Caipi Lychee Cocktail

Name: Caipi Lychee Cocktail
Yield: 10
Cuisine: American

Recipe: Radovan Jankovic , Mercy Me , Washington, D.C.

Photo: Hawkeye Johnson

August 28, 2024

Since DC’s Mercy Me restaurant spotlights South American flavors, beverage director Radovan Jankovic looked to Brazil’s Caipirinha to create this Caipi Lychee cocktail. Jankovic mixes cachaça with the full-bodied earthiness of junmai sake, the brightness of lime, musky bergamot, and the sweetness of raspberry and lychee.

Ingredients

1 oz. cachaça prata
1 oz. sake (Junmai)
1 oz. lychee cordial
1/2 oz. rectified lime juice
1/4 oz. Italicus
2 fresh raspberries

Tools:blender, shaker
Glass:goblet
Garnish:mint sprig and fresh raspberries

Preparation

Combine all of the ingredients in a shaker with ice and shake. Pour into the glass over crushed ice. Garnish.

Lychee CordialAdd the contents of one 20 oz. can of Chaokoh lychee in syrup and 5 raspberries to a blender and blend on low speed. Strain the blended contents. Mix the liquid part with 2/3 cup of sugar and stir until the sugar dissolves.
Rectified Lime JuiceClean 2 whole limes in a baking soda and apple vinegar water solution. Cut each lime into 8 pieces. Weigh out 2 oz. of lime pieces on the scale. Combine 20 oz. of fresh lime juice and the lime pieces in the blender and blend on high speed for about 30 seconds. Strain using a fine strainer. Let the juice rest for at least one hour in the refrigerator before use. The cordial will keep in the refrigerator for up to three weeks.

“We started rectifying lime juice to avoid the labor-intensive and inconsistent process of muddling limes in high-volume bars. Muddling limes can be challenging because each lime varies in size, and bartenders apply different amounts of force. By rectifying lime juice, we can precisely control the levels of acidity and flavor intensity,” says Jankovic.