# Why is pomegranate the newest hot flavor? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [August 5, 2008, 3:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926 "2008-08-05T15:56:51Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 14\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/21 "2008-08-05T19:34:58Z")
Another vote for all the press on antioxidants being a determining factor, but I’d say also: it doesn’t taste weird, but it’s more interesting and novel than, say, cherry. It could pass for some kind of cranapple type blend. That said, if you actually like the flavor, as I do, you can often find bottles of cheap “pomegranate molasses” (unsweetened concentrate) in the ethnic section of large grocery stores in the US. If you have access to a Middle Eastern or Mediterranean shop, all the better. We see “[al Wadi](http://www.alwadi-alakhdar.com/main/interface/products.asp?id=38)\*\*\*\*\*” brand most often. \ ***Warning** : that link goes to a sub-frame; if you backtrack to the main site, you may be exposed to some default music, a peppy-pop Arabic ad jingle. ETA: **lobotomyboy63** , 😃 ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 9:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/22 "2008-08-05T21:25:41Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] According to Miss Swanson (my first grade teacher), you spit out the seeds. She brought some in for us to try one day and I thought they were mighty tasty. I’ve seen people eat the seeds and I guess they’re small enough that they wouldn’t be much problem. Unless they contain something toxic, why not? Do they add a flavor or are they primarily a texture? [/QUOTE] You can either chew up the whole thing and swallow it (it’s considered useful fiber), or you can chew/suck the red part from off the seed part and then spit out the seed. Your call; it’s a matter of personal taste. ---
**Author:** ![Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/50afbb/32.png) [@Duck\_Duck\_Goose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Duck_Duck_Goose)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 9:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/23 "2008-08-05T21:33:32Z")
Ha. It was a profile of [these people](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/POM_Wonderful), the Resnicks, who, yes, bought farmland that had pomegranate trees on it and decided to start pushing pomegranate juice. [Here’s](http://www.pomwonderful.com/juice.html) the sort of thing they’re using to ride the antioxidants craze: > [@](#): > > The Antioxidant Superpower > With incredibly high levels of naturally occurring polyphenol antioxidants 1, POM Wonderful Pomegranate Juice helps guard your body against free radicals, nasty little molecules that emerging science shows may be linked to disease. 2 That’s a real super power. > > So what’s it like having a personal superhero? It’s easy to find out. Exercise regularly, eat a healthy diet and drink a glass of the Antioxidant Superpower™ to save the day. Every day. Hard to argue with that–who’s _not_ going to want their personal little superhero cruising around in their bloodstream? ---
**Author:** ![lobotomyboy63](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lobotomyboy63/32/2900_2.png) [@lobotomyboy63](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/lobotomyboy63)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 9:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/24 "2008-08-05T21:41:43Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] You can either chew up the whole thing and swallow it (it’s considered useful fiber), or you can chew/suck the red part from off the seed part and then spit out the seed. Your call; it’s a matter of personal taste. [/QUOTE] Anything to suggest it might be hard on a first-grader’s digestion but ok for adults? IIRC she treated the matter like it was serious. They sure would be easier to eat without spitting out seeds. It already takes some work, cutting them open and scooping out the “shrapnel.” Unless they have a bad taste, I’d just eat the seeds. ---
**Author:** ![Skara\_Brae](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/f0a364/32.png) [@Skara\_Brae](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skara_Brae)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 9:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/25 "2008-08-05T21:56:26Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] You can either chew up the whole thing and swallow it (it’s considered useful fiber), or you can chew/suck the red part from off the seed part and then spit out the seed. Your call; it’s a matter of personal taste. [/QUOTE] Doesn’t one choice get you trapped in the underworld 6 months out of the year? ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/26 "2008-08-05T22:02:05Z")
[QUOTE=Cosmic Relief] It’s the anti-oxidants. People think you can mix it with vodka and cigarettes and somehow it will cancel out. They are stupid. [/QUOTE] Of course they are. You can’t mix cigarettes with vodka, they get all wet. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/27 "2008-08-05T22:02:14Z")
