How to Make a Lapu Lapu

The Lapu Lapu is a classic tiki cocktail that we’ve always really enjoyed. The original had two types of rum – usually a light and a dark – and a blend of lemon, orange and passion fruit juices. The three juices are a fantastic combination, largely because the lemon and orange seem to compliment the floral notes of the passion fruit well. When we saw that a Lapu Lapy Challenge (#lapulapuchallenge) was started up on Instagram, we wanted to join in and play around with the cocktail a bit. This version is one of our favorites because it brings in a little additional passion fruit flavor while keeping the refreshing acidity of the drink (i.e. It isn’t too sweet). We used passion fruit purée and enhanced it with a passion fruit syrup, which takes the place of simple syrup in the drink. The resulting cocktail is sweet, but refreshing, and you can clearly taste all three kinda of citrus. Bad orange juice can ruin the drink, so be sure to use freshly squeezed.

There is so much flavor in this drink that the rums can get lost. We use two parts dark or aged rum to one part white rum. We recommend not going too dark, or you’ll muddle the citrus. An aged rum like Appleton 15, or El Dorado 8 is lovely, but we used Plantation Dark this time around and paired it with white, aged Angostura rum.

Lapu Lapu
2 oz dark or aged rum (recommend Plantation Dark)
1 oz light rum
2 oz lemon juice, freshly squeezed
3 oz orange juice, freshly squeezed
1 ounce passion fruit puree
1 1/4 oz passion fruit syrup (such as Monin)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker, fill with ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a hurricane glass or tiki mug filled with crushed ice. Garnish with an orange wedge or orange peel