Sweet and tart, light and refreshing, this passion fruit mojito is a breeze to make and will instantly transport you to warm sand beaches and cool waters. Muddled with classic flavors of mint and lime and finished with fragrant passion fruit pulp, you'll be craving this tropical drink all season long!
Passion Fruit Mojito
We are taking the classic flavors of a mojito and adding more of a tropical spin to the refreshing cocktail. This mojito starts with the common ingredients of mint, lime and light rum with fresh passion fruit pulp added.
The aromas and flavors are intoxicating and will instantly transport you at the first sip.
If you can't find fresh passion fruit, 2 ounces of passion fruit juice can be added to the mojito.
A Little About Passion Fruit
Growing up in Hawaii, I was lucky enough to be surrounded by passion fruit. The smell is intoxicating and there is nothing like it! Passion fruit in Hawaiian is called "Lilikoi", pronounced like "li-lee-koy".
I've had fun creating recipes with passion fruit, such as my passion fruit bars and passion fruit margarita.
What is Passion Fruit?
If you're not familiar, passion fruit is a round tropical fruit coming from the passion flower. The exterior is hard but is easy to cut into with a knife and when you pick it up, will feel very light in weight.
Once you cut into the passion fruit, it looks hollow on the inside with deep yellow pulp and black seeds and is easy to scoop out with a spoon.
In Hawaii, passion fruit is yellow on the outside and purple in other tropical areas.
What does Passion Fruit Taste Like?
Passion fruit is very aromatic with a slightly sweet and tart flavor. There really isn't much else to compare it to as the flavor is very unique.
You can enjoy passion fruit on it's own, but can be a bit sour for some tastes and works well by adding a little sweetness to it.
The entire inside of the fruit edible, pulp and seeds. But sometimes I prefer a smooth consistency and will remove the seeds.
Ingredients
- Fresh Mint Leaves
- Lime Wedges
- Simple Syrup: You can make this at home by simmering equal parts sugar and water. Bring to a simmer until the sugar dissolves and syrup slightly thickens. Then pour into a glass mason jar to cool and use in cocktails or mocktails.
- Passion Fruit Pulp or Juice: Fresh passion fruit pulp will be more tart than the store bought pulp or juice.
- Light Rum
- Sparkling Water
How to Make Passion Fruit Puree or Juice
When making recipes that use a good amount of passion fruit, making passion fruit juice or puree is ideal because 1 passion fruit does not yield much liquid.
You can buy passion fruit juice frozen or in cartons at international and Latin stores. The Goya brand makes frozen passion fruit puree that I've used a few times and does very well in baking recipes and drinks.
- Cut passion fruit in half and use a spoon to scoop out the pulp and seeds.
- Place pulp in a small food processor or blend and pulse a few times to loosen up pulp.
- Strain the passion fruit pulp through a fine mesh sieve, separating the seeds and keeping the juice.
- From here, you can freeze the juice in a resealable freezer bag or keep in a jar in the fridge for up to a week.
Make it a Mocktail
To make the passion fruit mojito into a mocktail, omit the light rum and add 2 ounces of fresh orange juice, guava juice or pineapple juice.
Passion Fruit Mojito
Equipment
- Bar Spoon
- Muddler
Ingredients
- 6-8 Fresh mint leaves + more for garnish
- ½ lime cut into small wedges
- ¾ ounce simple syrup
- Pulp from 1 passion fruit
- 2 ounces light rum
- Ice
- Sparkling Water
Instructions
- In a tall glass, add mint leaves and ¼ of the lime wedges and muddle to release the lime juice and herb aromas.
- Add simple syrup, half of the passion fruit pulp, rum and ice and give everything a good stir.
- Top with sparkling water and garnish with more fresh mint, lime and the other half of passion fruit pulp.
