Kick-start your Chinese New Year dinner party with an elegant cocktail. A lychee martini is sophisticated, cool, and festively flirty. When you sit down to dinner offer guests a dry Riesling, fruity Sauvignon Blanc, or crisp Chenin Blanc; all would pair nicely with the menu. If you really want to serve a red, look for a light, smooth Pinot Noir. Don't forget water and sparkling water. A refreshing option for non drinkers is lemonade. To see the recipe for the lychee martini, read more.
Lychee Martini
From InStyle magazine
1 14 oz. can lychees
2 cups vodka
1/2 cup cranberry juice
- Drain the lychees, reserving 1 cup of the lychee syrup.
- In a large pitcher combine the reserved lychee syrup, the vodka, and the cranberry juice. Refrigerate until very cold.
- Fill cocktail glasses with ice water.
- To serve, empty ice water from glasses. Place one lychee in the bottom of each glass, and fill with a cocktail.
Serves 8.
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Azzedine Alaia
Torrini
Vivien Caron
I found this tasty recipe on about.com's cocktails page. (I know I don't have cachaça in my liquor cabinet, so I'll try this one with rum. Yumm!
Kumquat-Ginger Caipirinha
From Leblon Cachaca
Place the Kumquat-Ginger Caipirinha on your list of drinks to try at least once in your life, it is a divine flavor experience. It is a flavored version of the popular Brazilian rum drink, the Caipirinha, in which fresh kumquats and ginger flavor the sugar and cachaça. It is refreshing and complex and, since it is so dependent on fresh flavors, should be made with a premium cachaça. Good cachaça can be hard to find, but brands like Leblon are becoming more common.
INGREDIENTS:
2 oz Leblon cachaça
5 kumquats, sliced
1 1/2 - 2 Tbsp superfine sugar
1 tsp chopped, fresh ginger
slice of kumquat for garnish
PREPARATION:
1Place the kumquats, ginger and sugar into an old-fashioned glass.
Muddle well.
Fill the glass with ice, then add the cachaça.
Stir well or shake it.
Garnish with a slice of kumquat.
ooh! i love lychees!
2You can always save some of the syrup and liven up the sparkling water for the non-drinkers too!
I am so making this for my Sunday dumplings brunch!
3Thanks for this, party! I was just reminiscing recently about a delicious lychee cocktail I had recently. The flavor is very strong, so a cocktail is the perfect place for just a touch of lychee.
4Yummy!
5Delish.
6Mmmmm, what a great idea! I adore lychees, and the Asian Food Market!
7I had to google what the hell a lychee was.
8u dont know what a lychee is?!?
9dayuuuum, i love those guys, i pop around 20 in 5 minutes!
Lychee martinis are really good!
10I have been wanting to try a lychee martini for awhile. mletrav's drink sounds good too.
11terry18, I had no idea what lychees are either...glad I wasn't the only one.
12I love lychee martinis so much that I went and bought the lychee syrup that people use to flavor bubble tea. I had to buy a gallon's worth of it for the distributor to sell it to me. hehe. The syrup was more potent. Mmm....
13I'm going to *have* to make this
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