Lemon drop recipe?
Hi folks,
Does anyone have an excellent mix for a lemon drop? My bar books and the internet recipes I've made all yield something very sweet and very boozy. This is my gf's fav. cocktail, and I've been unable to create anything close to what we have at our watering hole (which makes a very good lemon drop that even I like). Many cocktail recipes are for a shooter version of this drink, which isn't what I'm after, so I guess that leaves what is often called a "lemon drop martini"
I've been using stoli, cointreau & sweet&sour mix for my recent experiments - equal parts of each turns out OK, but isn't citrus'y enough, it's too sweet, and I think courtesy of the cointreau, tastes too much of alcohol. Perhaps the cointreau (a years-old bottle of it, even) is to blame?
Any tips for the perfect lemon drop?
TA!
_Adam
adampaul
Nov 29, 2006 04:52AM
Here's the recipe I learned in Bartending School 10 years ago. I find that many of the recipes I know have evolved into a sweeter version. Like the original Cosmopoliton never had citron vodka in it.
Lemon Drop Martini:
2 oz citron vodka
1 oz Roses lime juice
served with a sugared rim.
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2 oz vodka (use citron if you like)
2 tsp sugar (use 1 tsp to sugar the rim)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice.
mix vodka, 1 tsp sugar, and lemon juice in shaker with ice, strain into rimmed glass.
I would tend to avoid sour mix. It has way too much sugar and makes a drink horrible (IMO)--If you need sour mix, opposed to using commercial here is a recipe for homemade:
1 egg white (whisk until frothy) add 1 cup sugar, 16 oz water and 16 oz fresh lemon juice. mix well seal tightly on fridge for up to 5 days. (for a great margarita, substitute lime juice for the lemon juice)
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Thanks Beth & 2top - I'll give your recipes a try tonight. Vodka + sugar + lemon sounds great, and I agree about bottled sour mix - I haven't cared for any that I've had.
Rgds,
_Adam
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A lemon drop to me is a cold shot of vodka, followed by a sugar-coated lemon wedge.
That said, one of our favorite drinks is a roasted lemon martini that John Kessler at the Atlanta Journal Constitution published in 2002. Basically, you roast the lemons at 325F for an hour, turning once. Then the drink is one lemon, rough cut into a few pieces; 1 oz simple syrup; 2 oz vodka. Shake w/ crushed ice and strain. It's been a while, but I think we make the lemons go a bit further by mixing more than one drink at a time but still just using one lemon. Really tasty stuff.
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OK, I'm making progress towards our perfect lemon drop....
I tried 1oz sweet & sour & 2oz vodka and found it undersweet and overly boozy (our sweet & sour mix is likely much less sugary than Rose's, suggested by 2top, however).
Beth's 2oz vodka, 2 tsp lemon juice, 1 tsp sugar (plus rimming) definitely contains all of the desired flavors, but Sebby & I both thought it could use more lemon & sugar.
2oz vodka, the juice from 1/2 a lemon, and 1/2oz simple syrup was pretty close.
Ted, your recipe with roasted lemons sounds excellent, if not speedy. Do you roast the lemons whole? Puncture them before cooking? Do they keep a while? You don't squeeze the juice out of 'em, just bruise them around via shaking?
BTW, I just got a bottle of simple syrup since it's easier to mix than sugar, even superfine, for drinks that don't require muddling - as a general rule, how much simple syrup is equal to how much sugar? Unfortunately the syrup we got is all HCFS and preservatives, but the homemade stuff we've made spoils awfully quickly.
Thanks!
_Adam
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You can do the lemons ahead of time and refrigerate. I'd say they'll keep up to a week (maybe longer, though the fresh-ingredient-cocktail-police might get you). Roast whole, no piercing required. They may deflate a bit and/or loose juice (keep it). Then just cutting them into a few pieces and the agitation from shaking does the trick.
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1 tsp of simple syrup equals 1 tsp of sugar. In making homemade simple syrup, if you keep it in the fridge, if should stay good for a very long time
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Well, that's entirely sensible :)
We'll have to try making our own again - if there's to be any corn in my drinks, I really prefer it to come from the booze.
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My husband makes lemon drops using this recipe:
2 cups frozen vodka
1/2 cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 lemon, thinly sliced
Ice
Combine the vodka, lemon juice, and sugar and pour into a cocktail shaker with ice. Pour into martini glasses and garnish with lemon slices.
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I really think meyer lemons, when in season makes a huge difference, and I second rmperry's husbands concoction.
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I make mine with 2 parts vodka (citrus or not), 1 part Cointreau, and 1 part fresh lemon juice. This makes a strong but tasty drink.
I don't like sour mix or Rose's. They make drinks taste fake and overly sweet to me.
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Whatever you do, you gotta go easy on the Roases Lime Juice or any other of those bottled Lemon/Lime juices... they just basically suck if there's much of it...
Instead, use fresh squeezed, there's just no comparison....
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Lemon Drops
Step 1: Simple syrup 1 Cup water
3/4 Cup sugar
Bring to a boil, cook for a few minutes until sugar is dissolved; Cool.
Step 2: Mixer: 1 recipe (above) of simple syrup
1 Cup fresh squeezed lemon juice ( NOT BOTTLED)
1/3 Cup fresh squeezed orange juice
Mix all ingredients together, keep cold.
Step 3: Prep Glass Put a little mixer on small plate, dip rim of glass
Put 1/4 C. sugar on another plate & dip rim in sugar
Step 4: Mix Drink In cocktail mixer or at least a 2 cup container, put 1 shot of Citrus flavored Vodka (I use Absolut) and 2 shots of mixer with about a cup of ice, stir well until cold and strain into glass. Mmmmmmmm….
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Below is what I have posted in another Lemondrop recipe need...hope it helps!! This can make a generous single cocktail or two "straight shots" drinks...
Been bartending for quite sometime and this is what I would recommend:
Never use storebought sweet-n-sour for starters. They are always watery and overly sweet. Instead make your own sweet-n-sour. Recipe below:
Make your own simple syrup of equal parts of hot water (doesn't necessarily need to be boiling, just really hot) and sugar. Stir together until mixture becomes clear-this means all the sugar has dissolved. Then add fresh lemon juice in a two (juice) to one (simple syrup) ratio, cups or half cups depending on how much you want to make. You can either squeeze your own lemon juice, then strain the pulp, but I prefer Naked fresh lemon juice. Also Smart-n-Finals carry fresh lemon juice that restaurants use.
After all that...
4 oz of citrus vodka (prefer Absolut, or Ketel One)
2 oz of triple sec (any is fine)
3 to 4 oz of sweet-n-sour (depending on how strong you like your drink)
Shake-n-strain into sugar-rimmed martini glass
Hope this helps!! It does take a little time and shopping but is really worth it!!
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