Eleusinian Punch and Persephone’s Passport (two non-alcoholic pomegranate cocktails)
Eleusinian Punch and Persephone’s Passport (two non-alcoholic pomegranate cocktails)
It's that time of year when Persephone heads down south for the winter.
Before we get started this week, some quick announcements and a question:
Tomorrow, I’m going to draw the winner of the Woodnose Sacré contest from a couple of weeks ago and will post who won on Instagram (as well as reach out to that person directly).
I realize that it’s Halloween today, but pumpkin season goes until at least Thanksgiving, and Athletic Brewing Company’s amazing non-alcoholic pumpkin beer, Dark and Gourdy, is somehow still available, so order a few 6-packs before it’s gone for a year.
The non-alcoholic absinthe I was teasing a few issues back is now available in the US and it’s great! You can order Lyre’s Absinthe here.
Question: would you all be interested in a “gift guide” issue of various zero proof spirits and accessories for making non-alcoholic cocktails? Leave a comment and let me know!
And now, to this week’s topic: pomegranates.
Pomegranates always makes me think of Persephone, because I read the story of her abduction long before I tasted the fruit. For some reason, Persephone’s story really stuck with me, more than most of the many, many stories that I read as a kid, sitting in my bedroom floor with the index to the physical encyclopedia that we owned, going through every volume that had anything listed under “mythology.” One year, I even made my winter performance for my modern dance class about Persephone’s abduction.
For those who don’t know the story, or don’t remember it, a quick refresher:
Hades, the god of the underworld, develops the hots for Persephone, daughter of Demeter, goddess of the earth, and Zeus, King of the Gods. Zeus knows that Demeter would be opposed to letting her daughter go to the underworld, and in line with being the most deadbeat co-parent in any cosmology, tells Hades to just abduct his daughter, instead of ask if she can come over. When Demeter realizes that her daughter is missing, she searches the world over with the aid of Hecate, the goddess of witchcraft.
But Persephone isn’t in the world, so of course Demeter can’t find her. In her despair and panic, the goddess of the earth lets all the plants wither and die, and the earth grows cold and barren. Helios, the god of the sun, tells Demeter what happened, and she sends Hermes to go get her daughter back.
Meanwhile, the general mortal population is, understandably, pretty upset, what with not having anything to eat, since this is apparently the first time this has ever happened and they haven’t stored up food for this new “winter” thing. Everyone is begging Zeus for help, so he tells Hades that he has to let Persephone leave with Hermes. Hades is all, “OK, bro, no problem— as long as she doesn’t eat anything in the underworld, she’s free to go,” and then promptly tricks Persephone (who has, I guess, been here for a few months at this point?) into eating six pomegranate seeds. This is the part of the story that is always weird to me, because it seems like it was a pretty binary proposition: either you eat nothing in the underworld and you can go back to the land of the living, or you eat anything in the underworld, and you’re in the land of the dead forever, and even one pomegranate seed is something. But then Persephone does have pretty powerful parents, so they reach an agreement where Persephone gets to go back to earth for six months out of the year, when the air is warm and the plants grow and blossom and fruit because her mom is happy. The other six months she has to spend in the underworld, with the guy who kidnapped and tricked her, who, oh, yeah, by the way, is now her husband, during which time Demeter will be so emotionally distraught that everything will wither and die and be so cold that mankind will eventually have to invent puffy coats.
Strangely, given their meet-less-than-cute, Persephone doesn’t seem to be all that upset about being married to Hades. In every encounter a human has with her in the underworld after this, she seems pretty cool with being queen of the dead. This could be because those stories, where she’s A-OK with being wife to a guy who kidnapped and manipulated her into marrying him, are all written by men. I prefer to think of her as the UR-text goth girl rebelling against a crunchy hippie, in-this-case literal earth mother who has a seriously codependent obsession with her daughter. I mean, who reacts to empty nest syndrome by letting people starve and freeze the first time, never mind for the rest of time when she knows it’s only going to be for six months? And what worse son-in-law to the goddess of all things growing, blooming, breathing, living than the guy who rules over the dead? I like to think Persephone didn’t have to be tricked into popping those six seeds at all, but threw them back like a couple of aspirin for a mild headache.
Despite her pretty passive role in seasonal changes, Persephone became not only queen of the underworld but the goddess of spring. Demeter and Persephone worship, specifically the story of the abduction and return, formed the basis of a major cult in late ancient Greece. Though the Eleusinian Mysteries persisted for nearly two thousand years, we know next to nothing about the religion’s ritual practices, because to reveal them to the uninitiated was punishable by death. We do know that they celebrated the symbolic death of the earth in conjunction with Persephone’s abduction sometime in late October/early November, probably because that’s when pomegranates are in season, thus when it would have been possible for Persephone to eat them. While I am desperately curious about what actually went on at those celebrations, the fact that we don’t know means we can make up our own rituals to honor the queen’s return to the underworld.
