It hasn’t exactly been tropical drink weather here lately, what with the rain and the cold…or does that make it more appropriate to pretend I’m in the tropics?
Day two of Flavor Bible Week brings us to page 209, lychees. I have never eaten lychees before, and other than the fact that they are a fruit I didn’t know much about ’em! I had heard of lychee martinis, and I decided to make an adult beverage. I’m not a huge martini fan though, so I consulted the flavor matches to see what else I could do.
According to the book, lychees pair well with a lot of fruits and Asian flavors – berries, cilantro, lemongrass, plums, etc. The pairing that caught my eye was “melon, especially honeydew”. Perfect! I love Midori, which is a melon-flavored liqueur, and now the Flavor Bible was confirming that it would taste good with lychees. Inspired by this cocktail recipe, I added more flavor matches with pineapple, rum and coconut.
Lychee-dori
20 oz can lychees in syrup
coconut rum
Midori
pineapple juice
coconut milk or soy creamer
Remove a few lychees from the can to save for garnish, and pour the rest of the lychees and syrup into a blender. Blend until smooth. If your blender isn’t the best, you can strain the puree through a fine mesh strainer.
For each cocktail, combine 2 ounces lychee puree, 1 ounce coconut rum, 1 ounce Midori and 1 ounce pineapple juice. Shake in a cocktail shaker with ice, or pour over ice. Garnish with lychees on a pick and top with coconut milk or soy creamer.
(The coconut milk that was in my fridge had sadly gone bad, so I used soy creamer as a last minute substitute. I really think the coconut milk would be better!)
This drink is dangerous, because you can’t really taste the alcohol; it tastes like delicious juice! However, I was really not a fan of the lychees themselves. The flavor is nice, but the texture is weird and chewy and squishy. Also, I had to make a special trip to the Asian market to get lychees because I couldn’t find them at my normally well-stocked grocery store. I doubt that I will be seeking out lychees again, but at least now I know what they taste like!