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passion fruit

Passion Fruit and Kerrygold Irish Cream Cocktail Jellies

February 6, 2019 by elana 1 Comment

Kerrygold Irish Cream Passion Fruit Jellies // stirandstrain.com

This post was made in partnership with Kerrygold Irish Cream. Recipe and ideas are my own.

This past Christmas we were gifted several POUNDS of chocolates. And yes, you would be correct to assume that’s a lot of chocolate. These boxes lasted us well into the new year and now, a few days into February the crunch of salted almond bark and the heavy, chewy nougat still linger in my memory. And gosh, next week is Valentine’s Day already!

Kerrygold Irish Cream Passion Fruit Jellies // stirandstrain.comI told my husband that this year I would like flowers, and maybe some burgers, but please don’t buy me a box of chocolates. Still, Valentine’s Day doesn’t seem like a holiday without something sweet. So this year I’ve decided that something light, with a hint of chocolate, and a tart burst of fruit would suit my palate more. And hey, why not throw some booze in there too?

Kerrygold Irish Cream Passion Fruit Jellies // stirandstrain.comI’ve teamed up with Kerrygold Irish Cream to make my alternative to a box of chocolate bon bons this year: Passion Fruit and Kerrygold Irish Cream Cocktail Jellies. More petite than your average jello shot, with a refined taste similar to what you’d expect from a fancy sweets shop. These are pretty low on the ABV scale but still, adults only!

Kerrygold Irish Cream Passion Fruit Jellies // stirandstrain.comI love a fruit gelée and right now I’m on a passion fruit kick. That sweet-tart golden liquid is a wonderful contrast to the rich, creamy Kerrygold Irish Cream. With a hint of chocolate, real cream and a touch of Irish whiskey, you don’t need to add much to these jellies to make a delicious treat; you just need a little patience.

Kerrygold Irish Cream Passion Fruit Jellies // stirandstrain.comA few notes for this recipe:

  • Flexible molds are excellent if you want to make these into shapes and have them free standing. Alternatively, you can also pour these into baking cups and peel the paper off once set.
  • Passion fruit puree is best instead of juice flavor-wise. If you use pure or freshly made passion fruit juice then do not add water, use only juice.
  • Setting times will vary depending on your mold. The smaller hemisphere molds take a shorter time to set than a large sheet pan of liquid. To test, give your pan or mold a little jiggle in the fridge. If it sloshes around it’s not set to layer yet. Wait until it jiggles but is not stiff.
  • You can absolutely makes these even more ‘adult’ by mixing in vodka to the passion fruit puree. Start with a two tablespoons to the passion fruit liquid and adjust from there. Setting times may increase with more vodka.
  • These are best served shortly after being removed from the refrigerator.

Kerrygold Irish Cream Passion Fruit Jellies // stirandstrain.com

Passion Fruit and Kerrygold Irish Cream Cocktail Jellies

1/2 cup passion fruit puree
1/2 cup water
3 packets gelatine
2 cups Kerrygold Irish Cream, divided
pinch of salt

Make the passion fruit layer first: pour water into a small saucepan and bring to a boil. In a wide bowl, pour in passion fruit puree. Sprinkle one packet of gelatine over the top. Let sit a few minutes until bloomed (no granules should be visible). Once bloomed, pour the boiling water over the passion fruit and whisk until the gelatine is dissolved. Pour passion fruit mixture into the bottom of your molds and refrigerate one hour or until it starts to set (see note above).

Next, make the Kerrygold Irish Cream layer: pour 1 cup of the Kerrygold Irish Cream and pinch of salt into a small saucepan and bring to just under a boil. In a wide bowl, pour in the second cup of Kerrygold Irish Cream. Sprinkle one packet of gelatine over the top. Let sit a few minutes until bloomed (no granules should be visible). Once bloomed, pour the hot Kerrygold Irish Cream over the bloomed gelatine mixture. Whisk until combined and then slowly pour over the almost set passion fruit layer. Refrigerate. Allow to set completely 6 hours or overnight.

