Six Lychee Cocktails For Those With A Sweet Tooth
Lychee, a super sweet and tangy fruit native to China, is a versatile fruit and can be used in various ways for cooking. By extension, it can also be used to make cocktails! Below are some lychee-based cocktails that will simply blow your mind!
1. Lychee Martini
Ingredients
For the Lychee Syrup:
240 gm Sugar
240 gm Water
120 gm Peeled and pitted lychee fruit
For the Cocktail:
45 ml Smirnoff vodka
45 ml Lychee liqueur or Lychee syrup
1 splash Freshly squeezed lime juice
Pitted lychee for garnish
Method
For Lychee Syrup
Take a saucepan and add sugar and water in it. Heat the saucepan on moderate flame, bringing the contents to a boil. Keep stirring so that the sugar dissolves completely. Add the lychee , reduce the heat and cover the saucepan. Let the contents simmer for 10 minutes. Now remove the saucepan from heat and set it aside for 30 minutes for cooling. Strain the liquid into a glass container with an air-tight lid. Refrigerate it. You can use the syrup for two to three weeks.
For the Lychee Martini
Take a shaker filled with ice. Add vodka, lychee syrup and lime juice. Shake well. Strain into a chilled cocktail glass. Garnish with pitted lychee fruit.
2. Lychee Contract
Ingredients
45 ml Johnnie Walker
8 ml Elderflower Liqueur
20 ml Lemon Juice
2 ml Simple Sugar
Lychee for garnish
Method
Take a shaker with ice. Add all the ingredients in it. Shake well. Pour the contents over ice in a rock glass. Garnish with the fruit.
3. Lychee Ginger Fizz
Ingredients
30 ml Lychee liquor
20 ml Ginger syrup
Squeeze of lemon
Dry sparkling wine
Peeled lychee, for garnish
Fresh mint sprig, for garnish
Method
Take a champagne flute and pour the lychee liqueur into it. Add the ginger syrup and squeeze the juice of lemon into it. Stir well. Top up the glass with sparkling wine. Stir gently. Garnish with peeled lychee and mint sprig.
4. Lychee Sangria
Ingredients
125 ml Sauvignon Blanc
20 ml St. Germain Elderflower liqueur
100 gm Canned lychee in heavy syrup, drain but reserve syrup
30 gm Reserved lychee syrup
1/3rd Lime, sliced thin
Fresh lychee, for garnish
Method
Take a mixing glass, add Sauvignon Blanc, St. Germain, drained lychees, reserved lychee syrup and thinly sliced limes. Mix well to combine. Cover the glass and refrigerate for at least two hours (chilling it overnight is ideal) so that the flavours are infused in the drink. Stir well before serving. Garnish with fresh lychee. Serve chilled, with ice if needed, in a cocktail glass.
5. Lychee Mai Tai
Ingredients
30 ml Captain Morgan Dark Rum
30 ml Captain Morgan White Rum
15 ml Amaretto
15 ml Cointreau (or orange flavoured liqueur such as triple sec or orange curacao)
90 ml Lychee juice
5 pieces Lychee
½ Lime
Handful of ice
1 tablespoon Simple syrup (optional if you like sweeter drinks)
Mint, for garnish
Festive toothpicks, for garnish
Method
Take a shaker and add lychee fruit and juice. Shake well. Using a blender, blend the lychees so that the fluid is smooth. Pour it into the shaker. Add both the rums, along with Cointreau and Amaretto. Squeeze lime into the shaker and save the squeezed lime for garnish. Add ice and shake well for a few seconds until the drink is cold and frothy. Add a tablespoon of simple syrup if needed. Pour the Mai Tai into a cocktail glass. Garnish with a sprig of mint and skewer a lychee and the lime shell and float it in the glass next to the mint. Serve immediately.
6. Lychee Cranberry Gin Cocktail
Ingredients
160 ml Lychee juice from canned lychee
160 ml Cranberry juice
160 ml Carbonated water
6 ice cubes
1 tablespoon Tanqueray gin (add more if desired for a stronger alcohol taste)
Fresh mint leaves, for garnish
Cranberries, for garnish
Canned lychee, for garnish
Method
Take a shaker, add ice, lychee juice, cranberry juice, gin and carbonated water. Seal the shaker and shake well. Pour the drink into a cocktail glass. Garnish with mint leaves, and cranberries and lychee skewered in cocktail stick.
7. Coconut Lychee Coladas
Ingredients
300 gm Whole, peeled lychees in heavy syrup, drained
1 tablespoon Heavy syrup reserved
120 ml Full-fat coconut milk
60 ml Pure coconut water
40 ml Captain Morgan
2-3 Large ice cubes (plus more for serving)
Lime wedge, for garnish
Method
Mix the drained and peeled lychees with heavy syrup, coconut milk, coconut water, rum and ice cubes in a blender. Blend until the puree is smooth. Pour it over crushed ice or ice cubes in a serving glass. Garnish with lime wedge. Serve immediately.
