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I'm surprised that no one has mentioned the owners of POM, Stewart & Lynda Resnick. This couple has made a fortune building companies. They're the marketing geniuses behind Fiji Water, Teleflora, Franklin Mint to name a few.
Pomagranates are good food, their juice is highly nutritious. Don't be fooled that their brand is somehow superior, the end-all and be-all of antioxidants.
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Pomegranates are very healthy and POM tastes very good. But you can, indeed, do much better if you have access to mid-eastern stores. They usually have litre bottles of 100% pure pomegranate juice at very low prices. I generally pay between $1.99 and $3.99 (Canadian) per litre. Unlike POM, these are not blends made from concentrate and they vary wildly in sweetness and in overall taste.
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re: embee
1. You can get 100% pomegranate POM. Its still from concentrate -- but not blended with other fruits (like most of their lines).
2. Can you recommend a reliable brand of pomegranate juice from the Middle-east. I've tried some pretty awful ones and have grown to accept that I'll just buy POM much less frequently (due to the price).
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re: Atahualpa
I used to drink 100% POM when I lived in the US (four years ago). When I had it again on a visit this year, I could tell that the flavor had really changed. It now tastes off--cooked and syrupy. Like bad, oversweetened cranberry juice from concentrate. It may still be 100% juice, but they have definitely changed the product.
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re: Atahualpa
Unfortunately, I can't. The brands in the mid-eastern stores seem to change fairly regularly. Some need sweetening; others don't. Some have flavour depth and others are flat. Our most recent purchase (Bling Bling brand, $1.99/litre at Loblaws, was neither great nor awful. I'd get it again.)
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Antioxidants include Vitamin C, B12, Vitamin E, Beta Carotene, and many other things that naturally occur in fruits and vegetables. Somebody somewhere along the line decided to use the term 'antioxidant' to fuel their marketing. It works. Pretty much every fruit has antioxidants. Every living thing has antioxidants. If you like pomegranate, drink it. If you don't, pick your favorite fruit.
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tyty
Apr 30, 2007 08:45 PM
I make homemade kombucha, and when i bottle it, i fill the GLASS bottle with 3/4 Kombucha, and 1/4 pomegranate juice. Then I leave the bottle somewhere warm for a week. The yeast in the kombucha really starts to multiply, and maybe ferments the pomegranate juice. The end result is an extremely fizzy, tangy fruit drink, real good, try it with white tea kombucha (only homemade tho)
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amandine
Sep 9, 2006 02:30 AM
Go to any middle eastern market and you'll probably find good pomegranate juice for a fraction of the price.
(Tangent: It is so amusing to see how the most "archaic" fruits and vegetables that some cultures have been enjoying for centuries suddenly becomes the most hip thing to eat for Americans. As if Pom "discovered" the pomegranate, thus giving them the liberty to charge and arm and a leg for it. Another tangent: The most hilarious one for me was the whole soy phenomenon. Granola bars for women? Cereal for women? Some guys I know are afraid to eat soy, thinking it's got something to do with estrogen. Come on! Men and women have been eating soy for quite a while! Don't buy the fancy stuff just because it has a glossy label on it, when you know you can find it cheaper at the places that have been selling it for years!)
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re: amandine
mr mouther
Sep 11, 2006 10:26 PM
YOur thought about where to find great pomegranate juice is correct. The best I've had in LA are the persian styles that Armenian grocery stores carry. Barberry and sour cherry juice are also wonderful.
But there are two issues with the soy thing. The first is a marketing thing, like men who are scared of Luna bars because they think it will make them grow a uterus/ become feminine. They can be dismissed. But the second issue is that estrogen and soy are related, and that does raise issues.
http://www.westonaprice.org/soy/phyto...There was also a 10 year study done in Japan published at the end of 2005 on the health effects of refular soy consumption, and the results were not good for soy-lovers as things like dementia appeared much higher in those on the soy diet
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re: mr mouther
If you are past your reproductive years, you should be okay to reap the benefits of soy, since a lower sperm count is presumably a non-issue.
That dementia thing scares me, as I would like to keep control of my faculties well into old age. The jury is still out on this one, though. Google "soy dementia japan OR japanese study" to get the pros and cons.
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Robert Lauriston
Aug 24, 2006 12:21 AM
Pom Wonderful tastes good, but it offends me. It's made from concentrate but they package it to try to pass it off as fresh. Nutritionally there's not much in it but sugars.
Drink water. Eat fresh fruit. Don't mess with Mr. In-Between.
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Ruth Lafler
Aug 23, 2006 06:41 PM
The SF Chronicle recently did a taste test on pomegranate juice blends, and for what it's worth, Naked (brand) beat out Pom, scoring high enough to go in their "Hall of Fame" (for products that get at least 80 points out of 100).
