Lychee Lemonade (Easy Lemon Lychee Iced Drink)

❤️Why you will love this recipe

• This is a made from scratch recipe, with fresh lemon juice and canned lychee fruits.
• There are only 4 ingredients required to made this iced lemon lychee drink - lemon juice, sugar, lychees and water. You start by making the lychee syrup and mix it with lemon juice and chilled water to make a pitcher of perfectly sweet and tangy lemonade.
• The combination of tart lemon juice and sweet lychee fruit makes this a wonderfully refreshing drink.
• It makes a lovely variation to the regular lemonade.
• It is as easy to make as lemonade and makes one of the best summer drinks.
• Served chill, this recipe makes a perfect drink on a hot day.

❓What is lychee?

• Lychees are tropical fruits that are native to China and some parts of the South East Asian region.
• They are small round fruits with pink red skin that is thin and coarse. Beneath the skin is the sweet lychee flesh in white and at the core of the fruit is a long brown seed. Both the skin and seed are not edible. The flesh is juicy and sweet with a slight hint of citrus taste and has a lovely floral fragrance.
• Lychees are also sometimes spelled 'litchi'. These tropical fruits are easy available in canned form. The fruits are perfect to be enjoyed on their own and also make excellent addition and flavoring to many desserts and beverages like lychee jelly, lychee tea, lychee syrup, as well as the lychee lemonade recipe on this page.

📋Ingredients

• Lemon juice - use juice from fresh lemons. Strain the juice to remove any seeds before using.
• White sugar - sweetener for the drink. Both coarse sugar and granulated sugar will work for this recipe.
• Lychees in syrup - I used canned lychees. These are pitted and come soaked in sugar syrup.
• Water - use filtered water. For best results, use chilled water (cold water).
• Lemon slices - these are optional and meant for garnish.
• Ice cubes - to cool the drink. These are optional too.

🧾Substitution and variations

• Water can be replaced with soda water or sparkling water for a fizzy lychee lemonade.
• To make rose lychee lemonade, add a quarter teaspoon of rose extract (rose essence) or 1 teaspoon rose water into the lemonade after adding lemon juice. Mix well.

Making the lychee syrup

1. Drain the lychee fruits and separate the syrup into a separate bowl.
2. Add the fruits into a blender.
3. Measure in the syrup from the can into the blender. Process the fruits until fine.
4. Strain the lychee juice with a fine mesh sieve or cloth. Squeeze out all the juice and discard the pulp.
5. Add the lychee juice into a small pot. Add sugar to it.
6. Cook the syrup over low heat until the sugar dissolves. Stir occasionally. Once the sugar is dissolved, bring the syrup to a boil and turn off the heat.

Mixing the lychee lemonade

1. Pour chilled water into a mixing glass.
2. Mix lychee syrup into it.
3. Next, pour in the strained lemon juice. Mix well.
4. To serve, add some lychee fruits (whole lychees) into a serving glass.
5. Top with ice cubes and pour in the lychee lemonade.
6. Garnish with thin lemon slices and mint leaves.

🍽️Serving & storage

• This lemonade is best served chilled, hence if not serving immediately, keep it chilled in the fridge.
• This drink can last for a good 3 to 4 days in the fridge.
• Only add the ice cubes right before serving to avoid the lychee lemonade from becoming diluted. Similarly, only add the lychees right before serving.

💡Expert tips

• If you find the lemonade not sweet enough, you can always increase the sugar to suit your liking. And if you wish to add more after mixing the drink, simply remove about a quarter cup of lemonade into a small pot and add sugar to it. Heat up the lemonade to dissolve the sugar.
• Use caster sugar to dissolve your sugar faster. As soon as the lemonade becomes warm, turn off the heat and stir the juice to dissolve the sugar. The heat will help the sugar dissolve quicker.
• Pour the sweetened lemonade back into the remaining lemonade and mix well.
• If, on the other hand, you find that the lemonade is not sour enough, you can simply add more lemon juice to it. Do it is small increments of about 1 teaspoon to avoid of adding too much lemon juice.

💭FAQs