Lilikoi is Hawaii's name for passion fruit. Stir the pulp into lemonade and the drink turns tarter, more aromatic, and floral in a way plain lemonade never gets. That's lilikoi lemonade — the drink to order whenever it shows up on a farm-stand menu or a shave ice window, and an easy one to make at home when the season is good.
The vine is a South American import that reached Hawaii generations ago and settled in like it belonged here — the name lilikoi comes from the Līlīkoʻi area of East Maui, where early plantings took hold. Wild lilikoi now drapes fences and trees across the islands, and anyone with a mature backyard vine has more fruit than they know what to do with in season. Look for wrinkled, ugly-looking shells — that's when the pulp is sweetest. If fresh isn't an option, frozen purée gets you most of the way there, which is how mainland versions of this recipe get made.
At a glance
2 quarts (8 glasses)
15 minutes
5 minutes (syrup)
Easy
Ingredients
For the lemonade
- 6 to 8 ripe lilikoi (about 2/3 cup pulp), or 2/3 cup thawed frozen passion fruit pulp
- 1 cup fresh lemon juice (5 to 6 lemons)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3/4 cup water (for the syrup)
- 5 cups cold water
Equipment
- Small saucepan
- Fine strainer
- 2-quart pitcher
To serve
- Tall glasses with plenty of ice
- A spoonful of seedy pulp on top of each glass
Method
- Make a quick syrup. Heat the sugar with 3/4 cup water in a small saucepan, stirring until dissolved. Set aside to cool. Dissolving the sugar first keeps the finished lemonade from tasting gritty-sweet at the bottom.
- Get the lilikoi pulp. Halve the fruits and scoop everything (pulp, seeds, juice) into a bowl. Spoon out a couple of tablespoons of that raw pulp and set it aside for garnish. Then pour the rest into a strainer over a second bowl and press with a spatula until only the black seeds are left. The seeds are edible and look great in the glass.
- Mix and balance. In the pitcher, combine the strained lilikoi juice, lemon juice, syrup, and cold water. Stir and taste. Lilikoi varies a lot in tartness. Adjust with more water if it's too intense, or a little more syrup if it's too puckery. It should stay assertively tart. That's the style.
- Chill and serve. Refrigerate until cold, pour over ice, and float a spoonful of the reserved seedy pulp on each glass. Best within a few days; stir before pouring.
Notes from a local cook
Ugly fruit, great drink. A smooth, pretty lilikoi isn't ripe. Wait until the shell wrinkles like a deflating balloon. That's peak sweetness and aroma, and ripe fruit also yields noticeably more juice.
Don't strain out all the seeds. The pulp-with-seeds garnish isn't just for looks. The seeds add a mild crunch and a burst of fresh pulp that reminds you this came from actual fruit, not a syrup bottle.
Two upgrades worth knowing. Sparkling water instead of still turns this into a lilikoi soda. A shot of the finished lemonade poured into iced black tea makes a passion-tea-lemonade that beats anything a mainland chain sells.
Where to try the real thing
Farm stands are the natural habitat. On Maui, roadside fruit stands along the Hana Highway sometimes squeeze lilikoi to order. On Oahu, North Shore fruit stands and the KCC Farmers' Market are good hunting grounds. Farmers markets across the islands are worth a look during peak season. When lilikoi appears on a restaurant drink menu in Hawaii, order it and judge the kitchen by the result — real pulp is unmistakable. See our guides to Hawaii's best smoothie and juice spots and what to eat in Hawaii.
