cocktail
Backyard Sunset
I ran out of vanilla vodka and lemon juice so couldn’t make myself a Rosebud. What I came up with instead is a pretty good substitute. It reminds me of a Golden Margarita but without the tequila taste.
Backyard Sunset
- 30ml 42 Below feijoa vodka
- 15ml cranberry juice
- 60ml pineapple juice
- 10ml passionfruit concentrate
- 10ml lime juice
- ice
Fill shaker with ice and pour in all ingredients. Shake then strain into a margarita or martini glass.
Feijoas and passionfruit – two types of fruit that are ever-present in Kiwi backyards. What better way to enjoy their flavours than in a cooling cocktail.

Backyard Sunset
Rosebud – My Way
After having Rosebuds at Chow, I just had to know how to make one.
The last time we went, we made sure to watch the bartender closely to see what and how much he put into it. Chow provides a list of ingredients on their online cocktail menu so that was a good start.
After close observation and a couple of attempts, I’ve come up with the following recipe. The ingredients online say ‘passionfruit’, which is probably passionfruit juice or drink of some sort. I’ve opted for passionfruit concentrate because that’s what we have in the fridge. Being so, I’ve had to increase the other juices to make up the volume that the concentrate lacks.
The concentrate has seeds but you can just strain those when pouring.

Rosebud cocktail
Rosebud (my way)
- 30ml Absolute Vanilla Vodka
- 45ml cranberry juice
- 45ml pineapple juice
- 15ml passionfruit concentrate
- 5ml lemon juice
- ice
Put everything into a shaker. Shake really well and strain into a champagne flute. It’s prettier if some froth sits on top so add some from the shaker if it’s all just sitting there.
Not exactly the same as Chow’s but still delicious and very easy to drink – so be careful!
Update: Please see Kula’s comment below for the ‘real’ version. Cheers!
Jack Frooze
I was wanting a lychee daquiri but couldn’t find any tins of lychees in my pantry. Instead, there was a tin of jack fruit, and I decided to conjure up a cocktail with that instead. The results were quite pleasant.
If you haven’t had jack fruit before, I guess the taste could be described as a cross between mango and pawpaw. Jack fruit is not as strong or sweet in flavour as those, but does have a refreshing taste and beautiful fragrance.
A guy I work with says in India there are a couple of varieties, one of which they use unripe in curries as the ripe fruit is no good for eating. I haven’t had fresh jack fruit but the tinned stuff is pretty good.
The recipe is for two frozen cocktails.
Jack Frooze
- 2 scoops of ice (up to the level of about 3 cups in the blender jug)
- 4 pieces of tinned jack fruit
- 60ml Absolute vanilla vodka
- 60 ml of syrup from the tin
- 45 ml passionfruit syrup
- juice of half a lemon
Put all ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth. Pour into pina colada glasses (or other 250ml cocktail glass).
Enjoy!

Jack Frooze
Stuff I Luff
- Buses arriving just after you get to the bus stop – hurray!
- The impending summer – I’m sure it’s just around the corner, behind those clouds and following the winds…
- Cocktails on a school night especially the two for one deals
- Getting tipsy and having an hilarious time with your friends
- Midland Sushi aka “Crack Sushi” because you always want more, oh yeah :D And now that there’s one in Chews Lane, we have two choices of places to go.
- Polka-dots on clothes, underwear and now kitchenware!
- Bassett’s Licorice Allsorts – they may be the best allsorts ever. And to think we only saw them at Heathrow on the way out of the UK. If anyone wants to send me some as a gift I promise to give them a good home.

Bassetts Licorice Allsorts
