Lychee Liquer Recipies

One of my most favourite flavours is the Lychee.

What is a Lychee?:
The lychee (pronounced lee'chee) nut is a rare, sub-tropical Asian fruit that grows on a 20-40 foot tall lychee tree with smooth gray bark and dark green leaves. Lychee nuts are similar in shape to a strawberry, with a red, bumpy outer shell that is about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. The shell protects the sweet, sticky, white fruit holding a seed. That little, white globe of flesh is the object of desire and has a sweet, juicy flavor and aroma incomparable to any other fruit. Lychee are also known as lichee, litchi or alligator strawberries.

At duty free I always grab a bottle of Soho Lychee Liqueur when I am running low.

I enjoy it with cola or in a cocktail or martini.

Lychee Fruit is sweet and delicious.

If your bevereage can capture that taste, it is a good drink. I have mixed drinks that didn't have that sweet taste... Soho is very strong and even removing the cap from the bottle results in the sweet Lychee scent filling the room.

Red Lotus Martini:

2 parts vodka

1 part lychee liquer

Cranberry Juice

Lychee Syrup (not usually needed)

Mix Vodka,Lychee Liquer and Cranberry Juice on ice in shaker.
Strain into chilled martini glasses.
Add a few drops of Lychee Syrup to taste if needed.
Garnish with a slice or skewered Lychee Fruit.

I use the cranberry juice to give it the red hue Lychee's have when they are ripe and still protected by their outer shell. You can substitute lime juice for cranberry for a different but equally yummy taste.

Crouching Tiger Shooter:

1/2 oz. Tequilla

1/2 ox. Soho Lychee Liqueur

I suggest you mix it then pour it into shot glasses rather than free pour half and half in a shooter. The sweetness wipes away the tequilla sting.

I rarely am able to get fresh Lychee [a few weeks in the summer only] but the canned Lychees are fine, though the juice they sit in can be cloudy and so rinsing them off first is a good idea to keep your drink clear. Some suggest frozen Lychee's but I have never seen these.

Lychee Liqueur in a martini is fabulous but there are a number of cocktails you can enjoy. Try mixing it with any citrus, cranberry, fruit juice or Midori. It sweetens up any drink.

This website lists a number of things to do with Lychee's... I prefer to just drink them although we did use them as eyeballs in a haunted house we ran for the community centre (saved time peeling grapes)

Cheers!