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Jasmine Green Tea & Lychee Sorbet

By • Updated August 2026
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This floral, fragrant sorbet combines the delicate perfume of jasmine pearls with fresh lychee for an elegant frozen dessert that tastes like late summer in a bowl. Unlike shop-bought sorbets that rely on artificial flavours, this recipe steeps real jasmine green tea into the syrup base, preserving the tea's volatile aromatics without the bitterness that can plague poorly brewed green tea. The result is silky, scoopable, and just sweet enough to let the tea shine.

A good ice cream maker is essential here. Hand-stirring or still-freezing will give you icy shards rather than the smooth, fine texture you want; the continuous churning aerates the mix and breaks ice crystals as they form. If you're serious about tea-based frozen treats, it's worth investing in a model with a compressor or a well-frozen bowl. Serve this sorbet in chilled bowls with a mint sprig, or sandwich between green tea tuiles for a dinner-party showstopper.

Jasmine Green Tea & Lychee Sorbet
Prep Time20 mins
Cook Time5 mins
ServingsServes 6
DifficultyMedium

Ingredients

  • 400 ml water
  • 150 g caster sugar
  • 2 tbsp jasmine pearl green tea (about 8 g)
  • 400 g fresh or tinned lychees, peeled and de-stoned (or 350 g drained weight if tinned)
  • 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
  • Pinch of fine sea salt
Nutrition per serving:
Calories: 135
Fat: 0.2g
Sugar: 32g
Protein: 0.8g

Instructions

1
Make syrup: Bring the water and caster sugar to a gentle boil in a medium saucepan, stirring until the sugar dissolves completely. Remove from the heat.
2
Steep tea: Add the jasmine pearls to the hot syrup, cover with a lid, and steep for 4 minutes. Strain through a fine-mesh sieve into a jug, pressing gently on the leaves to extract all the liquid. Let the syrup cool to room temperature.
3
Blend lychees: Meanwhile, purée the lychees in a blender or food processor until completely smooth. Pass through a sieve if you want a silkier texture (optional but recommended).
4
Combine & chill: Stir the lychee purée, lemon juice, and salt into the cooled tea syrup. Taste—add a little more lemon if the lychees are very sweet. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, or until thoroughly chilled (the colder the base, the faster it will churn).
5
Churn: Pour the chilled mixture into your ice cream maker and churn according to the manufacturer's instructions—usually 20–30 minutes—until the sorbet is thick, pale, and holds soft peaks. It will still be quite soft at this stage.
6
Freeze: Transfer the sorbet to a freezer-proof container, press a sheet of baking parchment directly onto the surface, and freeze for at least 3 hours until firm enough to scoop.
7
Serve: Let the sorbet sit at room temperature for 5 minutes before scooping. Garnish with fresh mint, a few iced tea granita shavings, or extra lychee slices.

🫖 Equipment You'll Need

A ice cream maker (either compressor or pre-freeze bowl model) is non-negotiable for silky, scoopable sorbet. Continuous churning incorporates air and breaks forming ice crystals every few seconds, preventing the grainy, rock-hard texture you get from still-freezing. For delicate jasmine tea infusions, where you want a light, almost mousse-like finish, the difference is night and day.

See our ice cream maker picks →

Expert Tip: Tinned Lychees Work Brilliantly

Fresh lychees are lovely in season, but good-quality tinned lychees in light syrup (drained and rinsed) deliver reliable sweetness and texture year-round. Just reduce the caster sugar by 20–30 g to compensate for the residual syrup.

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