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davinagr
Aug 23, 2006 06:28 PM
I recently bought a large square box of the Sadaf brand pomegranate juice for $2.99 at Valley Produce in Reseda. It's excellent. I've been fighting off a cold and thought to try drinking the stuff as an alternative to the over the counter drug stuff which really doesn't work. I've recovered faster than ever, felt better within three days. The stuff works and tastes great! Even better in a chilled martini glass with a shot of vodka but that's another thread altogether.
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POM is not 100% pomegranate juice, there's another kind of juice mixed in, can't remember what (apple?), but they obviously mixed in another juice to make it sweeter and thereby appeal to the masses. Also, it's pasteurized. RW Knudsen has a 100% pomegranate juice, also pasteurized, but at least not diluted. TJ's has one too, but the RW Knudsen tastes better to me.
If you can get lots of pomegranates, best to juice them yourself. My mom has a pomegranate tree and we are blessed with very fresh, unadulterated juice with all the antioxidant benefits.
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re: Dommy
Pei
Aug 23, 2006 07:22 PM
The SF Chronicle just did a taste test of various pomegranate juices. Naked Juice came out ahead, followed by TJ's. Pomegranate juice is often cheaper at Middle Eastern markets, but I haven't compared ingredient lists to see if the product is comparable.
Edit: oops, Ruth beat me to the punch on the Chronicle article (below)
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Carrie 218
Aug 23, 2006 04:37 PM
I love the Pom - a great mixer for cocktails.
On the same front, Trader Joe's is selling Aronia Berry Juice that is higher in anti-oxidants and equally as thick and powerful.
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Pomegranates, along with blueberriers are chock full of antioxidants so why not just enjoy a whole pomegranate or some blueberries? That way you are also getting the fiber from the fruit which you don't get from the juice.
Jenna
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re: Xericx
Pei
Aug 23, 2006 04:39 PM
It's hard to snack on pomegranates, but very easy to squeeze the juice out of one. Nudge the seeds out of them under water so you don't spray yourself with red juice. Then drain them, blitz lightly in a blender, and strain the juice out.
But I agree that snacking on fruit is much healthier than getting the nutrients in juice form, and will keep you full longer. Think about it: if you have a basket of strawberries, how long will it take you to eat them as a snack? Now envision blending the entire basket with a cup of orange juice. You'll end up with about a pint of liquid. Now how long will it take you to finish the entire basket (along with a cup of juice)?
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Xericx
Aug 23, 2006 07:49 AM
Kombucha...at least the ones I've had are way too acidic....
yeah...I saw that packaging on that bottle and thought of Voss water.
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re: Xericx
Pei
Aug 23, 2006 08:01 AM
The only way to get light, flavorful kombucha is to make your own. My boyfriend insisted that we try some commercial kombucha to make sure mine was "right." (I had tasted commercial before, he hadn't and was sure I was trying to poison him).
All the commercial ones we tried were way too vinegary, with the exception of those mixed heavily with juices and teas (what's the point, then?).
Home brewed kombucha is fizzy, has the mouthfeel of champagne (no, really, it does. I'm not just tooting my own horn), and is only very slightly tangy. I wish everyone could try it just once.
Aside from kombucha, I make my own iced tea all the time too. It's easy and I know exactly what's in it. There's almost no commercial juice/tea out there that's delicious and sugar free, and I would much rather use up my sugar calories eating decadent food than chugging a glass of juice.
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re: Xericx
augustiner
Aug 23, 2006 10:23 AM
speaking of packaging..i stole this from my friend. i bought one of those pom things once and i reuse the glass container for other beverages. i work around the corner from my place, so it's handy for homemade iced teas and such, because of the lid. just in case your curiosity gets the better of you and you don't have a thermos handy.
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omotosando
Aug 23, 2006 05:58 AM
I've tried it. Nothing special. Overpriced. Awkward packaging - easy to spill the tea when you remove the top paper closure. You are paying for the container, not the tea. I happen to love Kombucha, but I guess you either love it or hate it. I make my own ice tea. It's easy; it's cheap (even if you are using super-premium tea) and you can have whatever flavor your little heart desires. In the morning, I simply brew up a large pot of tea in a pot with an infuser. I leave it sitting on the counter all day. It cools down soon enough and when I want ice tea, I simply pour some over ice. I throw out any remaining tea at the end of the day and start over the next day. As I said, it works for me and I definitely get better quality ice tea than I could buy pre-packaged. If I want to take it with me, I put it in my "T Buddy," which is one of the greatest things since sliced bread.
