The Ruby Cocktail – Pomegranate Martini

This Ruby inspired pomegranate martini is the first in a series of gemstone inspired cocktails that will delight and impress your cocktail party guests. The fancy as fuck creative garnish with this is an edible ruby gummy that is both pretty and full of booze, just like you!

Both the ruby and the pomegranate symbolized wealth and elegance in ancient cultures, which made the pairing an almost too-good-to-be-true match up for the first in my series of gemstone martinis.

What’s fancier than martinis and jewels? Nothing, that’s what.

The pomegranate has a long history in ancient cultures. A greek god used pomegranate seeds to trick his wife into being trapped in the underworld and some say the fruit that Eve offered Adam in the Garden of Eden was not an apple, but a pomegranate. In addition to being used to trick women, it can also symbolize fertility, beauty, and strength. So there’s good and bad, but overall, it’s delicious.

This recipe calls for pomegranate syrup. Technically, this should be called Grenadine. The word “Grenadine” is even derived from the French word from pomegranate. However, most people associate “grenadine” with that artificially colored cherry syrup used to make Kiddie Cocktails, which is delicious, but not very fancy.

Edible Ruby Recipe

These edible alcoholic rubies take some patience to make, but honestly, it isn’t very hard and most of the time involved is just waiting for various things to absorb and set. The effort is worth the fanciness. Mix 1/4 cup pomegranate juice and 1/4 cup gin together in a microwave safe container. Stir in one 3oz package of pomegranate jello (cherry makes a fine substitute since pomegranate is a hard flavor to find.)

Now the tricky part. You need to mix in 3 packets of unflavored gelatin. You want to continuously stir while slowly sprinkling the gelatin powder in, being careful not to let any lumps form.

Pro Tip: Use a spoon instead of a whisk, as a whisk will introduce air into the mixture which will result in cloudy gems.

Let the mixture rest for 5-10 minutes to allow the gelatin to absorb the liquid. Mine became a paste like texture.

While it rests, take your Gem Molds (Amazon link) and give them a light coating of vegetable oil.

Pro Tip: Coating the molds (lightly!) in oil will make them pop right out and give them a nice glossy sheen.

Take your rested red gelatin goo and pop it in the microwave for about 1 1/2 minutes. Keep an eye on it, as it will become very frothy and expand right out of the bowl. This will result in a very messy microwave (trust me).

Take your hot gelatin and put it in the fridge for just a few minutes. A foamy substance should form at the top. Use a spoon to skim the foamy gunk off. This step is technically optional, but your jewels will be cloudy if you skip it.

Carefully fill your molds. I used a food syringe (Amazon link) to make sure I didn’t spill. I then carefully placed some Surgical Steel Earring Hooks (Amazon link) in the molds so I could hook it to the martini glass. This is optional, you can just skewer like a normal garnish if you like.

Pro Tip: If you use the earring hooks, instruct your guests to pull out the metal part first, as trying to bite it off the hook could result in a brand new and unexpected lip piercing. Do not give to children (obviously).

Pop the mold in the freezer for about 20 minutes and carefully remove. Hook them on your pomegranate martini and feel like the fancy person you are.

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