Lemon Drop Martini
Also known as Lemon Drop
Vodka, lemon and orange liqueur served up in a sugar-rimmed glass: the 1970s sweet-sour that became a standard.
The Lemon Drop appeared in San Francisco in the 1970s and is most often credited to Norman Jay Hobday at Henry Africa’s, the fern bar he opened in 1969. Structurally it is a vodka sour — lemon juice, sugar, a little orange liqueur — served up in a sugar-rimmed glass, which is how it picked up “martini” in the name. It spread through American bars in the 1980s and is now a fixture of the modern classic list.
- The sugar-rimmed coupe became the standard presentation in the 1980s.
- Raspberry Lemon Drop
- Tangerine Lemon Drop
“The drink is named for the lemon-drop sweet rather than for the garnish.”
Ingredients
- Vodka45 ml
- Lemon juice20 ml
- Triple sec15 ml
- Simple syrup10 ml
- Superfine sugarfor the rim
- Lemon wedgeto garnish
Method
Shake the vodka, lemon, triple sec and syrup with ice, fine-strain into a sugar-rimmed coupe and garnish with a lemon wedge.
Coupe · no ice · sugar rim