Method: Place ingredients into shaker. Shake vigorously. Strain into a spouted glass to remove lemongrass paste. Place 8-10 pomegranate ice balls into the narrow highball glass. Pour mixture into the highball glass. Drip 0.5oz of pomegranate juice on top. Garnish with lemongrass frond & dehydrated pineapple piece placed partially in the glass. Drink and get Caught up in The Newness!
Put 8-10 pineapple chunks into a dry pot on medium heat and allow to char on all sides while pressing into them with a muddler to release the additional juices. Once the pieces start to stick to the bottom of the pot, add 1 cup of water and 1 cup of cane sugar. Continue to cook for 30-45 minutes on medium until the mixture reduces and the pineapple pieces are dark & very soft. Allow to cool. Place in strainer to remove pineapple pieces and store syrup in squeeze bottle. Set aside.
Take 1 can of mandarin oranges, strain off the syrup & add wedges to a blender cup. Blend & strain out any unwanted pulp. Keep in a glass bottle.
Get 1 large bushel of lemongrass (8-10 stalks) and set aside a few for the garnish. Cut off the green tops, similar to a scallion, and keep the yellow/purple bottom. Take a heavy pan or rolling pin & bang the stalks to loosen the fibers. Cut them up & place into a blender with a sprinkle of sea salt & water. Blend until a paste is formed. Scoop the paste out and set aside. (Store-bought Lemongrass paste will work for this purpose as well.)
Garnish: Lemongrass Frond (the part where the stalk splits): Use a stalk of Lemongrass with the green still attached and cut it right past the start of the yellow, keeping the stalk intact.
Dehydrated Pineapple: Place pineapple pieces onto a baking sheet & bake in the oven on 200 degrees for 8 hours. Cool and keep in an airtight container. (Store-bought dehydrated pineapple pieces will work also if allowed to soften.)
Pomegranate Aril (seed) Ice Balls: Sprinkle 3-4 arils (seeds) into each space in a small silicone half ball mold & freeze. Upon those halves being frozen, remove from freezer and moisten halves to stick together to form the balls and re-freeze until ready to use.
Glassware: Narrow Highball glass