Lychee Martini

This has to be one of the tastiest martinis I’ve had in a long time. We had it for the first time at a Russian restaurant in Sunny Isles, FL (Miami). The restaurant is called Lotus Restaurant and Lounge. Don’t be fooled by the name. It is a Russian restaurant for sure. With an Asian flair. They have sushi on the menu along with the usual Russian dishes. A wonderful place. When we were there in August we asked the waitress about any specialty martinis that they might have. She suggested the Lychee Martini with Russian Wodka (No joke, that’s how she said it!) It was so good and the lychee fruit in the martini had been soaked in vodka. An extra bonus when you were done! Well we found a recipe that tastes pretty close to the one we had at Lotus. The hard part was finding lychee juice! You can get it from a can of lychees. That was the other problem. Finding lychees! We did find them in Whole Foods. They come in a can and the brand we got was Roland. I am on the search for other places that may be cheaper. Oh how I wish we had a Trader Joe’s here in Florida! One day maybe! Anyway, once you find the lychees make up a batch of these and you’ll be pleasantly surprised! Don’t forget to soak the lychees beforehand so you get that extra treat! The recipe calls for either white or red cranberry juice. We chose the red because the one we had originally had a light pink tinge, which you won’t get from white cranberry juice. Either way it’s a tasty treat!

INGREDIENTS:

3 ounces vodka

2 ounces peach schnapps

2 ounces red or white cranberry juice (I use light cranberry)

2 ounces lychee juice (from a can of lychees)

lychees for garnish

Ice

DIRECTIONS:

1. Place ice into a cocktail shaker. Pour in vodka, peach schnapps, cranberry juice, and lychee juice. Cover and shake well until the outside of the shaker has frosted.

2. Strain into chilled martini glasses; garnish with a lychee fruit.

Makes 2 drinks