Celebrate your love ofMartinis and lemon candy with a classic and beautiful Lemon Drop Martini. It’ll turn any night into a cocktail party!
Why We Love Lemon Drop Martini
- A Lemon Drop Martini is simply a beautiful, sunny drink with a sugared rim that elevates your mood and your party just by looking at it!
- Lemon drops are not complicated to make and only require four ingredients, plus a bit of sugar and lemon peel for garnish. So you’ll come out looking like a home bartender extraordinaire.
- This cocktail is the perfect blend of sweet and sour. It’s a light and refreshing drink that you’ll love making for yourself or whipping up in a big batch when friends come over. This recipe is simple enough to double or triple, depending on how many people you want to serve.
What’s in a Lemon Drop?
LIQUOR: Grab your favorite vodka and orange liqueur. Since this is such a simple cocktail you’ll want a smooth, good-quality vodka. For the orange liqueur, triple sec, Cointreau, and Grand Marinier are all great options.
SUGAR: This recipe calls for simple syrup, which you can also get pre-made at your local liquor store or grocery stores. You will need granulated sugar to rim the glasses with too.
LEMONS: Grab a bag of lemons if you know you’ll be making a pitcher of martinis, or just a few if it’ll only be a couple of drinks. You will need lemon peels for garnish and fresh lemon juice.
How to Make a Lemon Drop Martini
Jump to RecipeSTEP 1 Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and pour in the vodka, orange liqueur, simple syrup, and lemon juice. Cover and shake vigorously until the shaker gets cold.
STEP 2 Sprinkle the granulated sugar onto a small plate. Run a lemon wedge with a slit in it around the rim of the martini glass. Then place the glass upside down on the sugar to coat the rim with sugar.
STEP 3 Strain the lemon drop martini from the shaker into the prepared glass, and then add a lemon peel for garnish!
Tips & Tricks
- The sugar rim on this martini is a must. However, if you don’t want to rim the glass with sugar, add 1 more ounce of simple syrup to the recipe.
- To make a pitcher of martinis: Mix together 1 cup of vodka, 1/4 cup of orange liqueur, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of simple syrup in a pitcher. (makes 4 martinis) Rim each glass with sugar, pour the martinis, and garnish with a lemon wedge. If you’re drinking the martinis right away, add ice to the pitcher and give everything a stir to chill your drinks. If you’re making the martinis ahead of time, skip the ice and place the pitcher in the fridge.
Lemon Drop FAQ
Is a Lemon Drop Martini a “girly” drink?
The Lemon Drop Martini is a very popular drink among women because it is sweet and easy to drink a lot of. This drink tastes like sweet lemonade or like the Lemon Drop candy it is named after, which makes it a treat to drink! Don’t let this cliché fool you though, everyone who has one of these Lemon Drop Martinis LOVES them… my husband included.
Why is it called a Lemon Drop Martini?
This drink is believed to have been created in a bar in San Francisco in the 1970’s. The bar was a popular singles watering hole and most likely needed a fantastic drink that would keep the single women coming back. And what is more delicious than a Lemon Drop Martini? The rest, as they say, is history. We still love this drink 50 years later!
Other Recipes You May like
- Spiked Hibiscus Lemonade
- Blackberry Lemonade
- Spiked Blackberry Lemonade Punch
- Strawberry Basil Lemonade Jello Shots
- 25 Made to Order Martinis
Lemon Drop
Ingredients
- 2 ounces vodka
- 1/2 ounce orange liqueur (like triple sec or Cointreau)
- 1 ounce lemon juice
- 1 ounce simple syrup
- 2 tablespoons sugar for rimming
- Lemon wedge for rimming
- Lemon peel for garnish
Instructions
- Fill a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour in the vodka, orange liqueur, lemon juice, and simple syrup. Cover and shake vigorously until the shaker becomes cold.
- Pour the sugar onto a small plate. (see note) Just a lemon wedge with a slit cut into it to rim a martini glass. Dip the rim of the upside down glass into the sugar.
- Pour the lemon drop into the prepared glass. Garnish with a lemon peel on a cocktail pick or leaning on the rim of the glass.
Notes
- To make a pitcher of martinis: Mix together 1 cup of vodka, 1/4 cup of orange liqueur, 1/2 cup of lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of simple syrup in a pitcher. (makes 4 martinis) Rim each glass with sugar, pour the martinis, and garnish with a lemon wedge. If you’re drinking the martinis right away, add ice to the pitcher and give everything a stir to chill your drinks. If you’re making the martinis ahead of time, skip the ice and place the pitcher in the fridge.
- If you don’t want to make a sugar rim, I suggest adding another ounce of simple syrup.
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