Name: Lemon Drop Martini
Prep time: 5 min
Total time: 5 min
Yield: 1 cocktail
Ingredients: 2 oz Citron vodka; 1 oz Fresh lemon juice; ¾ oz Triple sec or Cointreau; ½ oz Simple syrup; Sugar and lemon zest — for the rim; Lemon wheel to garnish

Ingredients

2 oz Citron vodka
1 oz Fresh lemon juice
¾ oz Triple sec or Cointreau
½ oz Simple syrup
Sugar and lemon zest — for the rim
Lemon wheel to garnish

Method

1

Prepare the rimMix sugar with a pinch of lemon zest. Rub a lemon wedge around the rim of a martini glass and dip in the sugar mixture.
2

Chill the glassPlace the sugared glass in the freezer while you prepare the drink.
3

Combine and shakeAdd vodka, lemon juice, triple sec, and simple syrup to a shaker with ice. Shake hard for 12 seconds.
4

Double strainStrain through a fine-mesh strainer into the sugared, chilled martini glass.
5

GarnishFloat a thin lemon wheel on top.

San Francisco 1970s

The Lemon Drop was created at Henry Africa's bar in San Francisco in the 1970s. It was one of the first modern cocktails to feature a sugar rim, and helped establish citron (lemon) vodka as a bar staple. The original was intended as a refreshing alternative to the overly sweet drinks of the era.

Despite being lumped in with other 'flavoured martini' cocktails of the 1990s, the Lemon Drop stands up on its own merits when made properly. The key is fresh lemon juice — not mix, not preserved lemon, not ReaLemon. Fresh juice changes everything. The sugar rim also needs lemon zest mixed in; plain sugar is flat.

Variations

🍊 Tangerine Drop

Replace citron vodka with tangerine vodka and lemon with tangerine juice. Sweeter and more tropical.

🍋 Limoncello Drop

Replace triple sec with limoncello and reduce simple syrup by half. More intensely lemon-flavoured and more Italian in character.

🌿 Ginger Lemon Drop

Add ½ oz ginger syrup to the shaker. The ginger heat contrasts nicely with the lemon tartness.

🍋 Lemon Drop Martini

San Francisco 1970s

🍊 Tangerine Drop

🍋 Limoncello Drop

🌿 Ginger Lemon Drop