To serve the jellies: for round molds, carefully run a small spoon around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out. If using square or straight-sided molds, run a butter knife around the edge and slowly invert the mold to pop out the shot. For other shapes or non-flexible molds, dip the bottom of the mold in warm water for 15 seconds, invert mold onto a baking sheet, and gently tap the mold to release the jellies. Jellies can be refrigerated for up to 3 days in an airtight container.

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Filed Under: Make It, Recipes Tagged With: edible cocktails, gelatine, Kerrygold Irish Cream, make it, passion fruit, St. Patrick's Day

What You Should Be Drinking This Easter

March 31, 2018 by elana Leave a Comment

We’ve got flowers, pastel colors and a few eggs. Here’s what you should be drinking on Easter this year!

Sparkling Gin Lemonades with Flower- Infused Boozy Gelées for Easter Brunch // stirandstrain.com

Sparkling Gin Lemonades with Flower- Infused Boozy Gelées for Easter Brunch

Electric Pink Fields Rum #Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Electric Pink Fields Rum Cocktail

Fresh Passion Fruit Sour Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Fresh Passion Fruit Sour Cocktail

Pisco Brunch Cocktail with thyme and grapefruit // stirandstrain.com

Pisco Brunch Cocktail

Fresh Lemongrass Sour Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Fresh Lemongrass Sour Cocktail

An Isle Away #Cocktail with cardamom coconut foam // stirandstrain.com

An Isle Away: Rum Cocktail with Coconut Cardamom Foam

Frozen Cucumber and Green Chartreuse Daiquiri Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Frozen Cucumber and Green Chartreuse Daiquiri Cocktail

Ok, so here’s some chocolate for you too…

Bake It: Angostura Brownies with Luxardo Cherries // stirandstrain.com

Angostura Brownies with Luxardo Cherries

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Filed Under: Bake It, Make It, Recipes Tagged With: angostura, cardamom, chocolate, coconut, creme de violet, cucumber, easter, egg white, gelatine, gin, Grapefruit, Green Chartreuse, lemongrass, luxardo cherries, passion fruit, pisco, rose, rum, taragon, thyme, vodka

National Cocktail Day Greatest Hits

March 23, 2018 by elana 2 Comments

It’s National Cocktail Day tomorrow in case you didn’t know (And it’s totally fine if you didn’t know. I forgot too until I read a recent press release). So I thought I’d round up a few of you readers’ favorite posts from the site because, if you’re here, you like cocktails. Funny thing though, you guys seem to like a lot of the DIY syrups/bitters/tincture posts just as much as the drinks. So I’m including those too because it’s always good to have some fun syrups and mixers around to get your creative cocktail juices flowing. Cheers!

Passion Fruit Syrup // The Hurricane Cocktail

Classic Blackberry Shrub

Pineapple Gomme Syrup

Burnt Sage and Blackberry Sangria

Smoke Tincture and Boulevardier

The Vegan Pisco Sour

 

And if you’re looking for more inspiration, here are a few of my favorite books on cocktails (in no particular order) and all the fun stuff that goes into them! Enjoy!

  • The Joy of Mixology
  • Bitters: A Spirited History of a Classic Cure-All, with Cocktails, Recipes, and Formulas
  • Beach Bum Berry Remixed
  • Liquid Intelligence: The Art and Science of the Perfect Cocktail
  • Cocktail Techniques

There’s so many more I like to read, you can check out the Book Shelf Page for even more (not currently updated but it’s a lot to start with!).

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Filed Under: Make It, Recipes Tagged With: blackberry, cocktail books, gin, make it, passion fruit, pineapple, pisco, rum, sage, smoke, vegan, wine

King Cake Cocktail

February 27, 2017 by elana Leave a Comment

This post was made in partnership with Everclear. Recipe and ideas are my own.

