It’s been a month. Has it been a month for you too? idk, work has been very extra, apparently I’m too much for my neighbor because I am home all the time (I assure you, I wish that weren’t the case). But hey April shots bring…May shots? Got both doses of Moderna in my system and it’s time to get out into the world again. What does that mean for writing and making drinks? Probably about the same cadence for writing (since I haven’t done that all that quickly), though I imagine I’ll have a few more drinks out, but also…it’s the opportunity for you to come over and try some of these wild drinks I’ve been making. So let’s call this all a win. Also I keep joking about it, but you know, it’s time to start thinking more seriously about what a brick and mortar Trader Jane’s might look like…
Anyway…let’s talk about passion fruit. It’s a killer ingredient in more than one way. While I love the flavor, it’s suspiciously good at masking other flavors (see: Hurricane). That also makes it somewhat interesting to think about in terms of how to make it balance though. But it’s a classic component, important in more drinks than just the Hurricane, such as the Chief Lapu Lapu and the highly underrated Saturn (a gin tiki drink for all of you who might want to try something a little different).
I’ve been thinking about how to play around with it, and it’s a fun challenge. A little passion fruit goes a long way, but it also does a lot of great work in a starring role in any beverage. Most commonly, you’ll see people pairing the bright and bold flavor with Jamaican rum, and who am I to say no to that? A couple nice Jamaican rums go a long way towards giving you some nice flavors. You don’t need anything too fancy here, I fetched my bottle of Appleton Estates Signature Blend and my trusty go-to, Smith & Cross. Passion fruit is great with all sorts of other fruits. It’s really quite malleable and frankly limits how much other sweetener you need. So I skipped simple syrup entirely and just settled for a little bit of lime juice and a dash of curaçao.
So you got all your ingredients, how you gonna dial this one up? Here’s what I did:
.75 oz passion fruit syrup
.5 oz lime
.25 oz curaçao (Pierre Ferrand)
1 oz blended Jamaican rum (Appleton Estates)
.75 oz overproof Jamaican rum (Smith & Cross)
Take that all, drop it in the mixing tin, and shake it like you’ve never shaked before. Double strain into a chilled coupe, garnish with a lime wheel, and you got yourself a Passion Project
This one is still a work in progress, and it could use either some slightly tweaked proportions or a dash of bitters. But it’s a good base. However, if that’s not quite working for you, here’s a couple other ideas!
VARIANT 1: I made a judgment call here but this would be delightful in a rocks glass with crushed ice too I’m guessing, and probably take a touch of the edge off of the sweetness, but I like drinks with these general proportions up personally.
VARIANT 2: Don’t want rum? Don’t have a bunch of Jamaican rum to go pull from the shelf? Gin, my people, gin is your friend here too. Again, didn’t do it that way, but I’m guessing that will also work well for you.
This is Trader Jane’s, a periodic newsletter about drinks (mostly tiki) and other fun writing. Follow me on Substack for something every week or two (if we are being honest), and follow me on Twitter and Instagram for more timely updates on my beverages (and for lots of other things of course!)
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