Гранат кислее, чем мандарин, но моей подруге нравится именно такой вкус.

Pomegranate is more sour than a mandarin, but my female friend likes exactly that kind of taste.

Breakdown of Гранат кислее, чем мандарин, но моей подруге нравится именно такой вкус.

• мой: my
• но: but
• чем: than
• нравиться: to like

Questions & Answers about Гранат кислее, чем мандарин, но моей подруге нравится именно такой вкус.

Does гранат mean pomegranate here? I thought it could also mean grenade.

Yes — here гранат clearly means pomegranate.

Russian гранат can mean:

• pomegranate (the fruit)
• grenade

Context tells you which one is meant. Since the sentence compares it to мандарин and talks about taste, it must be the fruit.

Why is кислее used? How do comparatives work here?

Кислее means more sour.

It is the comparative form of кислый = sour. In Russian, many adjectives form the comparative with a special ending instead of using a separate word like more.

So:

• кислый = sour
• кислее = more sour / sourer

This is very natural in Russian. You can also sometimes use более кислый = more sour, but in a simple comparison like this, кислее is the more normal choice.

Why is it чем мандарин, not чем мандарина?