The sharpest drink in the family
Most dragon fruit drinks are built around softening and sweetening. This one goes the other way. Pineapple and lemon are both aggressively acidic, and dragon fruit's job here is to absorb some of that sharpness, add body and turn the whole thing a colour that pineapple alone could never produce. The result is a properly tart lemonade rather than a mild refresher — a drink for genuinely hot weather.
It is also the dragon fruit drink that needs the least added sugar, because ripe pineapple carries so much of its own.
Ingredients
Makes a jug, roughly four glasses.
- 1 cup dragon fruit flesh, red-fleshed if you can get it
- 1 1/2 cups fresh pineapple chunks, or unsweetened pineapple juice
- 1/2 cup fresh lemon juice (about 3 lemons)
- 3 cups cold water, or sparkling water
- 3 to 4 tablespoons sugar, honey or agave, to taste
- Ice, plus mint and lemon slices to serve
Method
- Blend the dragon fruit and pineapple with one cup of the water until completely smooth.
- Strain through a fine sieve into a jug, pressing the pulp with the back of a spoon. Straining is worth doing here — pineapple fibre is tough and unpleasant in a drink meant to be thin.
- Stir in the lemon juice, the remaining water and the sweetener.
- Taste and adjust. It should make you blink slightly. If it does not, add more lemon.
- Chill for at least an hour, then serve over plenty of ice with mint and lemon slices.
A note on fresh pineapple
Fresh pineapple contains bromelain, an enzyme that breaks down protein. This has no effect on a lemonade, but it is why fresh pineapple ruins dairy-based drinks and gelatine desserts — it will turn milk bitter and stop jelly setting. If you want to add a creamy element to this drink, use tinned or briefly cooked pineapple, where the heat has deactivated the enzyme. It is also why fresh pineapple can make your tongue tingle if you eat a lot of it.
Balancing it
This drink lives or dies on the balance between three things, and it helps to adjust them in order:
- Acid first. Lemon and pineapple both supply it. Get the tartness where you want it before touching the sugar.
- Sweetness second. Add syrup a tablespoon at a time. Sugar dissolves poorly in cold liquid, so use a liquid sweetener or make a simple syrup by dissolving equal parts sugar and hot water first.
- Dilution last. If the flavour is right but too intense, add water. If it is right but too weak, you cannot un-dilute it — which is why you hold water back rather than adding it all at the start.
Variations
- Sparkling: make the base at double strength and top each glass with soda water. Never blend carbonated water — it goes flat instantly.
- Frozen: blend the whole thing with two cups of ice for a slush.
- Herbal: muddle mint or basil in the glass before pouring. Basil with pineapple is better than it sounds.
- Chilli and lime: swap the lemon for lime and add a pinch of chilli powder and salt to the rim, in the style of a Mexican agua fresca.
- Ginger: blend a thumb of fresh ginger with the fruit for heat and bite.
Serving and keeping
Made ahead, this holds up better than most dragon fruit drinks because the high acidity slows the pigment degradation that turns other versions brown. It will keep a good colour and flavour in the fridge for two days in a sealed jug. Stir before pouring — separation is normal.
If you are making it for a crowd, freeze some of the base in ice cube trays and use those cubes instead of plain ice. The drink then gets stronger as it sits rather than weaker, which solves the usual problem with a jug of anything at a summer party.