Love Lychee

Legal Rectification, Part II – Infused with beliefs.

I believe that the Earth is round; I believe that in order to make someone a conservative, you must first allow them to get something to conserve; I believe that the Red Hot Chili Peppers were better with David Navarro on guitar; I believe that a civilized society has a responsibility to care for its ill and elderly, whether or not they’re employed; I believe that there is intelligent life elsewhere in our galaxy and that they have no interest in visiting us; I believe that Americans can do great things if they try and understand each other rather than send their time yelling at each other; I believe that Apollo 11 actually landed on the moon; I believe that Lee Harvey Oswald acted alone, because if you’re powerful enough to assassinate the President of the United States and cover it up, you don’t need to assassinate the President of the United States; I believe that Sesame Street was better when no one in the neighborhood thought Mr. Snuffleupagus was real; and, I believe that you can never have too much flavor in your cocktail.

It is my belief in flavor maximization that fuels my desire to infuse in spite of the hassle and deferred gratification.  There are commercially infused spirits widely available, but as with my beliefs, my tastes are often outside the mainstream.  I enjoy exploring the road less traveled because it’s usually more fun and it usually tastes pretty good, too.

So, part two of infusion is another flavor that has actually become more popular lately in the form of Lychee Martinis shaken in some of the more swanky gin joints. Lychee is a small round, berry-looking fruit with white flesh that is traditionally consumed in Southern China. Today, it’s cultivated throughout the tropics including Hawaii, but appears on the mainland of the US mostly in its canned form.  Fresh lychee has a very complex tropical flavor, somewhat similar to a good, ripe white peach.  Canned lychee doesn’t keep the depth of its original tree-fresh flavor, but it’s still pretty darn good. Lychee’s flavor (both canned and fresh) is subtle and can be difficult to coax out of cocktail, which is why it’s a great candidate for a hybrid infused/raw fruit recipe.

                                        Lychee-Infused Vodka

Because lychee is a much more subtle taste compared to Li Hing Mui, it’s a bit more trouble to infuse.  However, the payoff is a beautifully exotic flavor addition to your drink. While lychee is pretty much only available canned, in this case, it works out well since you have some flavor and sugar concentrated in the syrup.  Start by dumping a 750 ml. bottle of vodka into an air-tight, glass container, like an ice tea jug. Good quality vodka is a must, but here’s a caveat: taste-neutral vodka is the best. I usually prefer Hangar One or Kettle One, but for infusing I use Svedka. It’s a less expensive vodka and, in my opinion, not as preferable for Martini making, but it works well for cocktails with different flavor elements.  Once you have the entire bottle of vodka in your glass container, dump in all the lychee fruit and about a quarter to half the can of syrup. Find a comfy spot in the back of your frig and let it infuse for a month or so.  Once the booze is finished infusing, you can transfer some of it back into the original vodka bottle (it won’t all fit because of the syrup).  You can let the fruit sit in the vodka left behind in the glass container or, if you’re making a cocktail, you can fish the little guys out to use as an ingredient or garnish.

                                            Peachy Lychee

                                              Ingredients

* 1 ½ oz. Lychee-Infused Vodka  * 1 oz. Triple Sec  * 2 oz. Pineapple Juice  * Two Slices of Fresh O’Henry Peach (peeled and diced)  * 2 Lychee (peeled and diced)

Once you’ve peeled and diced the peach slices and lychee, add them to a shaker that’s about a quarter-full of ice. Add the rest of the ingredients and then shake very vigorously. A good long, strong shake is important to get as much juice and pulp out of the fruit as possible. Pour the contents into a 6-8 oz. glass that’s about half-full of ice. A strong shaking tends to make the drink a bit frothy, so you may need to crack the shaker open and pour from the side. As you pour, some of the pulverized fruit pieces will probably flow out of the shaker, which is a good thing.  Once you’re finished pouring you should see lots of little floating pieces of peach and lychee.  Garnish with a peach slice or one of those lychee used for the infusion and enjoy!