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# The Imbiber: Malibu's new Passion Fruit rum arrives on tax day
- URL: https://www.smdp.com/the-imbiber-20050415/
- Published: 2005-04-15T15:00:00.000Z
- Updated: 2026-10-24T23:53:43.000Z
- Author: Dan Dunn
- Tags: Opinion, Malibu, #archive-import

Well, we’ve reached that time of year when you first realize that you’re moving right past “Roll down the windows, winter’s over,” to “Where’s the air conditioning button again?” So of course you know that sand and sun are not far away.

If you’re the Imbiber — and, come to think of it, I AM — the very next thought is about beach drinks. OK, perhaps not the VERY next thought, but pretty close. I also happen to have an impending IRS audit on the brain, but my tax attorney has advised me not to speak openly about such things. But I can dish on rum, and fortunately the good folks at Malibu provided me with a tax-day twist by introducing “Passion Fruit” ($13.99 a bottle) as their latest flavor on April 15 … the one day many of us could use a drink.

Now that the flavored-vodka craze has (thankfully) died down a bit, we’ve now entered into what amounts to an arms race among flavored rums. It seems there’s literally a flavor of the month, and I’m pleased to be among the members of that particular club. Across my rum shelf, I can see that passion fruit joins flavors that would make a pretty good Caribbean salad: Coconut, pineapple and mango. But passion fruit must be the Next Big Taste, because Captain Morgan’s is also in that game, with their new Parrot Bay Passion Fruit flavored rum (also $13.99 a bottle).

One of the really good things about flavored vodkas and rums is that you can use them as a springboard into a refreshing pool of creativity, mixing with anything that comes to mind. Not one to avoid that challenge, and with a nod to Malibu’s tax day unveiling, I’ve come up with yet another Exclusive Imbiber Recipe: The Garnished Wage®. It’s easy to make, and you can enjoy it with friends at the beach or while placing your worldly possessions on eBay in the hopes of somehow avoiding another year of ruinous tax penalties.

The Garnished Wage ■ Two parts passion fruit flavored rum ■ Tonic water ■ An empty soft drink bottle ■ A brown paper bag Funnel passion fruit flavored rum into clean, dry soft drink bottle; add tonic to taste. Place open bottle in brown paper bag and drink. (E-mail questions, comments or suggestions for the Imbiber to)

*Originally published in the Santa Monica Daily Press print edition on April 15, 2005.* [Read the original PDF.](https://s3.us-east-1.amazonaws.com/smdp%5Fbackissues/041505.pdf?ref=smdp.com)