Lemon Drop Martini - A Little Spoon

Get the Recipe: Lemon Drop Martini

Oleo-Saccharum is the secret ingredient to the perfect lemony flavor in this martini.

5 from 2 ratings

Yield1 cocktail

Prep10

Cook0

Chill Time1

1 cup lemon peels, (about 6 lemons)
¼ cup granulated sugar, (see FAQs to make superfine sugar for better dissolving)

First, begin by washing your citrus.
Next, peel them and place the peels in a non-reactive bowl or jar. Try to keep the peels as free from pith (the white fibrous layer under the skin but before the pulp) as much as possible.
Gently mix in an equal amount of sugar, by weight, to the peels. The sugar will quickly become sandy and stick to the peels. (optional: also gently muddle the peel and sugar mixture after about 10 minutes on the counter) Let the mixture sit for 24 hours at room temperature.
The sugared oil left over is your oleo-saccharum. Strain the syrup into a sealed container and refrigerate for up to a week.

Make lemon oleo-saccharum (using the first 4 pieces of equipment) a day in advance of making the martini. While your finished oleo-saccharum is draining, collect your other ingredients and decide if you’d like to have a traditional sugared rim.
If that’s an emphatic “yes!", pour a small amount of agave onto a plate or into a shot glass. Hold your glass by the bowl and dip your paint brush into the syrup. Then paint the agave along the rim. When done, set the glass down and pour some sugar onto a small plate. Roll the adorned rim around in the sugar until coated. Set aside.
Next, measure and pour each of the martini ingredients into an empty shaker. Add whole ice cubes, close, and shake for 30-45 seconds.
Double strain into your prepared martini or coupe glass. Express a lemon peel over the glass and enjoy!
If you’d like to garnish further, consider a lemon slice or curled lemon peel.

Play around with ingredient ratios! I use a 1:1 ratio by weight, as is traditional, but you can add much more sugar for a gently-citrusy syrup.
If you want to have a chilled glass, place it in the freezer about 15-30 minutes before making the cocktail. You can also fill the glass with ice or ice-water as you make the martini, and then dump the ice before straining.
The sugared rim should be done before chilling the glass. The condensation on the glass will prevent the agave and sugar from sticking uniformly. And, you hand holding the glass will completely defeat the purpose of chilling it.
If you don’t want to use agave to sugar the rim of the martini glass, you can also slide a piece of lemon along the rim and then roll the glass in sugar. This option is doable, but will not nearly be as consistent.