Melanie and I enjoy going to First Watch for breakfast and they have a drink called Red Medicine. I decided to reverse engineer it so that we could serve it over the holidays. It is described as “pomegranate, cranberry, black tea, local honey and cinnamon.” I don’t think I got the flavor exactly right, but closer than a knock-off Dr. Pepper is to the real thing. The color is a match and it is delicious.
It is very quick and easy to make, but note that the cinnamon syrup will need about an hour and a half to make (but you’ll have extra for many future batches). Here is my take:
Red Medicine
1 big serving or 2 regular size
1 teaspoon honey
2 Tablespoons + 2 teaspoons cinnamon syrup (see below)
1 cup pure pomegranate juice
1/2 cup pure cranberry juice
1-1/4 cups decaffeinated black teaThey serve it ice-cold with a stick of cinnamon in it, but I’m sure it works as a hot beverage too.
Cinnamon Syrup
2 cinnamon sticks (we used one but I’m pretty sure two will be even better)
1 cup of water
1 cup of sugar
- Bring water to a boil in a small saucepan
- Add sugar and stir to dissolve completely
- Reduce heat, add two cinnamon sticks, and cover
- Simmer for 15 min
- Remove from heat. Allow to cool and steep for at least 1 hour before use
- Store in bottle with cinnamon sticks
This stuff is great! You could put it in other teas or coffee or whatever.
Jason Patz 
That cinnamon syrup sounds amazing! It could work as an ingredient for a drizzle for on baked goods too, I bet!
Maug, it not only sounds amazing but it tastes it too!
Wonderful, can’t wait to try it. We have been obsessed with this drink since they started serving it. Unfortunately it did not make the recipe list in their cook book.
Thanks for this! I️LOVED that drink and wish they had it year round! Steeping my cinnamon syrup right now…
Thank you for the recipe. I skipped the cinnamon syrup because I didn’t want that much sugar. I just steeped some hot tea, added honey and cinnamon to the hot tea and let it dissolve. I also used cranberry juice concentrate and put in equal amounts of cranberry juice concentrate and pomegranate juice and about 1/2 the amount of the honey/cinnamon/tea (1/2 part honey/cinnamon/tea to 1 part cranberry juice and 1 part pomegranate juice) I added a cinnamon stick and it tasted pretty close to First Watch. Be sure to add ice!