It's strange, but the page about ponergranate in Portuguese start with a reference about drink:
> A romã é o fruto da romãzeira (Punica granatum), comum no mediterrâneo oriental e médio oriente onde a polpa é usada para a preparação de aperitivos, sobremesa ou algumas vezes em bebida alcoólica.
autotranlation> Pomegranate is the fruit of the pomegranate tree (Punica granatum), common in the Eastern and Middle Eastern Mediterranean where the pulp is used to prepare appetizers, dessert or sometimes in alcoholic drinks.
The English and Spanish versions of Wikipedia have only references to the drink in the middle of the article, so it may be more popular in Portugal (or Azerbaijan). Still suspicious.
Here in Argentina we have drink https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grenadine You can buy the concentrated syrup and ilute it at home with water or carbonated water. It's not super popular, but you can buy a bottle in half of the supermarkets. I buy 1 or 2 per year.
I don't think I had ever seen pomegranate juice in a supermarket before this brand appeared (apparently in 2002). I think it's also used in some cocktails, so I wouldn't be surprised if bars had at least a little bit on hand.
Un-paywalled story - https://archive.is/41EtL
Azerbaijani man speaking Russian, with an Israeli passport.
Who orders a pomegranate drink at a restaurant. The story is pretty sus.