Let’s face it, I have never even considered making a Pomegranate Martini before this weekend. Why? Because it calls for fresh pomegranate juice, and Degroff has a complicated recipe in the back of his book where you mash a pomegranate and then let it steep in its own juices before adding vodka and sugar or whatnot. Not something I would ever do. Pomegranates are too expensive, for one thing, and I don’t really like them, for another, and it’s too much trouble to make a single cocktail.

But then I was at Droubi’s this weekend, and I came across small bottles of pomegranate juice concentrate along with rose water, so I figured, let’s try it.

Here’s the recipe:

• 2 oz. citrus vodka
• 0.5 oz. lemon juice
• 0.25 oz. pomegranate juice
• 1 oz. simple syrup
• dash rose water
• flamed orange peel, for garnish

First, let’s talk about the pomegranate juice: it’s nasty. Simply gross, in fact. But it’s a concentrate, so I thought it may work in the drink. And rose water is just like it sounds: roses steeped in water, which just gives it a scent of roses. Weird.

The drink is ugly. It’s a dark brown color from the think, syrupy pomegranate concentrate. Yet it actually works surprisingly well. Next time, I will use less pomegranate concentrate, about half, I think, with half water. It’s a concentrate, after all.

As I’m drinking it, I’m actually at a loss for words. There is a bitterness in the back of the throat from the pomegranate juice, so it has nothing to do with the alcohol. And I taste no alcohol in it. It’s merely like a mixture of juices, which could be a good thing. I will keep trying this one, but I doubt I will make it all the time. Some friends are coming over later, so I think I will make it for them. That’s what friends are for, right? Guinea pigs?