Citrusy cocktails are awesome—lime, lemon, orange, and grapefruit—but nothing is more exciting (to me) than finding cocktail uses for the seemingly exotic fruits that show up for only a few weeks or months out of the year. One of those is the passion fruit—or passionfruit, if you prefer. (In the dictionary, it’s two words, but it’s a fruit of the “passionflower,” so you’ll see it used both ways.) 

The sweet-and-sour passion fruit is unique and, most importantly, delicious in cocktails! As you’ll find it in stores, it’s about the size of a tennis ball and has a plum-like speckled but hard, shell-like outer skin. It’s at the right level of ripeness when its skin is just a little bit wrinkled. Any sooner and it will be a little too bitter; any later (i.e., when it starts to look way pruny), and the pulp won’t be as juicy as you’d like it for a cocktail.

You’ll need a good, sharp knife to pierce that skin and cut the fruit in half; a serrated blade will help. Then you’ll scoop the juicy pulp and seeds out with a spoon, leaving behind the loose, white pith. Don’t be afraid of those seeds, as they’re quite edible—just a nice crunch to them—and you’ll strain them out of your cocktail in any case. For a closer look at passion fruit and how to enjoy it, click here. 

For this Martini I favor a good Navy-strength (114 proof) gin like Sipsmith VJOP, and my choice of apricot brandy liqueur is always Giffard’s excellent Abricot du Roussillon. The orange juice, as always in a cocktail, should be freshly squeezed. 

PARADISE PASSION MARTINI
2 oz Navy strength gin
¾ oz Apricot Brandy Liqueur (Giffard Abricot du Roussillon)
¾ oz Orange juice (freshly squeezed)
1 Fresh, ripe passion fruit

Rinse, dry, and cut the passion fruit in half, then scoop the seeds and flesh into the base of a shaker. Add the other ingredients and plenty of ice, then shake for 20-25 seconds and strain the mix into a chilled coupe or Martini glass. Garnish with a strip of orange peel. 

About straining this cocktail: Between ice and the seeds, this mix tends to clog the built-in strainer of garden-variety cobbler shakers, so it’s best to remove the shaker lid and use a Hawthorne or Julep strainer to pour the drink out of the shaker. Then, still pour it through a small, fine-mesh kitchen strainer to catch any seeds that escape.