Passion Fruit Cocktails

Tumblers - available on Etsy

This week, I've been experimenting with passion fruit and rather loving the results. It all began with a bespoke cocktail I was creating for a client, who had included passion fruit as a possible flavour in their drink and to keep things fresh and zingy, I wanted to use the actual fruit as well as tinkering about with liqueurs or syrups.

Passion fruit come in several varieties, but in this country, we mainly import the purple skinned variety, which are smaller, but have more juicy pulp and a richer flavour and aroma. They are the fruits of a Passiflora genus which grow like a vine, clinging on with hook like tendrils. We have a rather gorgeous Passiflora in the garden, but sadly, no passion fruit. Lucky for me then, that they are widely available from many larger supermarkets and I was able to easily purchase a pack of three from my local Tesco store.

They are not much to look at on the outside, but cut them down the middle and it's a riot of colour going on in there. And that unmistakeable smell; it's tropical, floral and fresh and the taste, although a little bitter for some, has an almost citrus flavour, backed up with some floral notes. I quite like to eat them just as they are, scooping out the pulp with a spoon, but in some countries, they like to serve them that way, but sprinkled with a little icing sugar, which I imagine is rather nice.

I also decided to purchase a bottle of Giffards Passion Fruit Syrup so I could experiment with that as well. Giffard make a range of liqueurs and syrups, all of which use a maceration of real fruit and although, of course, they use a lot of sugar, the flavour of the fruit always shines through. I love using fresh ingredients as much as possible, but a dash of naturally flavoured syrup here and there, will help to boost your drink's taste and a bottle goes a long way.

One of the most recognised cocktails with a passion fruit flavour, is the Porn Star Martini, which was concocted by Douglas Ankrah at the Lab Academy bar in the 1990's. It was originally dubbed the Maverick Martini and personally, I wish it had stayed that way as ordering a Porn Star Martini always makes me feel a bit of an idiot, but it's a sweet, crowd pleaser, made all the more fun, by the accompaniment of a champagne chaser. In my version, I confess, I used Cava, but seeing as I always end up tipping it in the drink because I find it a little sweet, it doesn't really matter. Plus, there are some great Cavas out there, so there's no need to overspend on fizz. I also used this as an excuse to finish up the vanilla vodka which I had been infusing for so long, it was as dark as bourbon. You can get the recipe to make your own, by clicking here. Alternatively, there are numerous vanilla vodkas you can buy, including Stolichnaya, Absolut, Grey Goose and even Smirnoff.

Porn Star Martini

Ingredients
2 oz Vanilla Vodka
1/2 oz Giffards Passion Fruit syrup
Dash of Clements Martinique Syrope de Canne (or vanilla syrup)
1 passion fruit
1/2 oz lime juice
2 oz Cava

Add all of the ingredients , apart from the Cava, to a cocktail shaker and shake hard, over ice.
Strain into a chilled martini glass and serve with a large shot of fizz.

Shot Glasses available on Etsy

Having got the taste for vanilla vodka, I decided to make a similarly, flavoured cocktail, but one that could be enjoyed as a long drink, over ice. As I said before, I always end up tipping the fizz into the martini glass when I have a Porn Star Martini, so why not make it a long drink instead? However, I'm not one for smutty cocktail names, so I have given this a far more demure monicker...

Passiflora

Ingredients
2 oz vanilla vodka
1oz Giffards passion fruit syrup
1/2 oz lime juice
1 passion fruit
2 oz Cava

Add all of the ingredients, apart from the Cava, to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
Shake hard and then strain into an ice filled, hi ball glass.
Top up with the cava and stir gently to mix the drink
Garnish with a lime wedge.

Butterfly Glasses by Toasted Glass

This next cocktail was devised as an alternative to pudding and was absolutely delicious - I'll take one of these over the pick of the dessert trolley, any day. I used the very last shots of my vanilla vodka in this, which is why you can see a dark sediment in the bottom of the glass from the insides of the vanilla pods, but I can assure you, it in no way detracted from the enjoyment of the drink.

