Non-Alcoholic Sakura Lychee Cocktail Recipe
Apr 07, 2022 • Updated Aug 08, 2023
This page may contain affiliate links, which means I will make a small commission for products purchased through my link.
This non-alcoholic Sakura Lychee cocktail is a delicious, fruity, and floral sparkling drink made with seasonal Japanese sakura, lychee juice, and sparkling water. A crisp, refreshing mocktail that’s perfect for spring and summer!
What is Sakura?
Sakura is a flower with a short and much-anticipated season in the springtime in Japan. The beautiful pink flower is edible and used in many traditional Japanese desserts.
Often, the flowers and the leaves are salt-pickled to preserve them for the rest of the year. I was lucky to stumble across some fresh cherry blossom branches at the farmer’s market in LA, and I also wanted to make good use of some preserved blossoms I had saved from last year.
What Makes This Recipe Great
This recipe is a really fun way to enjoy a springy, delicious cocktail. Lychee adds a sweet, tropical flavour that offsets the sometimes perfume-like quality of sakura!
When combined, the floral essence of sakura and the sweetness of lychee create a unique and enticing taste profile. The flavors are well-balanced and absolutely delicious, specifically in drinks like this one.
Whether you choose to make this lychee cocktail with or without alcohol, you will love its fun, fruity, and floral flavor and refreshing sparkling finish.
Ingredient Notes
Here’s what you need to make these sakura lychee mocktails:
- Sakura flowers: Look for salt-pickled ones if you can’t find fresh flowers.
- Sakura powder: You can find this at Japanese grocery stores and online.
- Lychees in syrup or juice: Canned lychee adds all of the sweetness you need for your mocktail, plus adds a great garnish. Because the lychee syrup is sweet enough, you won’t need any additional sweeteners like simple syrup, honey, or agave.
- Sparkling water: Use soda water to complete the spritz part of your spritzes!
How to Make This Lychee Cocktail Recipe
To make this, start by re-hydrate your dried sakura flowers. This also helps to remove the briny flavour from the salt pickling. After it soaks, gently use your hands to remove excess salt. Then lay the flowers flat on a paper towel until you’re ready to use them.
To make the drink, dissolve the sakura flower into water. This step adds a more concentrated sakura flavour to your non-alcoholic lychee cocktail. You’ll sweeten the drinks with some of the syrup from the preserved lychees.
Then fill your glasses with plenty of ice, pour in the lychee-sakura mixture, and top each glass with plenty of fizzy water.
Step-by-Step Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine warm water and sakura flowers and let soak. Use your hands to gently rinse off the flowers and move them to a paper towel to sit.
- In a small bowl, mix together sakura powder and filtered water until smooth.
- To assemble your drink, add ice cubes to your favorite cocktail glass, add your sakura mixture, about 1/4 cup lychee syrup or lychee juice, and top off with sparkling water or tonic water. Alternatively, you can use a cocktail shaker, shake all ingredients except the sparkling water, strain into the glass with ice, and top with the sparkling water and garnish.
- Garnish with an edible flower (sakura) and one lychee on a toothpick.
Expert Tips
- Lychee Cocktail Recipe: If you’d like to make this alcoholic, you can add a touch of your favourite clear alcohol, like rums, gin, or vodka, but it’s delicious on its own and is the perfect springtime mocktail. Empress gin, which has a lovely purple color, would be a great boozy addition that also adds a vibrant hue.
- Garnish: To add a pretty garnish to your glasses, top each with a fresh sakura flower and lychee fruit.
Recipe FAQs
Lychee is a tropical fruit known for its sweet, floral flavor. It has rough, pinkish-red skin and juicy, white, or pinkish flesh. Enjoyed fresh or used in various dishes, lychee is popular in Asian cuisine. It is both delicious and nutritious, offering vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants.
Lychee pairs well with tropical fruits, citrus fruits, floral flavors, creamy ingredients, almonds or pistachios, and sparkling wine or champagne.
A classic lychee martini typically includes vodka, lychee liqueur or syrup, and fresh lime juice and is garnished with fresh lychee fruit. Shake and strain the ingredients into a chilled martini glass. Enjoy!
More Non-Alcoholic Cocktail Recipes
Matcha Coquito (dairy free, non-alcoholic)
Piña Colada Mocktail (vegan, refined sugar free)
Matcha Martini Mocktail (non-alcoholic)
If you make this recipe, be sure to let me know what you think with a star rating and comment below! Follow me on Instagram for more delicious recipes!
Non-Alcoholic Sakura Lychee Cocktail Recipe
Ingredients
- 3 salt pickled sakura flowers
- 2 cups warm water
- 1 1/2 tsp sakura powder more to taste
- 2 tbsp filtered water
- 1 can lychees in syrup or juice
- 1 can sparkling water or tonic water
- ice
Instructions
- In a large bowl, combine warm water and sakura flowers and let soak. Use your hands to gently rinse off the flowers and move them to a paper towel to sit.
- In a small bowl, mix together sakura powder and filtered water until smooth.
- To assemble your drink, add ice to a glass, add your sakura mixture, about 1/4 cup lychee syrup or juice and top off with sparkling water or tonic water.
- Garnish with your sakura flowers and one lychee on a toothpick.
Notes
Expert Tips
- Lychee Cocktail Recipe: If you’d like to make this alcoholic, you can add a touch of your favourite clear alcohol, like rums, gin, or vodka, but it’s delicious on its own and is the perfect springtime mocktail. Empress gin, which has a lovely purple color, would be a great boozy addition that also adds a vibrant hue.
- Garnish: To add a pretty garnish to your glasses, top each with a fresh sakura flower and lychee fruit.
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
1 Comment