The older I get, the more the traditions and holidays leading up to Easter get blurry. When I was a kid at parochial school, there was Lent, there was a day where we all got palms and some day where we all walked around with ash on our foreheads (this could have been the same day, I can’t remember now), and for what seemed like an eternity we were not allowed to eat meat on Fridays. I vaguely remember having a carton the size of an individual milk serving where we collected change to give to… someone during this time too but mainly went barren until my mom made us empty out our piggy banks to fill it. But then after all this we were rewarded with waking up one morning able to stuff our faces with chocolate before we even had our daily OJ. Score.

I don’t remember the exact time in my life when I learned about Mardi Gras, and I use the term “learned” loosely as I still don’t know all the intricacies surrounding this event, but I was intrigued by this parallel party during this season. Again, the ideas and customs are still a bit fuzzy, there’s a parade, beads, lots of drunk college kids, general overindulgence, and King Cake, where you bake a baby into dessert. Out of all these ideas I’ve tended to gravitate towards the cake because… cake; I just don’t focus too much on the baked baby part of it.

This month I partnered with Everclear again to develop a cocktail to celebrate with during Mardi Gras, and that made you think of the flavors of New Orleans and that special infant-hidden-in-a-cake cake. This cocktail is more on the sweeter side, it’s indulgent and a good fit for getting in all that excess before you need to cool off for 40 days (or if you don’t do that, hell, you can still party it up all the way through April drink in hand). The passion fruit and lemon juice started as a riff on a Hurricane and then I added in some almond and berry flavors to represent the cake. The Everclear is my neutral backbone for all the flavors and to give it that boozy kick.

And if you’re wondering why the green sanding sugar garnish, that and the purplish drink color also represent the green and purple colors of the King Cake. The sugar is optional, but for this party drink I’m pulling out the flourishes. Except for the baby. I’m leave that addition up to you.

Now let’s get mixing!

1 ounce Everclear
1 ounce Passion Fruit Juice
3/4 ounces Amaretto
3/4 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
3/4 ounces Cassis Liqueur

green sanding sugar for garnish

First, rim a chilled cocktail coupe with green sanding sugar. Then, in a shaker 2/3 filled with ice, shake for 20 seconds. Strain into the chilled and garnished cocktail coupe. Enjoy!

If this recipe looks familiar to you, you may have seen it next to a bottle of Everclear at your local liquor store (or package store! Who calls it that outside of New England?). 

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: amaretto, cassis, everclear, holiday, lemon juice, passion fruit

Fresh Passion Fruit Sour

February 25, 2016 by elana 3 Comments

Fresh Passion Fruit Sour Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

Illustrations by Robin N. Watts

After what seems like years debating about the livelihood of this random tree that lives in front of our house, we finally went and had a professional diagnosis its current state. It’s confirmed: that tree is indeed diseased and dead. You’d think it would be easy to spot a dead tree, but it’s not. They look surprisingly lifelike well after they’ve ceased to be a living tree. So we had it removed along with the two lavender bushes you’ve seen star in a few drinks around here. They were also dead; we can all blame this California drought (and not my poor gardening skills).

So now we have the exciting decision to make regarding what to plant in the empty spaces. While I should be thinking cactus plants and other plants that require little water, what I really want are some fruit trees out front. And what I most want are some passion fruit trees.

Not only would I have fresh passion fruits five feet from my doorstep, but I would also have those amazing blooms that come with the trees. Have you guys ever seen one? They’re like a gaudy space alien in technicolor. I need these in my life.

Fresh Passion Fruit Sour Cocktail // stirandstrain.comIf I had these trees and their fruit readily available, THIS cocktail would be the go-to cocktail around my house. Highlighting the passion fruit but balancing it out with a little sweet Meyer lemon juice and, of course, an egg white. When I developed this recipe, I was using 10 Cane Rum for the base. And then it got discontinued and I’m lamenting the fact I used up my last bottle before I found this out. Another good option is Caña Brava by the 86 Co. Or, you know, use what you like.

If I’m going to plant some passion fruit trees, I guess I’d also need a Meyer lemon tree. And a lime tree. But I think I’m getting ahead of myself. Let’s hope I can keep this one alive first.

