Coconut water & lychee juice — Spice Affair Beverly Hills
Spice Affair is a sleek Indian fine-dining restaurant on Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills, known for its contemporary take on Indian cuisine and an extensive cocktail programme. The Indian Ocean is their zero-proof anchor: two ingredients with deep South Asian roots — tender coconut water (nariyal pani in Hindi), drunk straight from the fruit across India's coastal regions, and lychee juice (lichu in Bengali, lichi in Hindi), associated with the orchards of Muzaffarpur in Bihar and the summer markets of South and Southeast Asia. Two ingredients, no embellishment. Exactly what a tropical cooler should be.
Fresh young coconut water (from a whole green coconut) is incomparably better than carton versions — sweeter, more aromatic, more complex. If you have a coconut water brand you trust, use it. Lychee juice from canned lychees (strain the fruit, use the syrup diluted 1:1 with water) is a good economical option. The lime is optional but recommended — it cuts the sweetness.
Spice Affair brings South Asian flavour to the heart of Beverly Hills with a cocktail programme that is as polished as its address demands. The bar uses Indian spices — saffron, chai masala, tamarind — as primary flavour drivers rather than garnishes, and pairs them with premium spirits to create drinks that are unapologetically luxurious.
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