Passion Fruit Mezcal Sour

Before you start

Passion fruit is intensely tart, floral and tropical, and it stands up to the smoke and roasted agave of mezcal better than most fruits. This original sour pairs the two with lime and agave syrup, and an egg white turns the shaken drink into a silky, foamy cocktail with a golden-orange glow beneath a pale cap.

The pulp needs a little work: scoop it from wrinkled, heavy fruit and press it through a strainer to separate the black seeds, which crunch and grind against your teeth. Because passion fruit adds both acid and body, the lime is lower than in a standard sour. Use pasteurized egg white for safety, and dry shake first to build foam before chilling.

Ingredients

• 2 ripe passion fruits — wrinkled and heavy, to yield about 30 ml strained pulp
• 45 ml (1½ oz) mezcal — an espadín is a good, balanced choice
• 15 ml (½ oz) fresh lime juice
• 20 ml (⅔ oz) agave syrup — agave nectar diluted 1:1 with warm water
• 30 ml (1 oz) pasteurized egg white — about 1 large white
• 1 cup (about 150 g) ice cubes — for shaking
• ½ passion fruit shell or a few seeds — optional garnish

Method

1. Halve the passion fruits and scoop the pulp into a fine strainer set over a small bowl. Press and stir with the back of a spoon until you have about 30 ml of juice and the seeds look mostly bare.
2. Add the passion fruit juice, mezcal, lime juice, agave syrup and egg white to the shaker tin.
3. Seal it without ice and dry shake vigorously for 15 seconds, until the mixture sounds less sloshy and looks foamy.
4. Open the shaker, fill it with ice, seal and shake hard again for 12 seconds until the tin is frosty.
5. Double-strain into the chilled coupe, or over a large cube in a rocks glass. Let the foam settle for a few seconds.
6. Float half an empty passion fruit shell on top or scatter a few seeds over the foam, and serve.

Tips for success

• Ripe passion fruit has deeply wrinkled skin. Smooth fruit is underripe and very sour; leave it on the counter for a few days.
• Frozen unsweetened passion fruit puree is a reliable stand-in and saves straining. Thaw it fully before measuring.
• Some cooks reverse the shake: shake with ice first, strain, discard ice and dry shake again. It can give an even thicker foam.

Substitutions

Egg white

30 ml aquafaba gives a vegan foam that is a little lighter. Or skip foam entirely and serve over ice as a straightforward sour.

Mezcal

Blanco tequila makes a cleaner, brighter drink without smoke. A split of 30 ml tequila and 15 ml mezcal keeps a hint of smoke.

Agave syrup

Simple syrup works at the same measure. Honey syrup adds a floral note that suits passion fruit.

Variations

Passion fruit mezcal highball

Skip the egg white. Shake the rest with ice, strain into a tall glass over ice and top with 60 ml soda water.

Troubleshooting

It is too sour to drink

Passion fruit varies hugely in acidity. Add agave syrup 5 ml at a time, and next time drop the lime to 10 ml.

The smoke overwhelms the fruit

Your mezcal is a heavily smoky style. Use a split base with tequila, or increase the passion fruit to 40 ml.

There is no foam

The dry shake was skipped or too gentle, or the egg white was old. Shake longer and use fresh pasteurized white.

Storage

Serve as soon as it is shaken; the foam deflates within minutes. Strained passion fruit pulp keeps refrigerated for 2 to 3 days, or frozen in ice cube trays for a few months. Keep pasteurized egg whites refrigerated.

Safety notes

Contains 45 ml of mezcal at roughly 45% ABV, about 1.1 U.S. standard drinks (one standard drink is about 14 g of pure alcohol). Use pasteurized egg white, as FDA advises for drinks with raw egg. For adults of legal drinking age only; never drink and drive.