It seems it’s a lot like cranberries. Growing up, cranberries only came out at Thanksgiving, and then they came from a jar. Then they were “THE HOT THING”, became more common, but still cost a lot. Now bottle of cranberry juice sit right next to the apple juice. 10 years ago, Fuji apples were new, and cost much more then the average apple. Today, they actually one of the cheaper, more common apples in the store. I wouldn’t be surprised if pomegranates, and especially juice, were a common, but not special, thing in a couple of years. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/28 "2008-08-05T22:19:24Z")
Artificial pomegranate flavor has been extremely popular, for a very long time. You just probably didn’t realize it, because it’s always labeled as artificial cherry flavor. You see, artificial cherry flavor isn’t meant to taste like fresh cherries; it’s meant to taste like maraschino cherries. Which are bottled in grenadine syrup, and end up taking most of their flavor from the grenadine. So artificial cherry flavor = something that tastes like maraschino cherries = something that tastes like grenadine syrup = something that tastes like pomegranate. ---
**Author:** ![freckafree](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/freckafree/32/3050_2.png) [@freckafree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/freckafree)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/29 "2008-08-05T22:27:42Z")
I asked this very question a few months ago and the thread tanked, so I’m really glad to see some answers here! My pomegranate story: When I was a kid, over the Christmas holiday, my mom would keep my sister and me from driving her crazy by giving us each a half a pomegranate and a little cocktail pick so we could carefully worry the seeds out. One. At. A. Time. And “carefully” because mom warned us that pomegranate juice stained and she’d kill us if we got it on anything. Kept us quiet for hours, it did. ---
**Author:** ![garygnu](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/garygnu/32/2924_2.png) [@garygnu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/garygnu)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 10:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/30 "2008-08-05T22:58:55Z")
[QUOTE=lobotomyboy63] I wonder if you could get some grenadine in a bar (pub) supply sort of place for cheaper… I’ve had it and find it (Rose’s brand, I think) drinkable, straight, but it may be cloying for some. [/QUOTE] Be sure to check the ingredients. The bottle of Rose’s grenadine I just bought has no pomegranate in it, it’s flavored high fructose corn syrup. ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 11:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/31 "2008-08-05T23:02:39Z")
[QUOTE=Duck Duck Goose] I can’t find an online cite for it, sorry, but I read an article about a year ago in one of those _Atlantic_/New Yorker type glossy magazines, profiling the biggest pomegranate juice industrialist (a woman IIRC), and they said it was marketing, all marketing. Savvy and shrewd marketing, yah, but just marketing. ETA: IIRC further, the gist of the article was that this woman found herself with lots of pomegranates and no real idea what to do with them, so she put on her Madison Avenue thinking cap, and the rest is history. [/QUOTE] I was coming in here to say exactly this. It was the _New Yorker_, by the way, re Lynda Resnick. She seemed to have the Midas touch about a lot of things, lucky her. > **[Enhanced Search](https://www.newyorker.com/search?query=pomegranates&queryType=nonparsed)** > > Enhanced Search I tried pomegranates when I was a kid and was not impressed, except at the appearance – exotic (to me), little jewels inside, my cousin called the “pome-grannies,” etc. The juice is good but I agree it’s quite expensive? ---
**Author:** ![descamisado](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/e480ec/32.png) [@descamisado](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/descamisado)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 11:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/32 "2008-08-05T23:09:35Z")
Didn’t see **DDG** had found the Resnicks – nevermind. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [August 5, 2008, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/33 "2008-08-05T23:14:00Z")
One thing that hasn’t been mentioned is that POM finally figured out an economical (on a relative scale, it’s still bloody expensive) way to juice them. If you don’t juice it carefully enough, you crush too many of the seeds/pith and it became unpalatably bitter. People sort of knew that it was going to be a big flavor but it would have been impossible to market the fruit. Once widespread pomegranate was available in convenient juice form, then all that marketing stuff happened. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [August 6, 2008, 4:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926/34 "2008-08-06T16:52:34Z")
[QUOTE=vetbridge] Pomegranate has suddenly become a hot flavor. [/QUOTE] Well, not really _suddenly_. These fads come and go. Pomegranate was one of the hot flavors of the late Roman Republic, just before the time of Julius Caesar, around 100 BC. It was also the ‘reddest’ of the fruits they had available, so beautiful lips were referred to as ‘red as pomegranates’. (Nowadays we’d say cherry-red lips, but cherries were not available in ancient Rome.) [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/why-is-pomegranate-the-newest-hot-flavor/458926.md?page=1)