Organic Lychee Syrup

Lychee syrup with the aroma of the fruit of love

Bacanha's organic lychee syrup is a French fruit syrup with natural lychee aroma, crafted in a workshop near Paris. Sweet, floral, with a tart finish. There are four ingredients on the label, and 400 ml makes about 20 glasses.

Lychee syrup brings a fruit into your glass that is hardly available fresh here, and it belongs to the Sirop Brut line from the Parisian manufactory Bacanha. The lychee originates from southern China, where it has been cultivated for over 2000 years and is known as the fruit of love. Its taste lies somewhere between grape, rose, and a hint of nutmeg.

Sweet, floral, with a tart finish

Anyone who has peeled a fresh lychee will remember the scent. Floral like a rose, sweet like a grape, and underneath it something spicy that you cannot immediately identify.

This syrup hits exactly that intersection. It is floral, juicy, and spicy, and in the end, a slightly tart note remains, which prevents it from becoming perfumey. The label lists organic cane sugar, water, natural lychee aroma, and citric acid. A list of ingredients hardly gets any shorter than this.

Feel free to be sparing when measuring. One spoonful in a large glass is sufficient, because the aroma of the lychee takes up more space than you might be used to from a berry or a peach. Use too much, and you will quickly end up with a drink that tastes like a scented candle rather than fruit.

The classic is called Lychee and Rose

Bacanha explicitly recommends the lychee paired with rose, and the two complement each other like two voices in the same song.

In a glass, it makes for a great apéritif with sparkling wine, turns a gin and tonic into something significantly more interesting than usual, and becomes a lemonade in soda water that no one would identify as syrup. It is also at home in bubble tea, as well as in sorbet, exotic fruit salad, or a coconut cream.

If you would like to try the duet, the organic rose syrup is available right next to it in our shop. For a zesty counterpoint, we recommend the organic passion fruit syrup, which balances the sweetness of the lychee with acidity.

How to capture a fruit that won't wait

The lychee is an impatient fruit. After harvesting, it loses its color and scent within a few days, which is why we mostly only know it here from a can.

The aromas for all Bacanha syrups are created in Grasse in the hinterland of the Côte d'Azur, the city that has been considered the world capital of perfumery since the 16th century. Extraction, distillation, and enfleurage are the processes used to extract fragrance from fruits and flowers, and the more carefully one works, the closer the result comes to the fresh fruit.

The syrups are blended in Saint-Soupplets near Paris, using organic cane sugar from Brazilian regenerative agriculture. "Preserving the authenticity of the aromas," as the manufactory describes its work, is the real challenge with such a fleeting fruit.

All varieties maintain the same balance of acid and sugar, a pH value below 4.5, and around 60 degrees Brix, which is why they turn out less sweet than usual. From the Bacanha range, we carry 25 varieties, from citrus to floral to spicy. A beautiful journey for a glass of water.

Two parts lychee to one part rose

When used sparingly, the floral sweetness stays in check: one part syrup to 8 to 10 parts water, plus a few ice cubes and a slice of lime. For the duet with rose, use two parts lychee to one part rose, otherwise the flower will take control. Once opened, the bottle belongs in the refrigerator and will keep for 2 months. You can find more exotic varieties in our syrup selection.

Organic control number FR-BIO-01 – French Agriculture