Lychee Martini Recipe

This post is going to show you how to make a delicious lychee martini!

Martini’s have a history of being associated with class and sophistication. Everyone should have the experience of sipping on this spirit forward classic. Whether you’re enjoying a martini in a low lit speak easy, or the comfort of your own home, you will always find yourself feeling like the main character!

Originally a martini is a mix of gin, dry vermouth, and is garnished with a lemon twist or an olive. The James Bond movies introduced the “Vesper” martini to the mix which also had gin, but added vodka and lillet blanc!

Over time, people have ordered martini’s to their preference. Whether you like yours shaken or stirred, wet or dry, with vodka or gin, there is always going to be a martini for you!

The recipe I am going to show you today is an original Sweet Recipe of mine that will include vodka, fresh lychee juice, st. germaine liqueur, and grapefruit bitters! Let’s get right into it! I call this :

“Flyin’ First Class, Up In The Sky” 

What You Will Need

Alcohol:

This will be a vodka only martini with no gin! The vodka that I will be using is Ketel One. I look at this vodka as an elegant canvas for some of the other flavors we will be stirring into this cocktail. Ketel one is smooth with notes of black pepper, lemon, and wheat. It’s smoothness makes it an excellent choice for a martini. Since we will be stirring this cocktail it will only enhance that silky texture as it takes on the other flavors in the drink. I highly suggest having this vodka at your home bar! It truly is great to mix cocktails with. I got my bottle at Total Wine and More, but you can also find it at Bevmo, Liquor Stores, and most Grocery Stores!

Next, we will be needing just a bit of one of my favorite liqueurs! We will be using St. Germain. St. germain is an elderflower liqueur! It is so sweet and full of bright floral notes. This liqueur goes beautifully with the lychee as lychee already has a unique floral and tropical taste. I highly encourage you always have a bottle on hand for tasty Summer recipes. I got my bottle at Total Wine and More, but this will be available at Bevmo, Whole Foods, and most Liquor Stores!

Lastly, we will be using a couple dashes of grapefruit bitters to cut through some of the sweetness of this lychee martini! I chose to use Fee Brothers Grapefruit Bitters. This is a great brand with several different flavors to chose from!

Bitters are concoctions of alcohol that is infused with various herbs, spices, botanicals, roots, and more. Originally, bitters were used for medicinal purposes. Overtime they found their ways into cocktails! Certain cocktails definitely depend on the flavor profile that bitters adds. Some examples are the Old Fashioned, Manhattan, Sazerac, Champagne Cocktail, and more! Bitters come out in small dashes as they are very potent and can alter a drink extremely if too much is used. I highly recommend experimenting with different flavored bitters! It’s a fun way to add new dimensions to cocktails. I got this bottle of grapefruit bitters at Total Wine and More, but you can also find it on Amazon RIGHT HERE!

Other Ingredients:

To make this a lychee martini, we will of course be needing some Lychee Juice! Lychee is a tropical fruit that is mostly found growing on trees in South China. They come with a seed in the center, and a tough outer shell that guards the tender fruit inside. Lychee has flavors of rose, watermelon, strawberries, pears, and is quite sweet! The texture tastes like a very ripe pear mixed with canned peaches. Although it sounds odd, it is SO delicious! There’s nothing quite like this fruit!

I got a can from a local H-mart store near me! Canned lychee can be found at Wal Mart, but I would recommend searching for some at local stores! Amazon carries some cans, but they can only be bought in bulk for the most part. You will be much better off finding a single can! I specifically picked a can that was seedless and already had the skin off. Takes away from some of the side work!  Don’t forget to save a lychee for the garnish. If you have any left over, looks like you have snacks for the next week!

Bar Supplies:

The first things you will want to make sure you have are a Mixing Glass and a Bar Spoon! A mixing glass is what you use to make all stirred cocktails. You will stir your drink with a bar spoon. Stirred cocktails usually contain spirits, sugar, bitters, and little to no citrus! Stirring a cocktail creates a silky smooth texture and keeps the flavors bold. This occurs because there is less dilution compared to shaking a cocktail.

The technique I use for stirring my cocktails in a mixing glass is shown in the photo above. Hold the spoon in your dominant hand balanced between your middle and ring finger. I always have the backside of the spoon facing the outside of the glass. Use your thumb and index finger to guide the spoon in circles along the perimeter of the glass. Practice this slowly at first and in no time you will be able to pick up speed!

A pro tip to know when to stop stirring your cocktail is when condensation starts to form on the outside of your mixing glass. You will also be able to tell when the ice starts to lose form and sink deeper into the liquid contents of your mixing glass.

We want this lychee martini to be perfectly balanced, beautiful, and consistent every single time it’s made! For that to be the case you will need a Jigger! A jigger is what you use to measure out all of your liquid ingredients. My jigger in the photo above ranges from 1/4 oz to 2 oz! Jigger’s really are a bar essential in my opinion and I love the style of the one I own. You can check out one identical to mine RIGHT HERE!

I must say that when I was just a beginner, I used a more simplified jigger to start growing my skills! It had only one side, a pour spout, and very easy to read measurement lines. I will link the exact one I used to use RIGHT HERE for anyone who is just starting and would like to ease into using a jigger! Cheers to learning new skills!

Next, we will need to strain our beautiful lychee martini into a coupe glass! Since we used the mixing glass to stir our cocktail, we will want to use a Julep Strainer to strain that silky liquid into the glassware. When using a julep strainer you will want to insert it into the mixing glass at a downward angle. You will secure the handle of the strainer between your index and middle finger. Your thumb will hug the bottom of the mixing glass as you gently pour into your glassware. Julep strainers are used instead of a hawthorne strainer because they tuck easily inside the mixing glass. These strainers are great to have in your home bar, you can check one out just like mine RIGHT HERE!

I like to add another pop of citrus over the top of this lychee martini! I add an Expressed Lemon Peel. You will want to have a Y-Peeler to get a nice thick cut of lemon peel. Y-peelers give you a nice wide and deep cut. Be sure to be careful when you use them because they are very sharp! You can find the one I use RIGHT HERE.

As you can see in the photo above, I am taking a cut of lemon peel and folding it in half right over the top of the cocktail. This is what I mean by “Expressed”. When you do this over the top of the cocktail it releases all of the oils of the lemon. Not only will you taste the cocktail get a little lighter, you will also smell the fresh lemon scent as you bring the cocktail up for a sip. You taste with your nose first, so this lychee martini will be bringing flavor before it’s even tasted! I also like to rub the peel around the rim of the glass after it is expressed to even further accentuate that aroma. Trust me, this really adds a whole new dimension to a cocktail!

Lastly, I do recommend that if you are starting to create multiple cocktails at home, you should invest in your own personal  Bartending Kit. Most come with everything you will need as a beginner while others provide several items for more complex creations. I will put links to both a beginners set, and a more advanced set on Amazon below!

Beginners Kit : HERE

Advanced Kit : HERE.

Let’s Build!