🍍 Lychee & Pineapple Sherbet

Lychee and pineapple sharbat — Veeraswamy, Regent Street London

5 min
Tropical & Floral
Tall glass over ice
Veeraswamy
0% ABV
Ingredients
  • 80ml lychee juice (from canned lychees or Rubicon brand)
  • 60ml fresh pineapple juice
  • 15ml rose water (or rose syrup — Rooh Afza brand is excellent)
  • 20ml fresh lime juice
  • 10ml simple syrup
  • 80ml sparkling water
  • Ice
  • Lychee & pineapple leaf to garnish
Method
  1. 1
    Combine — In a shaker, combine lychee juice, pineapple juice, rose water, lime juice, and simple syrup. Add ice.
  2. 2
    Shake — Shake for 10 seconds.
  3. 3
    Strain — Strain into a tall glass over ice.
  4. 4
    Top — Add sparkling water gently.
  5. 5
    Garnish — Thread a lychee on a pick and rest on the glass. Add a small pineapple leaf.

About This Drink

Sharbat (sherbet in English — the word entered English from Persian via Arabic, where 'sharba' means a drink) was the great drink of the Mughal courts. The sharbat-making tradition in India involved steeping rose petals, vetiver (khus), sandalwood, and fruit in sugar syrup over days, then serving chilled with water. Veeraswamy's Lychee & Pineapple Sherbet is their nod to this tradition — the combination of lychee (deeply floral, grape-like) and pineapple (tropical, acidic, aromatic) creates a drink that is both summery and historically rooted in the Indo-Persian sharbat lineage.

Bartender Tips

Rose water amount is critical — too much and it becomes perfumey. Start with 10ml and taste. Rooh Afza (rose syrup) is more intensely flavoured than rose water; if using it, cut to 5ml. Rubicon Lychee is available at all UK supermarkets. Fresh pineapple juice (from a juicer or blended and strained) has more brightness than canned.

Origin
Restaurant
Veeraswamy, Regent Street London
Origin
Regent Street, London — the UK's oldest Indian restaurant (1926)
Flavour
Tropical & Floral · Easy
Related
🍹All MocktailsBrowse all recipes 🇮🇳Indian CocktailsWith alcohol
Where to drink this
Restaurant
Veeraswamy
Address
101 Regent St, London W1B 4RS
Style
Classic regional Indian fine dining
Accolades
Est. 1926 · London's oldest Indian restaurant · Michelin Bib Gourmand

The first and oldest Indian restaurant in the UK, Veeraswamy has been serving authentic regional Indian cuisine on Regent Street since 1926. A true London institution — every dish and drink traces a line back to a specific corner of the subcontinent.

Visit veeraswamy.com