Passion Fruit Habanero Cocktail

As much as I might like to consider myself original at times, those who know me well find me fairly predictable. You know I’m going to choose a Beyonce song for the lip sync battle. You know I’m getting Amy Schumer tickets as soon as I hear she’s coming to town. And you know darn well that I’m ordering anything on any menu involving passion fruit. As it turns out, I also adore spicy cocktails, so when I came across this one which mixes passion fruit puree and habanero infused tequila, I was obviously all over it.

There is just something so different about the tart-sweet flavor of passion fruit that I find irresistible, and it shines beautifully here. This drink has a gorgeous balance of sweet and heat. I found that the heat of the tequila seemed to grow over time – it was on the mild side when I made a cocktail just after finishing the infusing process, but the one I made the following day had much more of a kick. I would recommend infusing the tequila at least a day before using it if possible to make sure it has a good amount of heat. But no worries if you just can’t possibly wait that long. I certainly wouldn’t blame you!

Yield 2 servings

Ingredients

For the tequila:

1½ cups tequila, preferably blanco
3 habanero chiles, halved lengthwise

For the drink:

3 oz. habanero infused tequila
2 oz. freshly squeezed orange juice
2 oz. freshly squeezed lime juice
2 oz. simple syrup
1 oz. passion fruit puree
Lime wedges

Directions

01
Combine the tequila and chiles in a glass bowl or jar. Let sit for 1 hour. Strain through a fine mesh sieve, transfer to a jar and close tightly until ready to use.
02
Coat the rim of two glasses with coarse salt and fill with ice. In a cocktail shaker with ice, combine the tequila, orange juice, lime juice, simple syrup and passion fruit puree. Shake vigorously, then strain into the prepared glasses. Serve with fresh lime wedges.

Source

slightly adapted from Tacolicious