Lychee Martini

More About This Recipe

• I need to mix things up a bit, in the cocktail department. When dining out, I typically indulge in a creative cocktail – it seems like even our local bar and grill has a wildly creative cocktail menu. At home, however, I tend to fall into the old standbys – wine with dinner, or maybe margaritas or a pitcher of Sangria if we are entertaining. Now that summer is here, it’s high time to break out of the cocktail rut with something sweet, refreshing, and just a tiny bit exotic! A Lychee Martini! It didn’t occur to me that a Lychee Martini was something that could be made at home. Yesterday I was perusing the supermarket, and there they were, cans of lychee fruit, beckoning to me with their tantalizing siren song of deliciousness. I bought . . . ahem . . . several cans and returned home to scour the internet for recipes. Internet recipes for the Lychee Martini abound. Many relied heavily on lychee juice, which if you are using the canned variety, can be a bit syrupy. I was after something a little more warm weather-friendly and refreshing, but still maintaining the integrity of the lovely lychee. My recipe adds a little white cranberry juice cocktail to the standard ingredients (vodka, liqueur, lychee juice), which lightens the recipe a bit without overpowering. Hope you enjoy the Lychee Martini! Happy cocktailing! XO, Michelle