Passion Fruit Mojitos

Passion fruit is in season right now, and I have been LOVING these passion fruit mojitos. I mentioned them in a post last week, and I ended up making them again this morning (...without the rum!).

These virgin passion fruit mojitos are tart, sweet, and fizzy — the perfect drink for a hot day like today
(and yesterday...and the day before...Dear SoCal, can it PLEASE be Fall now?)

Passion fruit is really ugly on the outside. They are wrinkly and sort of dusty looking.

They feel exceptionally light compared to their size. When opened, the passion fruit's vibrant, pulp-covered seeds are exposed, releasing an intoxicating fragrance.

To get enough passion fruit juice, I scooped the pulp out of 5 passion fruit and pressed them through a fine mesh strainer.

Not the most visually appealing fruit...sort of like baby tadpoles suspended in egg yolk. YUM!

I wound up with about 4 Tablespoons of passion fruit juice when I was done. 

Next, in a large jar, I muddled together 10 mint leaves and 3 Tablespoons of sugar.

I shook this sugar-mint mixture together with the 4 Tablespoons of passion fruit juice (it's very strong), the juice from one lime, 6 ounces of club soda, and 6 ice cubes. To make an alcoholic passion fruit mojito, this is where you would add 4 ounces of light rum. 

Strain the shaken passion fruit mixture into two glasses. Top each off with 4 more ounces of club soda.

Nate made the genius mistake of putting his in the "fridge" while he did dishes this morning. Except he actually absentmindedly put it in the freezer...two hours later I opened the freezer and found a virgin passion fruit mojito SLUSHY. I can hardly think about it without weeping, it was THAT good! So, if you get the chance to make this, I highly recommend trying it frozen.

Passion Fruit Mojito Recipe

Ingredients:

4T passion fruit juice (from about 5 passion fruit*)

Juice of one lime

10 mint leaves

14 oz club soda

3T sugar

4 oz White Rum (Optional)

In a large jar or cocktail shaker, muddle sugar and mint. Add lime juice, passion fruit juice, 6oz club soda, ice, and rum (if using); shake until sugar is dissolved. Strain into two glasses and top with remaining club soda. For an added treat, freeze the drinks, stirring occasionally, until you get a slushy. 

*To make passion fruit juice: Scoop pulp from 5 passion fruit. Press pulp through a fine mesh strainer to release the juices.