Lemon Drop Martini
Vodka, lemon, orange liqueur and a sugared rim. A 1970s San Francisco sour that is far better fresh than its reputation suggests.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Run a lemon wedge round half the rim of a chilled martini glass or coupe and dip it in superfine sugar.
Add the vodka, lemon juice, orange liqueur and syrup to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 10 to 12 seconds.
Double strain into the glass and garnish with a lemon twist.
A thoughtful finish
- Sugar only half the rim. The drinker can choose a sweet sip or a sour one, and the sugar does not end up in the drink.
- A 40% orange liqueur does the work of both sweetener and backbone; with a cheap triple sec, drop the syrup to a quarter-ounce or the drink turns syrupy.
- Shake it hard and serve it very cold. Like every vodka sour it is a drink about temperature.
Common mistakes
- Sour mix. The whole drink is lemon; bottled mix makes it taste of nothing.
- A full rim of coarse sugar. It falls into the drink and makes the last half cloying.
- Too much syrup. The sugar rim already sweetens every sip.
A few good questions.
Is a Lemon Drop a shot or a cocktail?
Both exist. The original was a shot — vodka, a sugared lemon wedge to bite — and the martini-glass version grew out of it. The two share a name and a flavour.
Vodka or citrus vodka?
Either. Citrus vodka adds aroma but most are sweetened, so reduce the syrup if you use one.
What is the difference from a Vodka Sour?
The orange liqueur and the sugar rim. Strip them out and you have a Vodka Sour; add egg white and you have the classic one.
Can I make it with gin?
Yes — gin, lemon, orange liqueur and sugar is more or less a White Lady, and it is excellent.
Variations
- Vodka Sour — Vodka, lemon and sugar, often with egg white.
- Cosmopolitan — Citrus vodka, lime, orange liqueur and cranberry.
- Kamikaze — Vodka, lime and orange liqueur.
- Limoncello Sour — Lemon liqueur in place of orange.
Where it comes from
c. 1970s · San Francisco · Norman Jay Hobday · Henry Africa's
Norman Jay Hobday opened Henry Africa’s in San Francisco in 1969 — often called the first ‘fern bar’, all hanging plants and Tiffany lamps — and the Lemon Drop was the house drink, a shot of vodka with lemon and sugar that took its name from the candy. It grew into a shaken, stemmed cocktail through the 1980s and 1990s, and the sugared rim and the orange liqueur arrived along the way. It is, under the name, a vodka sour with a sweet rim, and when it is made with fresh lemon it is a very good one.
Sources
- Robert Simonson, A Proper Drink, 2016 (book)
- San Francisco Chronicle, Norman Hobday obituary, 2011 (article)
- Dale DeGroff, The Craft of the Cocktail, 2002 (book)
Strength. About 1.67 US standard drinks at an estimated 20% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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