OMG. Can it be? My two favorite drinks combined into one delectable elixir. Well, I don’t want to forget about my other favorite drink, the margarita, but we are on hiatus right now due to the copious amounts of chips and salsa consumed while imbibing. Now, where were we. Why yes, my new favorite cocktail…
photo credit: la bonne bouche
I don’t know about you, but I grew up in a rather homogenous town. Potatoes and red meat were very popular. Not to say my parents didn’t do their best to expose us kiddos to a wide range of different things, but slide shows of international travel circa 1960 and canned water chestnuts just don’t cut it after a while. Thank goodness for the library and an inquisitive mind. What does literature and liquor have in common you may ask? For the answer to that question, perhaps you should talk to Ernest Hemingway…. JK!
photo credit: 1960's japan, water chestnuts
Seriously, tho, when I moved to the big city I was endlessly fascinated by Chinatown. Who knew such a fantastical place existed?? I spent many a day exploring around every nook and cranny; from Asian markets to noodle houses to the butcher’s window. All endlessly fascinating. And then I discovered the lychee. What a tasty little fruit, and fun to eat – like eating an eyeball I presume (which probably wouldn’t be so much fun, but suspect I needn’t worry about it). In turn, I discovered the lychee martini. And as they say, the rest is history…
photo credit: lychee close up, hanging lychees
Thanks to la bonne bouche for this inspiring libation!
Ingredients
5-6 fresh mint leaves
6-7 lychees (canned or fresh)
1 tablespoon sugar
the juice of one lime or half lime (depending of your taste)
30-50 ml rum
150 ml club soda or lychee syrup (if you use the canned fruits)
2-3 raspberries
ice
Place the mint leaves in a cocktail shaker and muddle them together with the lychees and sugar. Add the lime juice, rum and ice. Top up with club soda/lychee syrup. Shake well and strain it in chilled glasses decorated with sugar. Garnish with raspberries, lychees and mint leaves.
photo credit: la bonne bouche