Always inventing and trying new things, sometime back in the 1990s in hot sweaty central Queensland I needed a refreshing drink and checked the grog offerings to see what I could concoct.

To hand were bottles of Blue Curacao and Vodka (Gin can be a substitute). Nearby, a Sodastream device offered sparkling water in an instant. In my fruit bowl rested a bauble of wrinkling passionfruit.

Combining these ingredients led me to create a tasty not-too-sweet drink which was fun (yes I had a couple at the time) and appeared immensely appealing. When the drink is stirred, the passionfruit seeds in their yellow flesh, race around and seem like fish swimming in beautiful tropical waters.

Today, in my fruit bowl sat the last of my home grown passion fruits and I felt it would be a tragedy to waste it on normal eating.

My recipe for the Tropical Swimming Fish drink is inexact: a splash of Blue Curacao to cover the bottom of the glass and a bit more. The equivalent amount of Vodka before filling the glass with soda water (I no longer own a Sodastream).

Cut open the passion fruit and scoop out the fruit – if a large fruit that will be sufficient for two drinks. Today I emptied all the seeds from one passionfruit into my drink.

See the ‘fish’ swim here. In wintery Hobart this was a perfect tonic. Now that we have passed the winter solstice, summer is on the way!