Great Funking Purees

[RobertBurr]

I've been playing around with a few of these Funkin (http://www.funkin.us) purees, specifically the passionfruit, mango, white peach and raspberry. They come in small pounches with re-closable pop-top openings that make it very easy to pour and measure these lively fruity purees.

I started by mixing a bit of the passionfruit and mango purees with some orange juice and Charbay white rum. The purees are thick and flavorful compared to the orange juice. The drink is so richly tropical, I think it needs a splash of soda, which I don't have on hand. A handful of ice chills the drink and as it melts, dilutes the flavors a bit.

Second cocktail was a combination of the raspberry puree with some aзai and pomegranate juice. Again, very strong flavors of tropical berries. There's a good shot of rum hiding in there, barely detectable. Lots of ice... again, as it melts, the drink dilutes nicely.

Here in South Florida, we are lucky to have an incredible plethora of exotic fruits growing at local farms. Mangoes, passionfruit, anon (sugar apple), atemoya, guanabana (soursop), carambola (star fruit), kumquat, key lime, Persian lime, Myer lemon, Temple orange, tangerine, grapefruit, longan, lychee, mamey, monstera, papaya, passion fruit, sapodilla, black sapote, strawberries, blueberries, huckleberries, sugar cane, tamarind and water coconut are relatively easy to find, depending on the season.

Folks in less tropical climates might have a hard time finding such delicious ingredients, or at least a hard time preparing them to use in drinks. These Funkin (http://www.funkin.us) purees make it so simple to open and pour tropical wonders from a space-age little pouch.

http://giftedrums.com/JPEG/FunkinPeach240.jpg

I look forward to doing more copious testing (including champagne combinations) with these new delights and I'll leave a few notes here along the way...

[Tiare]

Please do, i`m interested as i´m planning to get a few of these myself starting with the passionfruit puree.
I want something that has the taste of FRESH fruits and berries, at least as close to as possible.
There is a new cordial in this shop here, called Thorncroft pink ginger cordial.
Anyone tried it?

Anyway, what is a pink ginger? thought a ginger was a ginger..

[Tiare]

Any tips fpr some nice drinks with Guanabana juice? it reminds me a bit of Guava juice..

[mammel]

Here is another product that looks great, yet is not available in Canada.

These things dissappoint me!

[Paulipbartender]

But you can watch my business partner making drinks with the Funkin range from their website, which was shot in our office.

http://www.funkin.eu/video.asp

My favourite is the 'Jamaican me crazy' using Appleton - for the name alone :)

[Tiare]

Nice link Paul!:)

I like the ingredients in Raspberry Mule..

[RumBarPhilly]

Any tips fpr some nice drinks with Guanabana juice? it reminds me a bit of Guava juice..

We use guanabana juice in our rum punch. Other incredients include Passion fruit juice, bitters, and grenadine (for color). We use a white and gold rum in the punch.

[Tiare]

Will try that Adam, i got the Guanabana i the fridge right now, + the rest.
This evenings cocktail? :p

[RumBarPhilly]

I forgot, we also put 25mL of Navan in the punch (Vanilla Cordial made by Grand Marnier)

[Tiare]

Don`t have that, any good substitutes?

[RumBarPhilly]

youre the queen of vanilla, im sure youve got something, just be subtle.

[mammel]

Don`t have that, any good substitutes?

giver a shot of vanilla schnapps or perhaps Whalers vanilla rum

[RobertBurr]

Any tips fpr some nice drinks with Guanabana juice? it reminds me a bit of Guava juice..

Guavas have a very special place in my heart. The intoxicating aroma of guava juice boiling with sugar in a large pot on the stove meant grandmother (Geneva) was making guava jelly. It was a delicacy that all our relatives would fight over. Using a wooden spoon, she would test the boiling liquid by lifting a spoonful up and turning it to drip. When the third drop of tacky liquid hung to the spoon and refused to drop, she's turn off the fire quickly and cool the liquid treasure down to be stored into ball jars. Home-made guava jelly is pure bliss...

Also, we had a guava orchard nearby and as kids would take the very ripe, soft, squishy, sweet, sticky fruit and throw them at each other like snowballs. To be hit in the upper body or head with a soft, ripe guava was like getting hit with a tomato -- yucky messy goo.

Guanabana, on the other hard, to me is a very subtle, tropical, thick component in some of the nest milkshakes I've ever had. The Cubans add too much sugar to their batidos, but it's a wonderful flavor.

[RumBarPhilly]

Stroll down memory lane...

Wish I had stories like that, for me it was...
"Every April, I could always tell it was Passover, as I couldnt get enough of the whiff of gefilte fish..."

[The Scribe]

Oh gefilte fish (pisces efercius, taxonomically)....Perhaps one of the finest dishes known to man. Considering I only know two people who can produce an edible product, apparently one of the hardest to cook as well.

[RumBarPhilly]

So... what the heck's up with the gelatin?

[Tiare]

Whenever a Guava is seen in any supermarket here its sealed in plastic and cost$$$..:eek:i have had one only occasionally just to try..:(

And by the way..what is gefilte fish?

[Paulipbartender]

Stroll down memory lane...

Wish I had stories like that, for me it was...
"Every April, I could always tell it was Passover, as I couldnt get enough of the whiff of gefilte fish..."

And my stories go "and we all looked forward to mama completing dinner - and, even now when I hear a microwave 'ping'..."

[pcguy]

Whenever a Guava is seen in any supermarket here its sealed in plastic and cost$$$..:eek:i have had one only occasionally just to try..:(

And by the way..what is gefilte fish?

gava paste is ubiquitous here in the US, every grocery store has it in the latin food aisle. Perhaps a specialty retailer may have it where you live? it comes in a round flat tin.

[Tiare]

How does the Guava paste tastes like compared to fresh Guava puree?

[pcguy]

How does the Guava paste tastes like compared to fresh Guava puree?

it's a more intense fruit flavor, but it also is quite a lot sweeter. You may have to account for that in making your drinks.

[pcguy]

Here we also have a product line called "Goya" which carries an extensive line of fruit nectars, juices, pastes etc.. They have guava nectar in a nice, 6 ounce can. They also produce guayabana nectar, tamarindo etc...

Here is the beverage portion of their product line..

http://www.goya.com/english/products/product_category.html?id=5

[Tiare]

I reconize that brand but haven`t yet seen it here..
But maybe also Funkin has Guava puree, have to check that..