CAPSULE REPORT: In Part I of this article, Pomegranate Primer, we reviewed the pomegranate history and basics, plus how to peel and store. Here, we focus on juice: reviews of 19 brands, serving suggestions, and how to make your own pomegranate juice.
When we began our quest to understand the category of pomegranate juice, we were impressed by the sheer variety of colors, flavor profiles, viscosities, aromas and sweetness among the brands of 100% pomegranate juices we tried. A number of factors can explain these differences.
The pomegranates used to make these juices come from far-flung parts of the world (in our samples, pomegranates from California and Turkey were common).
Different juices are made from different varieties of pomegranate.
Many products even contain a combination of juices from a number of sources, as some producers purchase fruits, or just their concentrates, from different parts of the world (and of different varieties) at certain times of the year based on quality, price and availability.
And, any given batch of pomegranates can have its own nuances based on something as simple as the moment at which it is harvested.
Production processes also impact the flavor and appearance of the juice. If the entire pomegranate—skin and all—is crushed to make the juice, that juice will take on some of the bitterness of the skin and membranes, which are high in tannic acid.
Using the skin can also deepen the color of a juice and leave small particles within it. A juice that has been pressed without processing the skin will not take on the skin’s astringency. It can be lighter in color and body, and more transparent. Photo of pomegranate by Cris DeRaud IST.
You won’t necessarily know all of this when you purchase your pomegranate juice. You may only know if your juice is fresh-squeezed or from concentrate. Producers are not required to state country of origin, or any other detail.
As the market for pomegranate juice continues to grow, we hope our roundup of these products helps make sense of the vast variety that exists and enables readers to select products that suit their tastes and purposes.
100% Pomegranate Juices
We were careful to select only 100% pomegranate juices for this study. Many so-called pomegranate juices are actually just cheaper juices like apple and grape, mixed with a hint of pomegranate. So it’s important to read the labels. (Don’t confuse this with pomegranate juice blends, e.g. pomegranate blueberry or pomegranate cranberry.)
Some of the juices we tried had been fresh-pressed, most came from concentrate (one is actually sold as a concentrate),* and many contained unspecified natural flavors. None contained added sugar. Concentrate is neither better nor worse than fresh-pressed; we had favorites in both categories. We also tasted some organic juices.
We found shelf-stable as well as refrigerated juices and hope someday to come across a frozen pomegranate juice to add to this review.
Be sure you’re buying 100% pomegranate juice,
not a blend of apple or grape juices with a small percentage of the more expensive pomegranate
juice. Photo by Igor Smichkov | IST.
*The Lakewood and Elite Naturel juices were the only ones containing fresh-pressed juice; the rest were made from concentrates. With the exception of the Lakewood, Elite Naturel and R.W. Knudsen juices, all the others contained added natural flavors.
The juices were all so different from each other that any one might suit a particular taste or purpose. For clarity, we organized the 100% pomegranate juices into five categories according to the products’ most dominant traits: full-bodied, sweet, tart and tangy, juicy and earthy. Our notes follow.
Note that while many juices taste extremely bitter initially, after they have a chance to breathe, they evolve and the bitterness dissipates—similar to the harshness in some wines.
Reviews: 100% Pomegranate Juices
All of these juices are worth trying. Here are some call-outs for the 100% pom juice brands:
Kosher brands include Elite Naturel, Heirloom Farms, L & A, POM Wonderful, Super Granate and Whole Foods 365.
Organic brands include Elite, Frützzoand Lakewood. There are more organic choices in the blended juices, below.
Across categories, our favorite plain juices were, in alphabetical order, Elite Naturel/Natural (not the organic), POM Wonderful and R.W. Knudsen. If you want your kids to drink pomegranate juice, try Trader Joe’s, which tastes like gourmet fruit punch.
Prices will vary; those shown are what we paid at Trader Joe’s, Whole Foods Markets and other stores in New York City.
Full-Bodied
100% Pomegranate Juice
POM Wonderful
This deep red juice is made entirely from California-grown pomegranates of the variety called Wonderful (hence the name, POM Wonderful). Deeply colored and flavored, this full-bodied purple juice is quite sweet, with an undertone of honey. A slightly bitter, almost tannic finish (POM crushes the whole fruit to make the juice, imparting some of the skin’s bitterness to it) helps balance this sweetness. Since the flavor of this juice is potent and the liquid has a thick consistency, it makes an excellent candidate for thinning out with sparkling water or using in cocktails.
Elite Naturel makes this juice from 100% natural Turkish pomegranates (the company also makes one from organic pomegranates) that have been cold-pressed with their seeds. This process helps create a deliciously sweet juice, with lovely notes of raspberry, apple and grape, and without the bitterness of many of the juices we tried. The light body of this mauve-colored juice makes it pleasing and playful to drink on its own. Alternatively, it could be mixed with seltzer for a subtly flavored spritzer.