Just Desserts

Ingredients
2 oz vanilla vodka
1 oz Giffard passion fruit syrup
1/2 oz freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 oz freshly squeezed orange juice
1 egg white
strip of orange zest to garnish

Add all of the ingredients to the cocktail shaker and shake without ice, holding the lid firmly down - sometimes gas can build up in the shaker, doing this, and actually pop the lid right off, which is messy to say the least.
Carefully open the shaker, add ice and shake again until the outside of the shaker has frosted.
Strain the drink into a chilled martini glass and squeeze the strip of orange zest to first, release the oils and then, garnish.

Cocktail Glasses from Toasted Glass

The final cocktail in this week's selection is the one that started it all. It was created as a bespoke cocktail for a private client, so I'll keep the story behind it to myself, but the cocktail is too good, not to share. It uses bourbon, but is one of those cocktails that works well with rum and even gin, too. Keep the proportions the same and substitute with your favourite tipple.

Bird on the Wire

Ingredients
2 oz Buffalo Chase bourbon
1 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
1 passion fruit
3/4 simple syrup
8 mint leaves
sprig of mint to garnish

Firstly, cut the passion fruit in half, scoop out the pulp and add to the cocktail shaker with the simple syrup.
Add the mint leaves and muddle gently to release the essential oils.
Add the remaining ingredients and half fill the shaker with ice.
Shake hard, until the outside of the shaker begins to frost, then strain into a tumbler filled with crushed ice.
Slap the sprig of mint gently, between your palms - this releases the minty aroma - and garnish the drink.

Tumbler - available on Etsy

I highly recommend experimenting with these tasty little tropical fruits. For those with a sweet tooth, the Giffards Passion Fruit syrup is a must and for those who like it fresh and zingy, use the fresh fruit. It's incredibly versatile and combines well with citrus, whilst retaining it's own distinctive flavour. Have fun trying out some of these cocktails and please drink responsibly. x

Father's Day Cocktails

St Edward's Crown Glasses by Toasted Glass

For those of you, reading this, after the event, don't let the title put you off. This post's selection have been curated and created with Father's Day in mind and are perhaps a little less feminine than is my wont, but are in no way limited to the chaps. What I will say, is that they are not overly fruity or floral and even include a couple of drinks that can be knocked together without the aid of a cocktail shaker or any fancy shenanigans. Whether young or old, I'm sure you'll find something to impress dad, this June 16th and you might want to consider my Bespoke Cocktail Service, that takes into account, taste, personality and lifestyle to create a tailor made mix to perfectly suit the recipient. For further information, please click here.

This first cocktail is being hailed as a modern classic and deservedly so. It was created by Sam Ross; beardy Australian and celebrity bartender at Attaboy, the Uptown reinvention of New York's Milk and Honey bar. It's a whisky cocktail that cleverly uses two types of scotch, a blend for the main body of the drink and a small amount of a good smokey, single malt, floated on the top. As someone who doesn't really like whisky, I wasn't too sure about this, but the initial taste of a good single malt is fine and just as it gets to the point where I would normally gag (yes, I really struggle with whisky), the sweet ginger and lemon flavours come through. Of course, it does involve making Honey-Ginger Syrup, but that in itself is delicious and worth making a small pot of it to keep in the fridge. Click here for Honey-Ginger syrup recipe. The original recipe does specify using an Islay single malt to float on top. I have used Jura Superstition for it's spice and smoke and as the isle of Jura is a stone's throw from Islay, the whiskies produced from distilleries on both, share many of the same tasting notes. Laphroig, Laguvilin and Bowmore would all work well.