1-1/2 ounces rum, such as Caña Brava
3/4 ounce fresh passion fruit pulp
1/2 ounce simple syrup
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
1 egg white

  • In a shaker, add rum, passion fruit pulp, simple syrup, meyer lemon juice and egg white. Dry shake, hard, for 20 seconds to get a good froth. Add ice â…” up shaker. Shake an additional 20 second and double strain into a chilled cocktail coupe.

Tasting notes: bright, low acidity, silky mouthfeel, passion fruit forward.

Fans of our Wine Wine Wine posts will recognize Robin N. Watts as the man behind all of our wine picks. Besides a lover of wine, Robin also is a damn fine illustrator. Find more about his illustration works at robinnwatts.tumblr.com.

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: 10 Cane Rum, Caña Brava white rum, egg white, meyer lemon, passion fruit, rum, shaken, simple syrup

MxMo: The South American Hurricane a.k.a. the “Perfect” Hurricane

October 20, 2014 by elana Leave a Comment

Mixology Monday: The South American Hurricane a.k.a. the "Perfect" Hurricane // stirandstrain.comWhoa! Mixology Monday has rolled around once again and this month Joel from the Southern Ash blog has challenged us with “Perfect Symmetry”. Just what does that mean? “Perfect” as in a cocktail that splits one of the liquors equally (you guys can read the full announcement here!). Not “perfect” as in the absolute best; I don’t think I’d ever refer to a drink as perfect. Improved, yes.

I’m coming off of a few weeks vacation on here (although you guys probably didn’t notice what with all the posts going up) and although that might read to you as “I’m totally rested and going to write a million posts”, what that actually means is “dang guys, I have waaaaayyyy too many emails to go through”. So, I’m keeping this post brief today.Mixology Monday: The South American Hurricane a.k.a. the "Perfect" Hurricane // stirandstrain.com

What’s a perfect Hurricane? Well, I decided after a long debate about what to do for MxMo this time that rum and cachaça might be a good combo to try and make into a “perfect” cocktail. So naturally my mind went to Tiki drinks. But you know what? It’s kinda hard finding a Tiki drink with one rum in it. Now, there were a few contenders with just one rum in the recipe but I wanted to revisit the Hurricane. I just love passion fruit and, well, I have a crap load of homemade syrup in the fridge right now.

Cachaça is a close cousin to rum. I tried to make the distinction in an earlier post but I believe here that there is enough of a difference that it qualifies for this recipe (they have different names!!). If you disagree, please feel free to leave a comment below.Mixology Monday: The South American Hurricane a.k.a. the "Perfect" Hurricane // stirandstrain.com

2 ounces aged rum
2 ounces aged cachaça, Leblon used here*
2 ounces freshly squeezed lemon juice
1-3/4 ounces passion fruit syrup (homemade if you got it!)

In a shaker 2/3 filled with ice, add all ingredients and shake well. Fill a hurricane glass or large tiki mug with about 20 ounces of crushed ice. Strain drink over the ice and add more crushed ice if desired.

Thanks to Joel for hosting again this month, and to Fred for keeping MxMo alive!

 

*Items generously given gratis and appear here because I like them. For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit the About page.

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Filed Under: Mixology Monday, Recipes Tagged With: cachaça, Fall, Leblon Cachaça, lemon juice, mixology monday, passion fruit, rum, tiki

MxMo: An Isle Away coconut cardamom foam cocktail

August 25, 2014 by elana 4 Comments

An Isle Away #Cocktail with cardamom coconut foam // stirandstrain.com

Mixology Monday LogoI bet you were wondering what the heck to do with that bottle of cardamom tincture we all made last week. Well, wonder no more!

For awhile I’ve been wanting to pair up coconut and cardamom, and this month fate stepped in and gave me Mixology Monday’s challenge of COCONUT! Want to know more about what exactly MxMo is? Read on here.