Certified kosher by Orthodox Union
8-Ounce Bottle
$2.49 32-Ounce Bottle
$6.99
Learn more at OrganicJuiceUSA.com
Super Granate
This was the sweetest one we tasted. It’s very light in body and has a clear, rose hue. The liquid has an oddly vegetal smell, reminiscent of tomato juice, but tastes nothing like it smells. There’s a good deal of tartness to this sugary-tasting drink. For fans of things sticky and sweet, it’s a fine juice for straight drinking.
Certified kosher by The Organized Kashrus
Laboratories
33.8-Ounce Bottle $4.99
Tart & Tangy
Frützzo
When we first tasted this organic juice, it was really astringent, with a bitter aftertaste that burned on the way down. After the juice had a chance to breathe for a day or so and we gave it a second try, it had mellowed quite a bit. Fresh out of the bottle, it was a little too much for us to handle, but after some time, the very light-bodied, orange-brick-colored liquid became suitable for straight consumption or for adding a tart kick to other beverages—as bitters might do in a cocktail. Like some of the other juices, it carries a tomato-like odor but does not taste vegetal at all.
Certified USDA Organic
12-Ounce Bottle $2.57
Learn more at Frutzzo.com
Heirloom Farms
This next member of the tomato-smelling-but-not-tasting school of pomegranate juice is almost translucent, with peachy-red coloring, and is both acidic and sweet. The juice, which comes from pomegranates grown in Turkey, starts off very bitter. But like many of the others, it mellows and becomes easily drinkable after it’s been open for a while. It has undertones of vanilla and a light-to-medium body.
Certified kosher by The Organized Kashrus
Laboratories
33.8-Ounce Bottle
$4.99
Purely Juice
This medium-bodied juice is an almost opaque brown-purple, has floral undertones and smells a lot like chewy fruit snacks (in a good way). It’s very tart and semi-bitter, but becomes a lot tastier after it’s been open a couple days. Since it’s not light, it can be used as a mixer.
16-Ounce Bottle
$3.99 32-Ounce Bottle
$7.99
Learn more at PurelyJuice.com
R.W. Knudsen ~ Concentrate
This thick, syrupy concentrate (R.W. Knudsen also makes a regular juice, discussed below) packs a potent tangy-sweetness that makes it extremely versatile. By adding water to the concentrate (Knudsen recommends using a three-to-one ratio), the concentrate can be reconstituted to 100% juice status. As a juice, its sweetness becomes more pronounced as it loses some of its pucker. Straight up, the brown-red, opaque liquid makes a wonderful flavoring agent for cocktails and spritzers and lends itself nicely to use in cooking (try a drop instead of lemon juice for a tart, acidic kick). The concentrate is too tart for most people to enjoy on its own; it is meant to be diluted.
8-Ounce Bottle $8.79
Learn more at KnudsenJuices.com
Juicy
L & A
Cranberry and honey undertones pervade this light-to-medium bodied juice. The transparent, brownish-pink liquid, which contains some floating particles, is utterly drinkable as it is, and a bit on the sweet side.
Certified kosher by Orthodox Union
32-Ounce Bottle
$6.99
Learn more at Langers.com
Lakewood
This light-bodied, fresh-pressed juice starts out sweet but fairly neutral in flavor. A tannic, slightly bitter finish rounds it out nicely and makes it good for straight drinking.
USDA Certified Organic
32-Ounce Bottle
$8.99
Learn more at LakewoodJuices.com
R.W. Knudsen ~ Juice
This juice, which is made from California-grown Wonderfuls, is thin and light, with lots of sediment, and has a vegetal smell. When we first tried it, the juice tasted very bitter, even a bit plastic, but after being open a few days, mellowed significantly. Unlike the other members of this category, it’s not a particularly sweet juice (it tastes quite unlike the reconstituted Knudsen concentrate). Once it has had a chance to breathe, it makes a nice juice for drinking.
32-Ounce Bottle $7.39
Learn more at KnudsenJuices.com
Trader Joe’s
We had trouble categorizing this one, as it is both very juicy and very sweet. The opaque, grey-purple juice tastes a lot like apple juice, with notes of orange, berries and grape (it smells like purple grape candy). It’s tangy with a medium to full body—like a gourmet Hawaiian Punch. For some tasters, this juice had a bit too much going on, but most tasters enjoyed its fruitiness. Kids would enjoy this the best. Notably, this product comes in a bottle with an absurdly wide mouth (it’s supposed to evoke a carafe) that makes it difficult to pour without spilling, because unlike a sturdy carafe, the soft plastic wobbles.
59-Ounce Bottle
$7.99
Learn more at TraderJoes.com
Whole Foods 365
This juice has an attractive and winey dark red color and a pleasingly mild cranberry smell. It contains notes of cranberry flavor as well as cherry. The juice is well-rounded and not too sweet, with an appropriately rich (but not too heavy) texture that carries the flavors well. Medium-bodied and well-balanced, with a slightly tart finish, this juice makes for easy drinking and can be used as a mixer as readily as cranberry juice.
