When life deals you lemons, you can react like Cave Johnson, or you can make the Lemon Drop Martini.

While technically a Martini variation, most folks will just call it a Lemon Drop, and that’s cool by me.  The original cocktail was crafted by the crew at a local San Francisco bar that’s gone the way of the dodo.

I’ve made some tweaks to the original recipe because, well… folks like this drink sweet.  And deviating from the correct Martini, instead of full Gin, we go half and half with Vodka. And instead of Dry Vermouth, we use Combier.  So here we have:

The Lemon Drop (on the BoozeGuru’s terms)

• 1 ounce citrusy Gin (Leopold’s, Citadelle, Beefeater)
• 1 ounce neutral Vodka (Tito’s or Green Mark)
• 1/2 ounce Combier/Cointreau/Triple Sec
• 3/4 ounce Simple Syrup* (not Bar Syrup)
• 3/4 ounce fresh squeezed lemon juice

Add ice to your shaker.
Add all ingredients to the shaker.
Shake until your hands hurt from the cold; then shake for ten seconds longer.
Strain and serve Up in a chilled cocktail glass rimmed with fine sugar.
Garnish with a slice of lemon.

Enjoy! (or start shouting about combustible lemons… your choice.)

*I’m not listing how to make Simple Syrup this time.  It’s everywhere on my site… go have a look.