Penicillin Cocktail

Ingredients
2oz blended scotch (I used Grants)
1/4oz Islay single malt
3/4oz lemon juice
3/4oz honey-ginger syrup

Add all of the ingredients, bar the single malt, to a cocktail shaker, with ice
Shake vigorously and strain into an ice filled rocks glass
Pour the single malt over the back of a spoon, to float on the top of the drink

Bumble Bee rocks glasses by Toasted Glass

This next drink is simplicity itself to make and can be adapted to make any number of variations. It works well with whisky too and you can substitute lemon for lime. Use white rum and fresh lime and it's practically a mojito. The main thing is, it's a doddle to mix up and will appeal to those who don't like too much fuss. I used Blackwoods gin which already has slight mint undertones from the watermint in it's botanical mix.

Gin Smash

Ingredients

2oz Blackwoods gin
1/2 lemon, cut into quarters
3/4oz simple syrup
7 fresh mint leaves
Dash of Angostura bitters

Muddle (squish) the mint, lemon and simple syrup in the bottom of a large tumbler or highball glass using a muddling stick or similar implement
Half fill the glass with crushed ice, pour in the gin and bitters and stir carefully, ensuring that the alcohol mixes in well
Top up with more crushed ice  and stir again before drinking

Time For Drinks Tumblers by Toasted Glass

Followers of the blog will know that last week I made Vanilla Infused Vodka and deemed it such a success that I then went on to make a slightly larger batch. One of the things that really struck me about it was the earthiness that using natural vanilla brings - absolutely nothing like sweet vanilla flavouring and with a touch of the pipe tobacco about it. 'What could be more manly than pipe tobacco and single malt?', thought I and so the Old Timer was conceived. Otherwise, the cocktail is made just as you would make an Old Fashioned, using a little simple syrup, rather than a sugar cube, as the extra work is entirely unnecessary in my opinion. In an ideal world , you would serve the drink with one very large ice cube in the glass so as to keep it chilled, but not over diluted. The initial aroma is mellow and sweet from the vanilla and orange, but the lingering taste is the smoke of the single malt.

Old Timer

1oz vanilla vodka
1oz single malt whisky(I used Jura Superstition)
1/4oz simple syrup
Dash of Angostura bitters
Large strip of orange zest

Using a sharp knife, cut a long thin strip from the peel of an orange, leaving behind the pith and set to one side
Add the simple syrup to the glass, along with a dash of Angostura bitters
Add the spirits, stir and add ice - preferably a large cube or two
Squeeze the orange zest around the rim of the glass to release the oils. This creates an orange aroma without adding juice to the drink

Black Stag Rocks Glasses by Toasted Glass

The final cocktail today is loosely based on the El Diablo cocktail, a big favourite of mine and you can get the recipe by going to my Summer Spice cocktails post. What surprised me about the El Diablo, when I first tried it, was how well tequila and ginger work together and so, pairing tequila with King's Ginger, one of my favourite liqueurs, seemed an obvious move.

El Rey

Ingredients

1oz tequila resposado
3/4oz King's Ginger
1/4oz Creme de Cassis
1oz lime juice
Dash of Fever Tree Naturally Light Ginger Beer

Add all of the ingredients to a shaker with ice and shake vigorously for 20 secs
Strain into a tumbler with ice and top up with a dash of ginger beer.

St Edward's Crown Highballs by Toasted Glass

This drink also works rather well without the lime and prepared in much the same way as an Old Fashioned.

Old Fashioned El Rey

1oz tequila resposado
3/4oz King's Ginger
1/4oz Creme de Cassis
Dash of bitters
Strip of orange zest

Add all of the ingredients apart from the zest, to a tumbler/ rocks glass and stir well to combine
Add one or two large ice cubes
Squeeze the strip of zest to release the oils and wipe around the rim of the glass

St Edward's Crown Rocks Glasses by Toasted Glass

I gave myself the challenge of 'manning up' this week and I have to admit that I am rather enjoying it - so much so, that I have had to force myself to stop because we can't possibly drink any more cocktails. Still, watch this space as there are many more to come in the future. Have a fabulous weekend and test a few cocktails before you try them out on dad for Father's Day x

All of the glasses used and indeed, any in my Etsy shop, can be personalised to make a special gift for Father's Day.