A refreshing cocktail with the kick of passion fruit

Longdrink

Keywords        Limes & Muddler,Passion Fruit,Vodka

I generally enjoy mixing and drinking different cocktails, but there is a specific one that I like to serve at a variety of occasions. Almost everyone likes Mojitos, but they’re too mainstream to be special. Luckily, I came across a delicious “variation” of these longdrinks with passion fruit. The taste is suitable for most taste buds, but still exotic enough to surprise.

Learn how to create the “Taste of Paradise”, what to do when ingredients are missing and why I like it so much :-)

Content

What makes it special

Flavor and key ingredients

What to watch out for

Recipe - The original

Different variations

In general

Are you looking for a new cocktail to impress your friends or family? It shouldn’t be too distinct in order to be suitable for (almost) everybody though? Then the Taste of Paradise could be a great choice for you!

This cocktail is both sweet, fresh and contains a fair amount of alcohol, which could be left out, too. In case the original is not right for everybody yet, it’s possible to slightly vary the ingredients for satisfying most cocktail expectations.

For serving this cocktail to a meal, I suggest fresh and light dishes that come with an exotic hint. Lately, I have mostly been pairing East Asian dishes with the Taste of Paradise, for example Pad Thai. Let me know in case you find the drink suitable for more types of dishes :)

For me personally

I immediately fell in love with this cocktail when I first tried it. Consequently, I had to share my discovery with some friends, but it didn’t stop there. Soon, this was my favorite drink for running dinners and other dinner parties. As written above, the combination with Pad Thai is spot-on. Hence, I always serve them together and been doing so for probably half of my running dinners. Luckily, there’s always new people coming in and they’re positively surprised every time.

Besides running dinners, this is also my favorite cocktail for a chilled evening with some good friends. Even standing behind the bar at Studentersamfundet in Trondheim, Norway or volunteering at Calle 11 hostel in Santa Marta, Colombia I sold some “Taste of Paradise’s” or variations of them due to lacking ingredients.

The taste of paradise is fresh, but sweet and contains a fair amount of alcohol, which you barely taste. Sounds like the perfect mix? I guess that’s why so many of my friends love it.

Pressing limes and brown sugar with a muddle is a great start for any cocktail - at least in my opinion - as both the sweetness and acidity “cover” the strong taste of the added spirits. Hence, limejuice and sugar make a cocktail more easily drinkable.

Passion fruit juice then adds some more sweetness with its mouth-watering flavor while the passion fruit liquor (Passoã) gives another kick. Try them pure to get to know them properly in case you haven’t done so yet. Finally, the spirit (vodka in the original) not only increases the alcohol content, but also gives a good balance with the other tastes.

The three key ingredients, which should always be included, are:

• Limes

• Brown sugar

• Passion fruit (juice, liquor or syrup as a last resort - use at least one of them to add the taste)

1. Squeeze the limes very well

2. Do not use too much sugar

3. Do not use too much spirit (vodka)

Ingredients

• 1 Medium sized, untreated lime (~5cm diameter, the peel should be untreated/edible)

• 2 Heaped teaspoons brown sugar

• 2cl Passoã (passion fruit liquor)

• 4cl Vodka

• 8cl Passion fruit juice

 Instructions (Illustrations below)

1. Wash the lime under hot water and cut in eights

2. Throw lime pieces in a longdrink glass (the IKEA hexagon glasses work well in a normal kitchen)

3. Add the sugar and squeeze with the muddler until all lemon juice came out

4. Add Passoã and vodka

5. Fill with crushed ice

6. Add the passion fruit juice (the glass should be filled almost to the top)

7. Stir well or leave it for your guests to enjoy the colour sensation throughout the layers first (it should be stirred well before starting to drink though)

As described above, the three key ingredients that should always be used for a similar tasting cocktail are limes, brown sugar and at least one passion fruit ingredient.

In case you want to serve an alcohol-free “Taste of Paradise”, just leave out vodka and Passoã and add some more passion fruit juice. The taste is not exactly the same, but it’s still delicious - just a tiny bit sweeter. To avoid that, simply reduce the amount of brown sugar.

For the alcoholic version, it is possible to substitute the vodka with another spirit without changing the taste too much. Rum fits very well and can bring in some more flavors, which usually suit the mixture well.

As Passoã could be more difficult to come by, it is a key ingredient you might need to substitute. It’s easily possible to use a little bit more spirit and passion fruit juice to replace it, though.

The passion fruit juice would be the first liquid ingredient you’re running out of when mixing several cocktails. In that case - or when passion fruit juice appears unavailable - orange juice can be used as a replacement.

Passion fruit syrup is another alternative to include the taste when both Passoã and the juice are unavailable. Do your best to include at least one passion fruit ingredient. Otherwise, you’re missing the extra kick.

When volunteering at Calle 11 hostel in Rodadero close to Santa Marta, I made the freshest possible variation of the “Taste of Paradise”. On the tropical Colombian Caribbean Coast, fresh limes and passion fruits are abundant and it’s always best to use fresh fruits instead of packaged juice.

The large yellow-green maracuyá, which grows there, is a lot more acidic than the small purple versions that can be found in super markets in Western countries. Nonetheless, a little more sugar and some rum turn it into a very fresh version perfect for the hot climate.

In the end of my stay there, I put it on the cocktail menu of the hostel to spread this amazing mix of flavors. Give it a try when staying at the hostel. Just ask for a “Paradise” as I shortened the name for easier understanding.

List of references

Kölner Stadt Anzeiger - Bergisches Journal [Recipe by Christopher Uhl, Barmanager Schlosshotel Bensberg]