This month, Rated R Cocktails challenged us to work with the versatile coconut. A cocktail ingredient that not only gives us several liquid choices, but also offers itself up as a drinking vessel as well! It’s also in the name of the Tiki-inspired supper club I am part of. (We even have a coconut cocktail served in the shell.)An Isle Away #Cocktail with cardamom coconut foam // stirandstrain.com

This recipe came about in my search to find a light, refreshing cocktail that wasn’t weighed down by the usual culprit of coconut cream. However, I still found myself wanting to mimic the cream and I remembered awhile back that Todd over at Honestly Yum, did a pear foam last year that had similar structure for what I was looking for: light as air foam that still had a dense appearance. So here coconut water becomes a coconut foam. Adding the cardamom to the foam also meant getting the lovely aroma in there, but not effecting the taste profile I wanted for the cocktail under the foam. This is one of those times where I was looking to transform the drink from first sniff to last sip.An Isle Away #Cocktail with cardamom coconut foam // stirandstrain.com

Again, as for many posts, you will need a piece of special equipment. An ISI whipped cream canister makes this fast and gives you a stable foam. I suppose you could whip this up in a stand mixer and then spoon it on your cocktail, but, well, I like an excuse to bring out the toys. All of this is available online and I’ll provide links below.

There was a possibility that this drink was going to make it on to the supper club menu, but we decided to go another direction. Also, I’d hate to ruin the surprise at the dinner when you get one!

The foam makes enough for quite a number of drinks, so if you’re having some guests by, table side foam art is highly encouraged.An Isle Away #Cocktail with cardamom coconut foam // stirandstrain.com

Part 1: Make the Coconut Cardamom Foam
adapted from Honestly Yum

7 ounces coconut water
2-1/2 ounces egg whites
2 ounces simple syrup
3-4 drops cardamom tincture (recipe here)

Add all ingredients to a whipped cream canister. Close the canister, shake hard, charge it with a whipped cream charger and refrigerate at least one hour until ready to use. Will keep fresh for up to a week in the refrigerator.

Part 2: Make the Cocktail

2 ounces white rum, such as Selvarey*
2 ounces coconut water
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lime juice
1/4 ounce passion fruit syrup
cardamom pod for garnish

In a cocktail shaker 2/3 filled with ice, combine rum, coconut water, lime juice and passion fruit. Shake to combine about 20 seconds and strain into a highball glass filled with ice. Using the whipped cream canister pointed straight down over the drink, add foam in a circular motion until the top of the drink is covered, about a 1/2″. Add a cardamom on top for a garnish.

Strong cardamom aroma with a hint of coconut. The cocktail itself is very light and dry. Coconut flavor sits in the back while more of the fruit notes move forward from the passionfruit and this particular rum’s flavor profile. Quite delightful.

Where do I get the equipment from?

  • iSi Cream Whipper 1 Pint
  • iSi N2O Cream Chargers

 

Thanks to Rated R Cocktails for hosting this month, and to Fred for keeping the party going!

 

*Items generously given gratis and appear here because I like them. For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit the About page.

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Filed Under: Mixology Monday, Recipes Tagged With: cardamom, coconut, egg white, lime, mixology monday, passion fruit, rum, Selvarey White Rum

Trinidad Spell (with a whole lot of bitters)

March 8, 2014 by elana 4 Comments

Trinidad Spell Cocktail // stirandstrain.comOne day trolling the internet I came across a drink called the Stormy Mai-Tai. This tropical sounding cocktail totally threw me for a loop–there was a whole lot of bitters in there. Like, a WHOLE lot. An ounce and a half.

Somewhere along the way through my cocktail education, I mistakenly thought bitters contained lethal amounts of alcohol that when taken in large doses would kill me. Clearly I was mistaken. Here was a drink that showed you could use bitters as a base and not just an accent. Also, I had overlooked the fact that Angostura only clocked in at 44.7% ABV, not lethal.Trinidad Spell Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

I had thought of recreating the Stormy Mai-Tai here for this site, but when I was asked to come up with a bitters-heavy drink for Serious Drinks, I thought I’d see where else I could get bitters to work in large doses; so I turned to Tiki drinks.

