Lemon Drop
At our house, we have a tradition that Friday nights are Martini Nights (it’s something I highly encourage you to start!). I’m a bit of a classic guy myself, going with a standard gin Martini, but Alice likes to branch out a bit more. Her drink of choice lately? The Lemon Drop. As lemon is a fantastic winter citrus that brings you the promise of warmer days, I encourage you too to have a Lemon Drop on your first official Martini Night.
One of the things that I hate (and I know you all do too) when you’re out is getting a cocktail that is unbalanced — almost always “unbalanced” means overly sweet. Listen, if I’m paying anywhere from $10-$15 for a drink, the last thing I want is syrupy sugar water. It just makes my teeth hurt thinking about it.
As you might imagine, the Lemon Drop we make is a bit more sour than sweet (and boozy — you’re drinking with a purpose, right?). What we don’t encourage is rimming the glass with sugar. It’s not that we’re morally opposed to it, but try it without the sugar, you might just like it.
There are a multitude of different versions of this cocktail floating around the ‘net. Is there any one right one? Of course not. Is there one that’s a little better than the rest? Well, you tell me. This is our version, give it a try against some of the other ones out there and let me know what you think.
Oh, if you’d like it a little sweeter? Add some more simple syrup (1 part sugar, 1 part water). Less sweet? Take some away! Cocktails should be fun and personal — you decide how you like it the best.
Now, let’s get to some Lemonhead style Lemon Drop action!
- 3 oz. vodka
- 1½ oz. lemon juice
- 1 oz. simple syrup
- Lemon peel
- Glass type: Coupe
- Add the vodka, lemon juice and simple syrup sugar into your cocktail shaker with ice.
- Shake like it's Friday, you've had a hard week and you're ready for a martini.
- Pour into your coupe (keeping it extra classy, a martini glass work too).
- Garnish with lemon peel.
- Pop on a Film Noir, kick off your shoes and sip to the weekend.
