Colorful and refreshing citrus pomegranate mojito made with pomegranate juice, citrus fruit including blood oranges and mandarins, honey, mint, sparkling water, and arak (anise liquor).
Course Cocktails, Drinks
Cuisine Caribbean, International, Israel, Latin fusion, Middle Eastern
~½ cup honeyadjust to taste based on your preference and sweetness of fruit juices
1 ½cupsof arakor about 1 ½ ounces per drink, adjust more or less based on your preference– can use raki, ouzo or pastis if unable to find arak
1cupof chilled pomegranate juice or sparkling pomegranate soda
1 ¼cupsof chilled mixed citrus juice: I used ½ cup of freshly squeezed blood orange juice + ½ cup of freshly squeezed mandarin or tangerine juice + ¼ cup of freshly squeezed lime or lemon juice
~ 1 cup of chilled sparkling water or club sodaadjust to taste
In a pitcher, muddle a couple handfuls of the mint leaves with the honey, don’t overly mash the leaves. The goal is to gently mix and release the minty oil and flavor.
You can add the arak at this point, or add it later when serving each individual glass. Adding it later gives the flexibility of adjusting the amount of alcohol based on each individual’s preference.
Add a handful of ice cubes and some of the citrus slices/pomegranate arils as well as additional mint leaves.
Add the pomegranate and citrus juice mix, stir well, and taste. Add additional honey if needed and top off with sparkling water. Finish by adding a few more citrus slices/arils/mint leaves.
Add ice cubes and garnishes to each individual glass; pour the drink into each glass, add the liquor at this point if it wasn’t added before. Stir gently and top off with additional sparkling water or club soda if needed.
Serve immediately.
Notes
*Mocktail variation: To make this drink as a mocktail or non-alcoholic variation, leave out the arak or liquor. If you want to keep the anise flavor without the addition of alcohol, you can add an anise infused syrup to the drink.*1 cup measurement is equal to ~8 liquid ounces and ~236 ml. 1 liquid ounce is ~30ml.