I adapted the Polynesian Spell (which you can find in the Grog Log) by replacing the grape juice (there’s a head scratcher), triple sec, and peach brandy with Angostura, apricot brandy, passion fruit and citrus; I kept the gin. I was going out on a limb trying to shove Angostura in there, but after a couple of tweaks…wow. It was a success.

1 ounce Angostura bitters
1 ounce gin, London Dry style
3/4 ounce Rothman & Winter Apricot Brandy
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed orange juice from 1/4 orange
1/2 ounce passion fruit syrup (see note)
1/2 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice from 1/2 lemon

bamboo straws

Combine all ingredients in a shaker filled 2/3 with ice. Shake hard for 30 seconds to incorporate and strain into a rocks glass filled with fresh ice. Garnish according to your own inner-Tiki style.

Yes, the flavor is strongly bittered, but there’s also a cascade of cherry and clove, fruit and sweetness. The aroma is fiery from the Angostura with strong hints of passionfruit and orange. The slight numbing of your tongue may serve to remind you: you’re drinking a heck of a lot of bitters.

For this recipe, I used a Cobalt shaker*. I was sent this shaker to try out and I’ve used for several of my tiki drinks for a few reasons. One, the shaker gets things cold, really cold. And two, for the boozier drinks, I like the small ice chips that slowly melt as I drink the cocktail. It’s also roomy for large volume recipes like these too.

cobalt shaker // Trinidad Spell Cocktail // stirandstrain.com

*Items generously given gratis and appear here because I like them. All opinions are my own and no monetary compensation was given. For more info on sponsored products, affiliate links, and gifted booze, please visit the About page.

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Filed Under: Recipes Tagged With: angostura, apricot liqueur, bitters, gin, lemon juice, orange, passion fruit, Rothman & WInter Apricot Brandy, tiki

Mixology Monday: Fruit & Dagger Cocktail

May 19, 2013 by elana 2 Comments

fruit and dagger cocktail // stirandstrain.com

mxmologo

Every month I feel like the deadline for Mixology Monday creeps up on me faster and faster. And just like that, it’s time once again for a post. This month, Mark at Cardiff Cocktails has given us the theme of “Witches’ Garden”. For the full announcement post, please click here.

Here’s the back story for my submission this month…

I’ve had this bottle of Sake taking up room in my fridge for months. Possibly more than five. Looking for an excuse for using it up, I thought I would try something a little lighter in the ABV, as this bottle clocks in at around 15-16%. Shirakabe Gura Tokubetsu Junmai is a dry-ish sake that has a light melon/pear taste, but not much body. I figured it could use some bulking up via a cocktail.

My herb of choice for this drink was Rosemary. I have so much growing around my house that I filled up two green bins when just ‘trimming’ it last month. If you ask me for some, I will gladly hand over a shopping bag filled to the brim to you, which you will silently curse me for, wondering how in the hell you will use all of it. So, any time I can stick it in a drink, I will. Rosemary gets closeted into winter-time drinks much too much. It’s woodsy profile though pairs really well with citrus, and, as I have discovered this week, passion fruit.fruitdagger-3

So I married those two with a hint of grapefruit and came up with this low-alcohol cocktail. The final ingredient is tonic. The drink had the right flavors when I first tried it, but fell flat in my mouth. The tonic perked the whole thing up, giving it a much needed lightness and fizz.fruitdagger-2

3 oz Shirakabe Gura Tokubetsu Junmai Sake
1/2 oz Passion Fruit syrup (recipe here)
1 sprig of rosemary, about 5″ long
3 dashes Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters
2 oz Fever-Tree Premium Indian Tonic Water

sprig of rosemary and grapefruit slice for garnish

In a mixing glass, place the sprig of rosemary in the bottom, add syrup and muddle gently, just enough to release the oils. Do not crush or tear the herb (5-7 presses with a muddler should do). Add ice 2/3 of the way up the glass, then pour in sake and bitters. Stir to combine. Fill a highball glass with ice and strain liquids over the ice. Top with Tonic water. Gently stir to combine. Garnish with rosemary sprig and grapefruit slice. A straw is also a welcome addition.

