Celebrate your love of martinis 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
- ½ 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.
Nutrition
All nutritional information is based on third party calculations and is only an estimate. Each recipe and nutritional value will vary depending on the brands you use, measuring methods and portion sizes per household.
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