The Tropical Fruit That Takes Basic Lemonade To A New Level

Sweet, tart, and refreshing: lemonade has it all. There is no doubting the appeal of the picnic and poolside classic. The simple combination of lemon juice, sugar, and water is delicious, but even the classics need a bit of a refresh sometimes. One easy way to refresh lemonade is to add another fruit for a bit of dimension that turns this staple into something more exciting. We have just the thing: Lychee, a tropical fruit from Southeast Asia.

Lychee is a small pink fruit with white flesh. It has a sweet taste that's often compared to strawberries, but with a floral quality that's made it quite the darling of cocktail crafts — take, for example, the delicious lychee martini. This unique taste adds just the right twist to a pitcher of all-too-familiar lemonade. The floral rose notes work particularly well with lemon's bright citrus taste, and it shines without outdoing the titular fruit.

To make lychee lemonade, simply add a 15- to 20-ounce can of lychees with syrup to a blender with about 1 cup of fresh-squeezed lemon juice, blend, and strain into a pitcher. Add sugar, a few cups of water to dilute, mix until the sugar is dissolved, and serve! The resulting drink is perfectly sweet, zingy, and delicious.

The whole business of blending and straining is just one way to make lychee lemonade. There are plenty of other methods you can try to get yourself a tall glass of lychee-flavored lemonade, depending on your preferences in taste and texture. For example, if you want just a hint of lychee flavor, replace the sugar in your lemonade with the syrup from canned lychees with syrup and use the fruit as garnish. You can also make a reduction with the canned syrup by either simmering it until it reduces by half, or first blending your lychees with syrup, straining, and reducing. Then, add the reduction to lemon juice and cold water and stir.

If you want a bit of texture, add blended lychee fruit to lemonade without straining, or chop up and mix in lychee fruit to prepared lemonade. If you prefer, you can use fresh lychees, but be warned: peeling and pitting large amounts of lychees is not an easy task. Plus, the syrup included in canned versions adds a good bit of sweetness and flavor to lemonade. However, fresh lychee does add a fresher taste to your drink. Use whatever you prefer, or have access to. If you're having trouble finding fresh lychee, check out international or Asian supermarkets, such H-Mart, which have a wider variety of fruit and produce.

While lychee lemonade made in any fashion is ever so tasty, none are really finished without a final flourish to bring the quintessential summer sipper together. For starters, a few mint leaves not only add visual appeal, but also a nice flavor that works exceptionally well with lychee. To further bring out this flavor, muddle or crush your mint leaves. For a slightly more aromatic edge, add basil instead; Thai basil adds a licorice note that really bring this to a new level of sophistication.

If you want a bit more sweetness, try adding some compote to the bottom of your glass before pouring your lemonade. A lychee compote or lychee jelly further emphasizes the fruit. You can also add in strawberry sauce (Ree Drummond has a killer recipe for strawberry sauce that can be added to most any dessert or drink). Other fruits to consider include mango and peach. You can also rim your glass with sugar for a bit of sweet crunch, or Tajín for a salty, spicy kick that's both unexpected and incredibly tasty with just about anything. If you want something even zingier, swirl the interior of your glass with chamoy before adding your lemonade. The pickled fruit condiment makes this lemonade recipe downright irresistible.