As I stated earlier, the rosemary and passion fruit are a great combo, earthy and tart. The grapefruit bitters offer a citrus nose and a sweet and bitter layer to the drink. The sake itself is pretty mild tasting, and I found it a nice canvas to play off of here. Overall clean and refreshing.

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Filed Under: Mixology Monday, Recipes Tagged With: grapefruit bitters, mixology monday, passion fruit, rosemary, sake, tonic water

Make It: Passion Fruit Syrup // The Hurricane Cocktail

May 12, 2013 by elana 13 Comments

hurricane cocktail // stirandstrain.comDid you know that passion fruit had a season? Neither did I until earlier this week. Big thanks to Nathan from the Chocolate of Meats blog for hipping me to this fact.

If you are a lover of Tiki drinks you know that passion fruit is a major component in many of those elusive Grog Log drinks. If you’re not familiar, now you know. Pretty much though you’re stuck with commercial flavored syrups that taste more like sad kool-aid than anything resembling a fruit derived substance. Until now. My passion fruit did not come locally unfortunately, they were flown in. I thought that was the only way I would get them until I found out a local catering company, Heirloom LA, were growing them in their backyard. Note to self, plant that ASAP.passionfruit // stirandstrain.com

So before we get to the drinks, lets get to making the syrup. If you don’t raise your hand to the question Who’s going to use this syrup up in a month? Then you can either add a 1/2 oz of vodka to the mix to prolong it up to 3 months, or make a large batch and freeze up containers to use when passion fruit is not in season.

Although a basic recipe, credit goes to Tiare from the Mountain of Crushed Ice blog for some of the tips to making this syrup.

Passion Fruit Syrup
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
Just under 1/2 cup of Passion Fruit seeds/juice (about 7 smallish fruit)
2 passion fruit

Combine first 3 ingredients in a sauce pan over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. As soon as the mixture reaches a boil, cut the heat and remove from the stove. Add the juice and seeds from the last two passion fruit to the mixture, stir to combine and cover. Let this sit for two hours, then strain and bottle.passionfruit-2 // stirandstrain.com

Let’s ease into the Tiki now with the Hurricane cocktail. With just 3 simple ingredients this is where quality really counts. And perhaps your garnishes too.

I always associated the Hurricane with a red/pink color, in fact, I assumed that passion fruit were this color too (I seriously had no idea). So to my surprise, this Hurricane really is the color of a passion fruit, yellow-orange. Dealing with the fresh passion fruit also has taught me what I smell in a lot of Tiki drinks I’ve had out of the house. The point I’m trying to make is that if you want to be serious with drinks, or food even, get to know the fresh stuff, not just what comes in a can at a grocery store, you’ll very quickly start to favor the fresh ingredients. I’ll probably be heading back to the market to buy a couple pounds of passion fruit this week just so I can make enough syrup to freeze a sizable stash. God, I just hope they’re not out of season by Tuesday.

Hurricane Cocktail (adapted from the Grog Log)
4 oz dark rum (I chose Goslings Black Seal Rum)
2 oz freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice
2 oz passion fruit syrup

large sprig of mint and pineapple cubes for garnish

In a shaker 2/3 filled with ice, add first 3 ingredients and shake well. Fill a hurricane glass or large tiki mug with about 20 ounces of crushed ice. Strain drink over the ice and add more crushed ice if desired. Garnish with mint (give it a good slap between your hands to release some of the oils from the herb) and 3 pineapple cubes on a cocktail spear.

Don’t forget that mint! The mint adds an aromatic nose that is a perfect compliment for this sweet-tart drink. The Goslings was chosen because it gives a nice deep spice layer, while the Meyer lemon balances out the passion fruit tartness. Overall this was not what I remember a Hurricane tasting like, and that’s probably a good thing. Enjoy!

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Filed Under: Make It, Recipes Tagged With: dark rum, Goslings Black Seal Rum, make it, meyer lemon, passion fruit, tiki

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