Limoncello Lemon Drop Martini

This limoncello lemon drop martini is tangy and sweet, full of lemon flavor.

A lemon drop limoncello martini is perfect for those who want to enjoy a classy martini, but with more flavor.

This is a classy but also fun drink, the perfect cocktail to serve at a summer cocktail party or dinner party. It’s a mixture of a lemon drop and a martini to bring the flavor of the lemon drop, but the elegance of a martini. It’s the perfect balance of tangy and sweet. 

This raspberry mint martini is another example of revamping a classic.

When serving it, be sure to chill the martini glass first. Fill the martini glass with ice whilst you make up the cocktail. Once the cocktail is ready, tip out the ice in the glass and pour in the drink. A cold martini is lovely in the hot summer months, and a lemon twist makes it even more refreshing.

Ingredients

This limoncello lemon drop martini recipe is a vodka martini, though you can swap this for gin too. Find the ingredient amounts written in the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

• Vodka – a good quality unflavored vodka
• Limoncello liqueur – delicious Italian liqueur made from lemons. You could use homemade limoncello or an authentic Italian lemon liqueur.
• Lemon juice from fresh lemons – A bit of fresh lemon nearly always enhances a cocktail, not just lemon cocktails.
• Simple syrup
• Ice cubes
• Lemon peel or lemon slices for garnish

See the recipe card for quantities.

Equipment

A cocktail shaker or a tall jar, plus a long-handled spoon or stirrer.

Martini glasses, a coupe glass or other cocktail glass of choice.

Instructions

Simple syrup

Before you begin, you will need some cooled simple syrup. This is simply equal parts water and sugar simmered together until the sugar has dissolved.

If you make a cup at a time (1 cup sugar plus 1 cup water), it can store in the fridge for weeks, for future cocktails. Simply simmer until the sugar dissolved, then let it cool down to room temperature before using.

The cocktail

Tip the ice out of the martini glass, then strain in the cocktail into the prepared martini glass. Garnish with a slice of lemon or a sliver of lemon zest and serve immediately.

Variations

You can swap out the vodka for gin if you like, and add some extra or different flavors. 

• Flavored syrup. Swap the plain simple syrup for a herb simple syrup like sage or rosemary, or muddle in some mint leaves.
• Add a sugared rim. The rim of the glass can be coated in sugar for a little something extra. Run a lemon or lime wedge along the edge of the glass, then dip the glass in a little plate of sugar. For a lemon sugar rim, rub the sugar in some lemon zest first.

More amazing cocktails

• Blueberry sage cocktail
• Raspberry gin sour
• Blueberry gin sour
• Cranberry Gin Martini

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