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The Lemon Drop was created in San Francisco in the 1970s. Norman Jay Hobday, a Vietnam veteran turned saloon owner, is credited with founding the country’s first fern bar. This concept combined houseplants and Tiffany lamps with throngs of upwardly mobile urbanites.
Both were a huge hit right away. And for more than two decades, the Lemon Drop dominated cocktail menus from North Beach to Bangkok, seducing a generation of drinkers with its boozy-tart-sweet mix of vodka, lemon, and sugar. Oprah Winfrey notably served one to Rachael Ray on her show in 2006, signaling widespread acceptance and cementing the drink’s place in popular culture.
The Lemon Drop is sometimes mistaken for a Martini. The Crusta, though, is its closest cocktail cousin. This 1850s New Orleans creation is recognizable by its sugared rim, similar to the Lemon Drop. While it might be alluring to save time by bypassing this crucial step, take the extra moment to sugar the rim. It’s worth the effort because the drink’s calling card is the first sweet touch on the lips before the surge of vodka, lemon, and orange fills your mouth.
The Lemon Drop is typically served in a cocktail glass, but it can also be poured as a shot, prevalent at student bars and nightclubs. Fresh lemon juice and simple syrup offer the best results, regardless of how you serve it. If it’s your only option, which is often the case at bars, bottled sweet and sour can get the job done.
However, the combination of fresh lemon and sugar gives the cocktail its distinct flavor. Plus, if you are going to indulge, you might as well do it in style. Fresh foods are less likely to induce negative effects the next morning, not simply because they taste better.
The drink’s pleasant lemony flavor lends itself to experimentation. Some establishments and home bartenders add citrus or berry-flavored vodkas to Lemon Drops, while others muddle fresh fruit into the drink. Try the classic before you start improvising. It’s been around for a purpose, and it deserves to be enjoyed in its natural state.
Easy steps of making the Lemon Drop cocktail
Let’s take a look at how to make a Lemon Drop shot:
- Rim the edge of the shot glass using lemon juice and then dip it in sugar. Remove any loose sugar with your shaker. Pour chilled vodka into the glass. Take the shot and bite into a slice of lemon right away. Prepare enough shot glasses for the entire party ahead of time, so pouring the vodka is all you have to do. </p>
- In a shot glass, put a sugar cube. 3/4-ounce vodka and 3/4-ounce lemon juice, shaken with ice and strained over a sugar cube. Quickly consume the shot. If you don’t have any sugar cubes on hand, a tiny amount of granulated sugar will suffice.
- Another way to make this cocktail is by dissolving the sugar, stirring it in, and refrigerating the cocktail for at least 4 hours after covering to achieve a chilled taste. Dip the rims of cocktail glasses in powdered sugar after moistening them with water or lemon juice. Place glasses in the freezer for 1 hour before serving.
- Fill glasses halfway with pitcher mixture; garnish with a lemon slice or wedge. Instead of lemon juice, you can use LimeDrop, use fresh lime juice, and garnish with lime slices or wedges. Orange Drop instead of ordinary vodka, use Absolut Mandarin and 1/8 cup frozen orange juice concentrate (thawed) plus 1/2 cup water; garnish with an orange slice or wedge.
