In a cocktail, what is the most important ingredient? Well, you might say, it has to be the booze. You’re right in the sense that poor quality liquor is going to make for a struggling drink. But I often think of the liquor as simply the base for the drink and the additions and their proportions are what are essential for cocktail success.
After sugar and chocolate, my favorite flavors are citrus. I crave them. So a Lemon Drop Cocktail is just up my alley. Thing is, when you search for a recipe you find yourself in a swamp. Some call for vodka + lemon juice, others want just lemon vodka. Some call for an orange liquor, some not. Almost all of them call for relatively little sugar, and using sugar syrup is a rarity.
My experiment below was a success on the first blush. I used regular, unflavored vodka, but a decent brand. For the orange liquor, I used high quality: Mandarin Napoleon. And I kept the “standard ratio” of 3 to 1 for the vodka versus the orange liquor. What I did do was to substantially boost the amount of freshly squeezed lemon juice, to achieve a “right now” lemon flavor. And, to balance that tartness, I used sugar syrup instead of regular or even superfine sugar.
This cocktail will strike you as “strong” but that’s really because of the push of so much lemon juice. Compared to the standard recipe, this recipe is 50% less concentrated with alcohol.
Ah, for effect and taste, take the lemon half you have just juiced and run it around the rim of your cocktail glass. Then dip the rim in superfine sugar. You’ve gone this far, why stop so near the summit of excellence?
Brian’s Lemon Drop Cocktail
Yield: scale as you need
Ingredients:
- 3 parts cold vodka
- 1 part quality lemon liquor
- 2 parts freshly squeezed lemon juice
- 2 parts sugar syrup
Preparation:
Place all your ingredients in a cocktail shaker [if you are making a lot, then fill the shaker only half full]. Add several ice cubes, shake for a minute until ice cold. Pour into cocktail glass, ideally rimmed with sugar. Top with crushed ice to maintain the chill.
Source: Brian O’Rourke