I never have eaten pomegranate before nor seen one for that matter even amongst the bizarre fruit selections in Whole Foods or Mcguiness sisters. Lately in the ordinary grocery stores I noticed and frequently passed by an oddly shaped little item by the orange juice and eggs. Little bulbous bottles of pomegranate juice. This week I could not resist the temptation of something with such a cute bottle or the opportunity to try something new. The juice is... different. It has quite a bit of blackberry sweet and tartness, a mouth feel thick and rich like tomato juice and there is a bit of astringent-ness to it, giving the tongue an odd dry feeling. I'm enjoying it. But I wouldn't recommend it, as Mark said after taking a sip, "this is awful, it must be good for you!" Agreeing with this assessment, that it must be good for you-- not that it was awful, I investigated a little further. First off, the juice is an antioxidant powerhouse. It has more polyphenols than red wine, blueberry juice or green tea. As the slender, reasonably fit and healthy person with extraordinarily high cholesterol, it is interesting to note that it is the most potent antioxidant juice against LDL oxidation. And studies prove its action reduces the build up of atherosclerotic plaque by close to 50%. The nature of the juice brought to mind other medicinal uses, in the same context as prune juice, because it just has the gestalt of *that* kind of juice. I only managed to find conflicting information on this front, even from the same sources saying that it is both a laxative and a binding agent. How that works, I don't know, maybe it has to do with the quantity ingested. I'm going to drink more pomegranate juice, but I think I will opt for some the combination varieties with blueberry, or cherry, or mango juices as the side kick. My taste buds are telling me that a sauce made from a reduction of this juice would be pretty phenomenal, perhaps over some salmon. I foresee some pomegranate experimentation in the near future. At any rate, the bottle will be transformed into a vase for impending spring flowers.