The boy and his poison: The Shanghai Fizz

A belated Kung Hei Fat Choy to everyone. Although this post is a day late I thought it would be remiss to pass up an excellent excuse to investigate Asian inspired cocktail recipes. So I decided to spend Chinese New Year researching and experimenting.

The Lychee Martini was an obvious contender but there was no way to improve upon our recipe (believe me I made three of them to check). Next came a brave Oriental twist on a bloody mary (brave but ill-advised) then finally there was a murky patch in the evening where I experimented with lemon grass and fish sauce… flavours I won't be revisiting any time soon. With the constraint of my modest spirit collection I'd almost given up on finding a decent drink to usher in the year of the Dragon when  I chanced upon the Shanghai Fizz. With its lychee, lime and ginger flavours it makes a great accompaniment to dim sum.

You'll need:

• 50ml of Gin 
• 50 ml of Pineapple Juice
• 50ml of the syrup from a lychee can (or Lychee Liqueur if you have it)  
• The juice of half a lime 
• Ginger beer 
• A lychee to garnish 

Make it:

• Shake the gin, lime, pineapple juice and lychee syrup over ice for 10-15 seconds
• Strain into a highball glass or a tumbler 
• Top up with the ginger beer and add a little ice if you intend to take your time drinking it
• Garnish with a lychee