The Best Pomegranate Juice, Ranked

The best pomegranate juice is richly tart and refreshingly crisp. It uses simple ingredients to create a bold, complex flavor—sometimes it’s a harmonious blend of tangy berries and bitter grapes, other times it’s just straight-up pomegranate juice. There are different juices for different uses, and they vary in terms of sweetness and consistency; the best pomegranate juice to drink on its own, for instance, will differ from the best pomegranate juice to incorporate into a pitcher of Sangria or a batch of pomegranate Margaritas (don’t forget the good Margarita mix).

After taste testing many different brands of pomegranate juice (picture me surrounded by a dozen little paper cups, swishing juice around in my mouth like a sommelier), I’ve decided that the Romans were really onto something. There’s a reason the pomegranate was a symbol of fertility and rebirth—one sip of this tart, ruby elixir leaves a lasting impression. It carries a light sweetness and pleasant earthiness that makes it much more palatable than tart, acidic cranberry juice. And you can use pomegranate juice for a lot more than cocktails; it can add depth to smoothies, vinaigrettes, and even savory sauces. You can even use it to sweeten up your homemade BBQ sauce

If I haven’t convinced you that pomegranate juice is criminally underrated yet, well, you’re going to have to try these for yourself. Here are the top five brands of pomegranate juice you can find at the grocery store. You won’t pome-regret it! 

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Ocean Spray Cran x Pomegranate (Best Hybrid)

Best Hybrid

Ocean Spray Cran x Pomegranate

Is it cheating to include this on our list of the best pomegranate juice? Maybe a little. Ocean Spray’s Cran x Pomegranate Juice obviously isn’t just pomegranate juice, but we can’t deny how smooth and vibrant this hybrid beverage is. Say what you will about Ocean Spray, but they’ve really cornered the market on robust fruit juices that are highly drinkable on their own, straight out of a glass. You’re not sipping Ocean Spray for the health benefits—the added cranberry juice, cane sugar, and other additives put the focus on flavor here. As a cocktail mixer or standalone beverage, this is one of the best pomegranate juices to drink for the taste. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

365 Pomegranate Juice (Best Tart)

Best Tart

365 Pomegranate Juice

The tartest juice of the bunch, 365 Pomegranate Juice is a kick to your taste buds. Honestly, it’s more like grape juice’s cooler cousin than your typical pomegranate drink. It has watery consistency—but its flavor isn’t watery or weak at all. If you want your beverages to have a strong zing (and not get lost in your smoothies or cocktails), this is the best pomegranate juice for you. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Knudsen Just Pomegranate Juice (Best Thick)

Best Thick

Knudsen Just Pomegranate Juice

Making your own pomegranate syrup, grenadine, salad dressings, or marinades? Grab Knudsen. It has a thick, wine-like consistency that doesn’t make it very drinkable on its own, but does come in handy for all of you chefs and amateur mixologists out there. The ingredients are simple: filtered water and pomegranate juice from concentrate. For culinary uses, any of our top four will work in terms of flavor, but Knudson makes it easy to achieve less watery textures. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Pom (Best Balanced)

Best Balanced

Pom

Pom is the best pomegranate juice for anyone who wants to drink pure, unsweetened pomegranate juice straight out of a glass—or, in the case of their smaller, handheld sizes, sip it straight from a Pom bottle. For a juice that claims to be 100% from concentrate with no added ingredients, this stuff is kind of a marvel. There’s no bitter aftertaste. Each sip is incredibly smooth and a little sweet, rounding out to a palatable, balanced tartness. It’s a mixer and a smooth standalone beverage all in one. Bonus points for the cute aesthetics. If this existed in Ancient Rome, there would be a temple built in the shape of that bottle in its honor, I guarantee it. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Lakewood Pomegranate Juice (Best of the Best)

Best of the Best

Lakewood Pomegranate Juice

I don’t know how they did it, but Lakewood Pomegranate Juice tastes exactly like real pomegranates. It’s startlingly fresh. It’s 100% pure fruit juice, not from concentrate, and you can taste the difference. If you put this next to a glass of hand-squeezed pomegranate juice, I’m not sure I could tell them apart. Now, just like pomegranates fresh off the stem, the flavor has a boldly bitter finish. Not everyone is going to tolerate the earthy, unsweetened, lip-pursing flavor incredibly well. But for pomegranate purists, Lakewood is the best pomegranate juice brand we tried, and the all-around best-tasting pomegranate juice, too. The Romans would go nuts for this stuff. 

Credit: Merc / Amazon

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other pomegranate juices we tried: Simple Truth Organic 100% Pomegranate Juice, Langers 100% Fresh Pressed All Pomegranate Juice, Langers Pomegranate Blueberry Juice Cocktail


About the Author

Ariana Losch

Ariana Losch is a Sporked contributor, webcomic writer, java junkie, and bad TV enthusiast. She only ever feels at peace laying out on a beach like a kebab, roasting in the sun; sadly, she can never move back to Florida, her home state, because there simply isn’t enough good Mediterranean food. You can find her overstaying her welcome at just about every LA coffee shop, working on a screenplay and avoiding all eye contact. (She is embarrassed to be there, please leave her alone.)