The Birdie | Lychee Liqueur & Grapefruit Cocktail

TGIF! And you know what Friday means? Happy hour, of course! 

And to test drive my brand new studio bar, we had to create a brand new cocktail recipe!

This one is supper yum, and perfect 'transition' cocktail to take you from summer (and the warm days that we're still having. Yay!) into Fall. And we call it a 'Birdie' ;)

Plus, it look SO pretty and the color hues are so autumnal, don't you think?

This cocktail happened after I purchased a bottle of lychee syrup to try. 

We discovered lychee liqueur at our favorite French restaurant by the beach. It's our pit-stop each summer before heading to the beach, and we've been going there for years. At the end of the meal, we're always offered a shot of lychee liqueur as aperitif by the patron. So when I saw it for sale, I had to buy it! 

Lychee liqueur is an alcoholic drink but very sweet. So we felt the need to add a bitter, sharp fruit juice (the grapefruit juice worked best), and a cleaner, sharper flavor (the vodka) to the recipe balance it out.

But my revelation was salting the rim! I usually go for sweet cocktails, but in this instance the salt really adds a certain extra dimension and 'umami' note that the sugar didn't deliver.

Since this cocktail is my own creation, my husband (who doesn't even like cocktails, but can't get enough of this one...) decided call it a "Birdie". So now every time he fancies one, he asks "can you make us a couple of Birdies, Bird?" - cute! :)

Ingredients per person:

* Lychee liqueur

* Vodka

* Grapefruit juice

* Salt

* Fresh grapefruit wedges to garnish

* Lychees in syrup to garnish

* Mint leaves to garnish

* Ice

Dip the edge of the cocktail glasses in some of the Lychee syrup, then rim with salt (I found rimming only half of the glass is just the right amount.) 

Then in a cocktail shaker add add: 1 shot of Vodka, 1 shot of Lychee liqueur, ice and 3-4 shots of grapefruit juice and shake. Pour into the glasses and garnish with lychees, a wedge of grapefruit and mint sprig. YUM!

So, would you give the 'Birdie' a try? :)