Certified kosher by Orthodox Union
32-Ounce Bottle
$4.99
Learn more at WholeFoods.com
Earthy
Elite Naturel ~ Organic
Made from Turkish-grown organic pomegranates, this juice is very light in body, like its natural counterpart, but the similarities end there. (The comparison between Elite Naturel’s two juices demonstrates what a difference a particular kind of pomegranate makes in the flavor of a juice.) The brownish-red liquid smells like tomato, and tastes unusually vegetal. It is mild in flavor, neither sweet nor bitter, contains plenty of sediment, and has a slightly dry finish. This particular batch wasn’t quite to our taste, but it might make a nice drinking juice for someone looking for the earthiness of vegetable juice in the body of a fruit juice.
Certified kosher by Orthodox Union
8-Ounce Bottle
$3.99 32-Ounce Bottle
$8.49
Learn more at OrganicJuiceUSA.com
Product photos by Claire Freierman.
Pomegranate Juice Blends
For every 100% pomegranate juice on the market, there seems to be a pomegranate juice blend. Popular blending juices include 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.
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
Here are our favorites. Overall, anything 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
All product photos by Claire Freierman, except POM Wonderful Pomegranate Blueberry.
Serving Suggestions
Here’s how you can jazz up your juices when you’re not drinking them straight:
Mix them with sparkling water for a light spritzer (add a sprinkling of arils for a festive touch)
Use them as cocktail mixers
Blend them into smoothies
Mix them into sangria (especially the dark fruit blends)
Incorporate them into salad dressings (top the salad with some arils too)
Use them for acidity in cooking, in place of, or with, vinegar or citrus—a zesty juice that’s been boiled down a bit works nicely over roasted Brussels sprouts with thyme, for instance
Reduce them to syrup, which can be used in cooking or as a concentrated cocktail mixer
Make grenadine—cook pomegranate juice with sugar syrup
Try them in marinades or as glazes for meats (they’re great with lamb), poultry, or fish
Use them in traditional preparations, like the Persian stew, fesenjan
Photo of aloo chat, Indian potato salad, by Linda & Colin McKie | IST. Garnish your own favorite potato salad with bright, tasty arils.
Make Your Own Pomegranate Juice
Fresh pomegranate juice contains plenty of vitamin C, which is lost during the pasteurization of commercial juices. There are a number of ways to make your own pomegranate juice. We prefer to press the juice in a citrus press—one of the larger steel standing presses or even the smaller handheld ones will work.
Simply cut the pomegranate in half, crosswise (if the fruit is especially large, or if you are using a juicer with a small capacity, cut the fruit into smaller pieces), then place it, cut side down, in the juicer and press into a bowl. Strain the juice to remove seeds and any sediment. Using Wonderful pomegranates, this method produces a vibrant fuchsia juice that’s as refreshing as it is beautiful. Homemade juice is perfect to drink on its own and is equally well suited to mixing in cocktails or using in recipes.
Home-squeezed juice has more vitamin C
than processed juice. Photo by Elena
Sychugina | IST.
Alternate method #1: Place arils (separated from fruit) in the bowl of a food processor or blender. Pulse until arils release their juices. Strain through a sieve (or perhaps a cheesecloth-lined sieve) to remove any seed pieces.
Alternate method #2: Juice the fruit in an electric juice extractor (what you’d use to make carrot juice). Just cut the fruit in half or quarters and process it in the machine. Doing so—pith, rind and all—yields a juice that is a beautifully deep and dark pink but that is also extremely bitter (the skin and pith contain high levels of tannic acid). For those who aren’t fans of the ultra-astringent, we recommend removing the seeds from the rind and pith before juicing in this manner. Note, however, that the skin contains additional antioxidants and that the juice’s bitterness mellows over time.
Alternate method #3: Roll the whole fruit against a hard surface. (You can put the fruit in a plastic bag to catch any juices that splash out—this stuff stains!) When the popping noises stop, all the juice has been released from the arils. Over a bowl, slit the fruit and squeeze it to release its juice. Strain to remove any errant seeds or pulp.
A medium pomegranate (about nine ounces) yields approximately ½ cup of juice. Freshly-squeezed pomegranate juice can be kept refrigerated for three days, in a sealed container, or frozen for up to six months. (Most commercial varieties will state their shelf life on the packaging.)
Are you “juiced?” Then give up that O.J. (sorry, Florida), which tastes like comfort food but doesn’t help keep you young the way pomegranate juice will. If you don’t enjoy the flavor of pure pom, try the pom/blueberry blend for a double antioxidant boost, or pom/mango for the sheer voluptuousness of mango juice. Pom on!
Production processes also impact the flavor and appearance of the juice. If the entire pomegranate—skin and all—is crushed to make the juice, that juice will take on some of the bitterness of the skin and membranes, which are high in tannic acid. 
Blend them into smoothies
