Coconut Lychee Martini

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A delicately tropical and floral martini full of creamy deliciousness and delicately fruity flavors! The perfect fancy summertime martini.

Coconut and lychee are two of my favorite flavors on this earth. I’ll try anything if you label it “coconut.” And I’ve been known to go out of my way to track down lychees in my neighborhood.

So when the local sushi joint started serving a coconut lychee martini, I obviously had to try and replicate it at home.

The trick with mixing a heavy flavor like coconut with a delicate flavor like lychee is getting the balance right. Too much coconut and you overwhelm the gentle rose-strawberry flavors of the lychee! I think I finally nailed in this cocktail.

Tell me if you agree!

Jump to Recipe

TL;DR

• Combine ice, vodka, lychee syrup, lime juice, and coconut cream in a shaker. 
• Add two ice cubes and shake for 30 seconds to 1 minute.
• Strain into a martini glass or coupé
• Garnish with toasted shaved coconut, lime zest, and a lychee
• Serve immediately!

More summer appetizers? Why not try a cardamom mixed berry mojito or a summer peach white sangria!

Try a mocha martini for a perfect after-dinner dessert cocktail!

A Word about Coconut Cream

Coconut cream is a gift from the gods. It does everything normal whipped cream does, but it tastes like coconut. What more can I ask for in this life?

Because you’ll be using lychee syrup, as seen below, you’ll want to stick with unsweetened coconut cream for this recipe. If you use the sweetened stuff, this recipe becomes unbearably saccharine. 

A Word about Lychee Syrup

You can make lychee syrup or lychee liqueur at home.

But let’s be honest, lychees are expensive. When I find fresh ones in the store, the last thing I want to do is chop them up and boil them down into a cocktail syrup. So here’s a trick…

Find a can or jar of pitted and peeled lychees in the store. Use that syrup instead! You’ll want to add a lychee as garnish anyway. And this is definitely cheaper and less time-intensive.

Do note, this syrup will be quite sweet! This is why you use unsweetened coconut cream!

Pro-Tip: Any leftover canned lychees make an excellent refreshing dessert after Indian takeout!

If you’re feeling up to making your own lychee syrup or liqueur, The Spruce Eats has an excellent recipe.

The Liquor

Vodka is usually the liquor of choice in martinis, especially very heavily flavored martinis like this one. You won’t want to taste too much of the alcohol.

Gin is sometimes used as a substitute. I don’t recommend gin in this particular cocktail. (As much as I do love gin.) 

If you were doing a lychee only martini, a delicate rose gin like Hendricks might be quite nice.

But with the addition of coconut, there are just too many conflicting flavors to add an alcohol with heavy botanicals like gin.

Stick with vodka. You won’t really be tasting the liquor anyway.