Which, to me, means pomegranate libations. Yes, libations! Plural!
Both of this week’s two cocktails are built around pomegranate, using non-alcoholic spirits with unique flavors (rather than replicating existing alcoholic spirits) and Liber & Co. syrups, my go-to brand for sweetening cocktails because their gum syrups add much needed body to non-alcoholic drinks. What I love about these two drinks is that even with so much in common, they taste completely different— you could even serve both of them at the same event without risk of flavor redundancy.
Eleusinian Punch, a zero-proof tequila-ish punch gets a double dose of the fruit from Three Spirits Livener, a watermelon and pomegranate spirit with a spicy and caffeinated kick, and Liber & Co. Real Grenadine. Grenadine gets a bad rap from the artificial cherry flavored stuff found behind most bars, which is probably months, if not years old, and wasn’t any good to begin with. Real grenadine is made from pomegranates and is not just sweet but tart and earthy, and Liber & Co.’s has a bit of orange blossom essence that gives it a complex and aromatic flavor. Even if you think you hate grenadine, give this a try. Passionfruit syrup adds its unmistakable floral-tart flavor, and Bonbuz rounds out the drink with a dry, palate clearing green tea tannins. (Bonbuz has a new, limited edition spicy blood orange version called Slow Burn, and while I have some on the way, it hasn’t arrived yet for me to try in this drink. I’ll let you know as soon as I get a chance how it works in this!) I experimented with Mockingbird Spirit tequila alternative, which made for a sweeter, smokier drink, and Free Spirits Spirit of Tequila, which was a bit more tart and spicy. I prefer the Mockingbird for this drink, but honestly, any non-alcoholic tequila alternative will do. Served on the rocks, you can make this as a single drink or scale it up, put it in a punch bowl, and serve it to all the acolytes at your secret ritual.
Persephone’s Passport is a shaken cocktail centered around Melati, a deep, dark red bitter spirit made with pomegranate, goji berries, and a number of other ruby red fruits and flowers, and is absolutely delicious. Melati is a bitter aperitif, and though I like it on its own, or with a bit of seltzer water as a spritz, but it’s such an elegant and unique addition to cocktails that I can’t stop playing with mixing it. This drink evolved over time from 4 or 5 different combinations of zero-proof spirits, and while I love this one, the other ones were great, too. I just had to choose because I was on a deadline! What stayed consistent across all of these blends is Melati with Liber & Co.’s Pineapple Gum Syrup, which is dangerously delicious, and makes both of these worth buying if for no other reason than to combine them over ice with a little soda water. This pairing really plays up the red licorice note in Melati, but the real flavor of pineapple in the syrup makes sure it isn’t too sweet. The six pomegranate seeds won’t float on the foam of the drink, sadly, but it’s delightful to take a sip and get one or two to burst between your teeth, like a cocktail version of boba tea.
RECIPE: Eleusinian Punch
Ingredients:
2 ounces Mockingbird Spirit (or other tequila alternative)
1 ounce Bonbuz
½ ounce Liber & Co. Real Grenadine
To Mix:
Add all ingredients to cocktail shaker or mixing glass, and mix well. (You can also dry shake it, if you prefer.)
Pour over ice into a highball glass and serve.
RECIPE: Persephone’s Passport
Ingredients
2 ounces Melati Classic
2 ounces Lyre’s Dark Cane Spirit (or other non-alcoholic rum alternative)
1 ounce Liber & Co. Pineapple Gum Syrup
¼ ounce lime juice
6 pomegranate seeds
To Mix:
Add pomegranate seeds to coupe glass.
Add Melati, Cane Spirit, Pineapple Gum Syrup, and lime juice to cocktail shaker with ice.
Shake until well chilled.
Strain into coupe glass over pomegranate seeds and serve immediately.
Serving Suggestions:
Gonna keep this one brief this week, because it’s Halloween, and I have candy to eat and scary movies to watch, but this suggestion a good one.
I’ve been obsessed with the Haunted playlist on Spotify since last year. It’s one of the few Halloween playlists that is genuinely spooky and atmospheric, and doesn’t have “Thriller,” “Monster Mash,” or anything cliched at all— it works for Halloween, but I listen to it all year round. I thought about making a playlist just for you all for the holiday, but this one is already perfect. Go listen to it and Happy Halloween!