- Turn each glass upside down, gently dip the top of each glass into the orange slice first, and then immediately into the sugar, coating each rim lightly slowly turning the glass around to cover all sides of the outer edges.
- Turn the glass back right-side up. Add any garnishes, gently fill up your glasses, and don't let the liquid splash the rim.
How to prep the glasses for a festive look (optional)
- You can continue to decorate each glass with ⅓ of the orange slice (see picture in post). I always drop extra pomegranate arils into each glass. It's a fun surprise (optional).
- Alternatively, take extra fresh mint leaves, and with a scissor, cut a tiny opening at the bottom of a leaf. Then rest the cut side on the rim of a glass. Repeat for the other drinks (optional).
- Serve immediately or chilled to ring in the New Year or make your ritual toast. Enjoy!
Notes
Steps for juicing at home:
- Blend everything until you get a beautiful red juice smoothie;
- Then pour the liquid through a strainer or nut milk bag into a large pitcher;
- If you use a nut milk bag, squeeze out the juice until only a dry pulp is left.
- Discard the pulp;
- Continue to make the drinks as per the recipe above.
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Nutrition (% Daily value)
Disclaimer: This nutritional data is calculated using third party tools and is only intended as a reference.
Cristina says
I love pomegranates! I’ll have to give this mocktail one a try!
Oh, and I love your photos!
Becky says
This is absolutely beautiful, and I love fresh pomegranate. I have a little peeling experience because my uncle really liked them and used to bring one when we were kids every time he visited, so we would peel them together!
Kait | Slumber & Scones says
These look delicious! I love how they are fun and festive even without alcohol, but I probably would add a splash of prosecco to mine like you suggest. I've never tried to peel a pomegranate, but it looks like a fun challenge.
Ramona says
This is truly an elegant drink dear Mariska. It’s a must make this Christmas for my friends that gave up alcohol but not only. Beautiful presentation too! Thank you soo much for sharing this wonderful recipe ❤️
Mariska says
Thank you so much, Ramona. I truly appreciate that!