This purple rain cocktail is the perfect tropical holiday drink. We make ours with vodka, passionfruit juice, grenadine, lemonade, and blue Curacao. The combination makes a dark purple color and a distinct tropical flavor that's perfect for fun summer gatherings.

My first experience with a purple rain cocktail was alongside some Scottish friends on a very drunken night of our honeymoon. It was sweet and tropical and went down so easily and made me feel so refreshed that I didn't even notice my full-body sunburn. This is our attempt at a re-creation, and boy, is it good.
Serve this purple rain cocktail with our strawberry and halloumi skewers, grilled margarita chicken, air fryer tequila lime shrimp, or corn and bean salsa.
Looking for a mocktail? Try our coconut water mocktail or virgin mango strawberry margarita.
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Key Ingredients and Substitutions
- Vodka- If you don't care for vodka you can substitute rum--it's a very tasty alternative!
- Passionfruit juice- This is usually in the refrigerated section, near the orange juice. If you can't find passionfruit juice, pineapple juice is a good alternative in this drink.
- Grenadine
- Lemonade- Use whatever bottled lemonade is your favorite. You could also make your own. We like diet Simply Lemonade.
- Blue Curacao Liqueur- You want the kind that has alcohol in it, not the non-alcoholic syrup.
See recipe card for amounts.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Add vodka, passionfruit juice, grenadine, lemonade, and blue Curacao to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake thoroughly to combine.

Step 2: Use a cocktail strainer to pour the mixture into a glass, garnish with a lime, and serve! This recipe makes about 4 cocktails, depending on what kind of glass you use. We like using coupe glasses, but this drink also works well in highball glasses or martini glasses.
Frequently asked questions
To make this ahead of time, combine the passionfruit juice, lemonade, and grenadine and store in a jar or other covered container in the refrigerator for up to 2 days. Add the vodka and blue Curacao and shake over ice when you're ready to serve.
You can serve this in just about any type of glass you choose. Highball glasses, lowball glasses, martini glasses, and coupe glasses are all good options.
We use sugar in the raw for this sugar rim. To dye it purple, add purple food coloring to a bowl with a few drops of water and stir to combine. Then add the sugar to the bowl and mix until the sugar turns purple. To coat the rim of the glass, dip the rim of the glass in water, then in the sugar until it sticks all the way around.
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