Easy Lemon Drop Martini Cocktail

How to make a perfect lemon drop martini cocktail with a homemade lemon sugar rim. This is one of our absolute favorite cocktails to make at home. 

Watch the Recipe

Lemon Drop Martini Recipe Video

How to Make the Best Lemon Drop Martini

The key to the best lemon drop martini is balancing sour and sweet. Here are four things to keep in mind when making lemon drop martinis at home:

  1. Use Freshly Squeezed Lemon Juice. The juice from a bottle just won’t cut it here. For one cocktail, you will need 1 ounce of lemon juice or the juice from half a large lemon.
  2. Use quality vodka. Since this is a martini, there’s quite a bit of vodka called for. You don’t need to go straight to the top shelf, but choose a smooth vodka. A few of our favorites are Kettle One, Stolichnaya (Stoli), and Tito’s.
  3. Everything should be really cold. A lukewarm martini is no fun, so be sure to shake the heck out of it — if you want to go the extra mile, chill the martini glasses, too.
  4. Add a lemon sugar rim. You’ve probably noticed rim sugar sold at the store. They are a great idea, but honestly, much easier to make at home yourself.
Lemon Drop Martini

To make our lemon drops extra special, we add a simple lemon sugar rim to our glasses. You could certainly stick with plain sugar, but since you’ve already bought the lemons for the fresh lemon juice, you might as well whip up this zesty sugar, right?

To make it, rub the zest of one lemon into granulated sugar. Easy!

Lemon Sugar

One more thing — you’ll need simple syrup for this. You can buy simple syrup at the store for convenience, but it’s really easy to make at home.

Here’s our step-by-step instructions for how to make simple syrup. We made it in our recipe video, too — it only takes a few minutes.

Recipe updated, originally posted July 2010. Since posting this in 2010, we have tweaked the recipe to be more clear and added a quick recipe video. – Adam and Joanne

Lemon Drop Martini Cocktail

Easy Lemon Drop Martini Cocktail

  • PREP
  • TOTAL

There are three things to keep in mind when making lemon drop martinis at home. Fresh lemon juice is best, use a quality vodka, and serve the martini very cold. A few of our favorite mid-priced vodka brands are Kettle One, Stolichnaya (Stoli), and Tito’s. If you plan to make the lemon sugar, it is best to remove the zest from the lemon before juicing them for the martini. Then when you need to moisten the glass so that the sugar sticks, use the leftover lemon halves after juicing.

Makes 1 drink

Watch Us Make the Recipe

You Will Need

Lemon Sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

Zest from 1 lemon

Lemon Drop Martini

2 ounces (1/4 cup) quality vodka, try a citron vodka

3/4 ounce (1 ½ tablespoons) Cointreau or triple sec

1 ounce (2 tablespoons) fresh squeezed lemon juice (Juice from 1/2 large lemon)

3/4 ounce (1 ½ tablespoons) simple syrup, see our recipe for simple syrup

Ice

Lemon sugar, for glass rim

Directions

  • Make Lemon Sugar
  • 1Add sugar to a plate then rub the zest into the sugar with your fingers until tinted yellow and fragrant.

  • Make Martini
  • 1Moisten the rim of a chilled martini glass with the juiced lemon, turn the glass upside down and twist into the lemon sugar, set aside.

    2Add vodka, Cointreau (or triple sec), lemon juice, simple syrup and a handful of ice to a cocktail shaker. Shake for 30 seconds or until very cold. Strain into the prepared martini glass and serve immediately.

Adam and Joanne's Tips

  • Nutrition Facts: The nutrition facts provided below are estimates. We have used the USDA database to calculate approximate values.

If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #inspiredtaste — We love to see your creations on Instagram and Facebook! Find us: @inspiredtaste

Nutrition Per Serving Calories 256 / Protein 0 g / Carbohydrate 21 g / Dietary Fiber 0 g / Total Sugars 20 g / Total Fat 0 g / Saturated Fat 0 g / Cholesterol 0 mg
AUTHOR:  Adam and Joanne Gallagher
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77 comments… Leave a Comment
  • JILL July 18, 2023, 9:45 pm

    Absolutely delicious!!!

    Reply
  • Susan July 3, 2023, 8:32 am

    Hands down best lemon drop martini! You MUST use Cointreau. I know its expensive but I think that is what makes a difference.

    Reply
  • Cecilia Gonzalez June 18, 2023, 5:16 pm

    Tried this recipe today, it was so refreshing for the pool!!! Definitely going to be my go to lemon martini.

    Reply
  • Juls June 14, 2023, 7:34 pm

    Delicious!! Can’t wait to make at my next dinner gathering.

    Reply
  • Melissa Jones June 13, 2023, 7:24 pm

    Thank you for this recipe! It’s so simple and delicious. It’s always our go to! Such a refreshing treat after a long day of work here in South Carolina

    Reply
  • Drl April 8, 2023, 7:34 pm

    Switch the plain vodka or Cointreau/ Triple Sec to Limoncello liqueur for true lemon flavor! Much better

    Reply
  • Kelly March 29, 2023, 10:36 pm

    Thanks for the recipe. Can’t wait to try it over Easter. Can I make a jug of this by multiplying measurements, or is it best to make in small batches? Thank you.

    Reply
    • Joanne April 13, 2023, 6:02 pm

      Definitely, just be careful when people pour their drinks, these are potent.

      Reply
  • Robyn February 13, 2023, 12:18 pm

    This is a perfect Lemon Drop recipe!! So tasty and leaves you wanting more! The lemon zest & sugar combo on the rim is a great touch.

    Reply
  • Paul January 25, 2023, 8:31 pm

    This recipe is perfect! We tried a different recipe first, and it was not good. Found this one and won’t make anything else from now on!!

    Reply
    • Joanne January 26, 2023, 6:00 pm

      Oh wow, that is such great news, Paul.

      Reply
  • Eddie Mac January 11, 2023, 10:58 am

    This is a good recipe, try this frozen Minute Maid lemon juice, a couple of scoops in an ice-filled mixing cup, 1-2 shots of absolute citron, squeeze Myers lemon fresh cut, and shake till chilled; serve in a chilled sugar-rimmed martini glass, Cheers

    Reply

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