Lychee Margarita Cocktail Recipe

Why You’ll Love This Recipe

Unique flavor – The lychees provide a sweet exotic flavor that can’t be found elsewhere. It will intrigue anyone you serve it to.

Simple to make – This recipe gets its flavor from pureed canned lychees, which are far easier to find and use than fresh ones that require peeling and deseeding. 

Customizable – You can easily make this more tart, sweet, or even spicy by adjusting and adding a few simple ingredients to put your own spin on this drink. 

What are lychee fruits?

Lychee fruits come from a tropical tree that is native to China. They have a rough, red-pink color exterior shell with a seeded white fruit on the inside. If you get them fresh, they need to be be shelled and deseeded before eating.

Canned varieties are typically already shelled and have the seeds removed. Their flavor is light, floral, and refreshing. You might not think that floral flavors belong in margaritas, but I assure you that between this recipe and my Hibiscus Margarita that it does!

Ingredient Notes

Tequila – With the delicate taste of this cocktail, I recommend using a blanco tequila. If you want an extra tropical flavor, a coconut flavored tequila would also work great. 

Triple sec – Cointreau is my go-to for a high quality triple sec that has a strong citrus flavor, but as with all cocktails, I recommend going with your favorite brand. Afterall, it is YOUR cocktail, so choose your favorite combinations. 

Lime juice – Freshly squeezed citrus juice will always taste best in cocktails. If I’m making one or two cocktails, I’ll usually use a hand squeezer. However, if I’m making a batch of cocktails that require fresh citrus juice, I use my electric citrus juicer. 

Lychee puree – This recipe calls for making your own lychee puree for which you only need a can of lychee fruit packed in syrup to make. You’ll simply puree some of the drained lychees with some of the syrup from the can. I found my can at my local Asian grocery store, but you can also find canned lychees on Amazon. 

Garnishes – I like to skewer one or two of the leftover fruits from the can on a cocktail pick for a garnish. You can also opt for a slice of lime if you prefer. I did happen to have some fresh ones on hand that a friend gave to me, so those were nice to use as a garnish too. 

How to Make Lychee Puree

All you need to make the puree is a can of lychees in syrup and a blender. 

Steps 1-2: Drain the fruit out of the syrup but keep the syrup. Add the required ratios (see recipe card notes) of the syrup and fruit to a blender bowl.

Steps 3-4: Blend until completely smooth and pour into an airtight container. It can be kept in the fridge for up to 1 week. 

How to Make the Lychee Margarita

Step 1: Add the tequila, triple sec, and lime juice to an empty cocktail shaker.

Step 2: Add the lychee puree and ice cubes. Shake the cocktail shaker until well chilled.

Step 3: Strain into a margarita glass and garnish, if desired.

Expert Tips

If you want a smoother cocktail, double strain by pouring the cocktail through a fine mesh strainer when pouring into the margarita glass. If you don’t mind a little bit of pulp, don’t worry about this step.

Freeze a few extra lychees that you can use as “ice” in your cocktail glass. This will keep your drink cold without dilution. 

Variations

Try adding a salt or tajin rim for extra flavor. Simply moisten the rim of the glass with lime juice and roll into either salt or tajin for some extra contrasting flavor.

If you want a sweeter Lychee Margarita, try adding some simple syrup (my lemon-lime syrup would be a great option!) to sweeten it up a bit. Conversely for a more tart flavor, increase the amount of lime juice. 

To increase the floral flavor, add a touch of elderflower syrup or a liqueur like St. Germain. 

Want some spice? Try adding a slice or two of jalapenos to the blender bowl when you make your puree. You can use however many jalapeno slices with or without seeds you want, depending the level of spice you’re going for. 

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