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Pomegranate Juice A glass of antioxidants that tastes good, too. Photo by Slava Valitov | IST.

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ABOUT THE AUTHOR

ALISSA DICKER is a freelance writer and cooking teacher in New York City.

February 2008
Updated November 2008

Main Nibbles / Beverages / Juices

Pomegranate Juice Reviews

Page 4: Pomegranate Juice Drink Blends

This is Page 4 of a six-page review. Click on the black links below to visit other pages.

Part II: Pomegranate Juice Reviews

Pomegranate Juice Blends

For every 100% pomegranate juice on the market, there seems to be a pomegranate juice blend. Popular drinks include mixing pomegranate juice with the high-antioxidant açaí, blueberry, cranberry and cherry, plus the delectable mango.

We only tasted blends that listed pomegranate juice as the main ingredient. As with the 100% pomegranate juices, we excluded any brands containing added sugar. What did we find?

In the blends, the secondary flavor was often more pronounced than the pomegranate itself.
In many of the best blends, the pomegranate acts as a vehicle for emphasizing whatever other flavor is in the juice, delicately balancing heavier notes with its acidity.
Like the 100% pomegranate juices, the blends ranged from light to full body and spanned an array of colors and a spectrum of flavors.

What We Tried

We tried many products, including all of these (several of these companies make additional pomegranate blends, which we did not have a chance to sample):

Frützzo: Pomegranate Açaí, Pomegranate Blueberry, Pomegranate Passion Fruit
Lakewood: Pomegranate with Cranberry, Pomegranate with Blueberry,
Pomegranate with Açaí
Naked: Plentiful Pomegranate (with Raspberry Purée), Pomegranate Blueberry,
Pomegranate Açaí
Odwalla: PomaGrand (with wild berry extract), Pomegranate Mango
POM: Wonderful Pomegranate Blueberry, Pomegranate Cherry, Pomegranate
Mango, Pomegranate Tangerine
Purely Juice: Pomegranate Blueberry, Pomegranate Cherry
Super Granate: Pomegranate Blueberry
Trader Joe’s: Pomegranate Blueberry
Whole Foods 365: Pomegranate Blueberry, Pomegranate Cherry Berry

What We Liked

Here are our favorites. In general, any pomegranate juice with mango and blueberry is delicious.

Kosher brands include Naked, Odwalla and POM Wonderful
Organic brands include Frützzo and Lakewood
Prices will vary; those shown are what we paid at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Markets and other stores in New York City


Frützzo Pomegranate Passion Fruit This translucent, amber-pink juice, which is organic, has a light-to-medium body. Its apple juiciness offsets the mouth-puckering tartness of the passion fruit juice and the milder tartness from the pomegranate. A slightly dry finish rounds out this fun-to-drink blend, which is great on its own, as a mixer, or splashed over desserts. Note: the other Frützzo blends (açaí, blueberry) are also tasty. Certified USDA Organic 12-Ounce Bottle $2.97 Learn more at Frutzzo.com
Naked Plentiful Pomegranate Of the many juices we tasted that had bitter finishes, we found this one to be the most pleasant. Pomegranate juice has been blended with a tart raspberry purée, which, as the first thing to hit the palate, provides a nice segue into the bitter pomegranate finish. Although it’s not for the faint of heart, this near-medium bodied drink, with brown-mauve undertones to its red juice, is nice for straight juice. It’s also suitable for mixing. Certified kosher by Orthodox Union 15.2-Ounce Bottle $4.19 64-Ounce Bottle $8.99 Learn more at NakedJuice.com
Odwalla PomaGrand In this product, pomegranate juice has been blended with “wildberry extract,” a combination of chokeberry, elderberry, blueberry, black currant and apple. These flavors give the juice a well-balanced flavor that could hold its own in the 100% juice category. The tart and tasty, medium-to-full bodied juice has a lovely pinot noir-like color and is not too sweet. It smells mildly of apple and has cranberry-apple and dark fruit undertones. This is certainly an all-purpose juice. 16-Ounce Bottle $3.49 64-Ounce Bottle $12.99 Learn more at Odwalla.com
Odwalla PomaGrand Pomegranate Mango This juice, which contains mango purée, manages to be full-bodied but not heavy. The pomegranate’s tartness balances the mango flavor, creating a refreshing, not-too-sweet drink that evokes the mango lassis popular in Indian cuisine. The peachy-pink juice is nearly opaque and has an apple finish. It’s a treat to drink on its own and delicious in cocktails or smoothies. 16-Ounce Bottle $3.49 Learn more at Odwalla.com
POM Wonderful Pomegranate Blueberry We love everything about this rich, dark, flavorful juice—its blueberry smell, blueberry color, and, especially, its potent blueberry taste. Tart and almost syrupy, it screams to be shaken over ice, with gin and freshly squeezed lime. POM Wonderful Pomegranate Cherry With the aroma of a cherry lollipop and a deep red-purple winelike color, this juice is just slightly lighter in body than its blueberry counterpart. The juicy liquid has cherry and dark fruit overtones. The pomegranate-cherry combination creates a nice tartness, which works well with its off-dry finish. This rich juice is well suited to mixing and would complement the flavors of red wine sangria. Certified kosher by Orthodox Union 16-Ounce Bottle $4.49 Learn more at PomWonderful.com