Tropical Papaya Jalapeño Refresher + HP Sprout

This post was sponsored by HP Sprout and Collectively, but as always, all opinions are 100% my own!

Guys, it’s like tropical here. Seriously. Today is going to be 46 degrees (allegedly) and Wednesday, it’s going to hit 54 (allegedly). Could it be that spring is in the air? I mean, I’m totally ignoring the two snowflakes that are showing up on my weather app for next Saturday and Sunday because they deserve to be ignored. Let’s just talk about the serious snow melting that’s going to be happening here.  I don’t think I’ve ever looked forward to slush so much in my life (well, aside from blue vanilla and/or root beer Richie’s Slush, but that’s a whole other thing all together).

So, what made me buy a papaya at the grocery store? Well, I saw that papayas were on sale in the week’s circular. Yes, I read the circular for my local grocery store because I like to know what’s on sale and sometimes it inspires my meal planning for the week. No, I’m not 80 years old. I’ve never bought a papaya before, but I figured it would make for a glorious cocktail that would help celebrate the end of winter or perhaps somehow forcibly push winter out of New England.

I decided to spend a little time playing around with my brand new HP Sprout while I was whipping up the cocktail. Have you seen the Sprout yet? Collectively and HP recently sent me this amazing new computer and I’ve been having a blast getting all creative with it. What is Sprout? It’s a fully functioning PC that is also a “creativity station.” It can scan 3D images, which is what I did here. I cut my papaya in half, placed it on the touch mat, and had the sprout photograph and scan it.

That isn’t the actual papaya on the mat… It’s a photo of it! Pretty awesome, right? I can’t get over how cool it looks.

I actually took my whole ingredient photo on the Sprout. All of the ingredients below were scanned in. Also, I haven’t written in cursive in a really long time and clearly need to practice (just kidding, I was never good at cursive… my penmanship was always brought up at parent-teacher conferences).

The one thing the Sprout can’t do is actually make the cocktail (imagine??? Some day!), so I did that part myself.

I made the simple syrup first since it needs time to cool. If you’re smart, you’ll always keep a little jar of jalapeño simple syrup in your fridge because it works perfectly in pretty much any cocktail you can imagine.

To make, in a medium saucepan, combine 1 C sugar, 1 C water, and10 slices jalapeño. Bring to a boil over high heat and then lower heat to simmer. Let simmer for about 5-7 minutes. Strain the mixture into a bowl or jar. If you want extra spiciness, you can leave the jalapeño slices in the jar to marinate some more. Let the simple syrup cool completely.

I halved, peeled, and seeded the papaya and then chopped it up one half.

And then I threw them in the blender with 1 ½ oz. freshly squeezed lime juice, ½ C coconut water, 2 oz. jalapeño simple syrup, and 4 oz. tequila. Blend away!!

I poured the cocktail into two ice filled glasses and garnished with a little lime zest and an extra jalapeño slice.

It’s a legit tropical vacation. Considering it was light out until 6:30, I’m considering it practically summer up in here. Until I look out the window and see the serious mountains of snow that don’t look like they’re going anywhere soon. Take another sip and think 54 degrees. 54 degrees. Does that mean I can ditch the snow boots and leggings under jeans?

In all seriousness, this cocktail did help me feel a little bit more spring-like. And that certainly won’t be the last papaya I purchase. I love its buttery tropical taste, which made for an ultra smooth, slightly thick cocktail. Hooray for the jalapeño simple syrup being the prefect complement to the fruitiness. I can definitely see myself sipping on this while sitting on my deck in the sun. Remember those days?? Kind of?? Maybe...

Did you know that Christopher Columbus called papayas the “fruit of the angels”? I totally get why. It’s a not very attractive green fruit that has such a stunning shade of flesh inside. But i bet Columbus never had a Tropical Papaya Jalapeño Refresher. Poor guy.

I took a photo of my final cocktail on my Sprout and am loving how realistic it ended up looking. I have a couple other fun projects with the HP Sprout I’ll be showing you soon!

Have you prepared papaya at home before? What did you make?

📖 Recipe

Full disclosure: This post was sponsored by HP Sprout and Collectively, but as always, all opinions are 100% my own!