A bartender shared a fun fact and a PSA about one of the most popular red syrups he uses for making cocktails—and its potential alcohol content.
In the video, Benji (@benjispears) is filming while standing behind a bar. He shares that he’s been in the bartending industry for 15 years but found out that grenadine is not made from cherries but comes from pomegranates.
He came to realize this because the grenadine bottle in his hand had a picture of a pomegranate.
Grenadine is one of the key ingredients in a number of popular drinks, including the Tequila Sunrise, the Jack Rose, and the Shirley Temple, according to Liquor.com. The site confirmed that the syrupy liquid is traditionally made with pomegranate juice as the base. The syrup can be made at home or bought, but the liquor site warns that store-bought versions are often full of corn syrup and food coloring.
The bartender goes on to share that his bar carries grenadine from two different brands because one of them, Finest Call, has 1% alcohol while the other is alcohol-free.
@benjispears Mind BLOWN 🤯 #fyp #foryou #foryoupage #serverlife #bartender #trend #trending #food ♬ original sound – Benjispears
“Mommy and daddy can have this one, and the Rose’s grenadine with no alcohol for the kids,” Benji says in the clip.
He adds that many bartenders might not know about the red syrup containing alcohol but said he doubts “this will do anything” in terms of getting someone buzzed.
“But yeah y’all. This is pomegranate, not cherry,” Benji said, concluding the video.
While the New York bar that Benji works at is primarily known for its craft beers, they also have a number of specialty drinks on the menu.
Benji is a popular TikToker who mainly posts about his life as a bartender and does some reviews of alcoholic beverages. He has more than 1.5 million followers on TikTok.
“Mind BLOWN,” he captioned the video.
Several commenters shared that they’ve put the grenadine with alcohol in “kiddie cocktails” not knowing that the syrup had any alcohol content.
“I’ve put that first brand in so many kiddie cocktails…,” one person said.
“We sure serve the one with alcohol at the restaurants I work to kids for kiddy cocktails,” another wrote.
Others had jokes about the potential mixup.
“So the kid who’s drinking 5 Shirley temples…..he’s buzzin,” the most popular comment read.
The Daily Dot reached out to Benji for comment via Instagram direct message.
