Lemondrop

Candy is dandy… but liquor is quicker.

You knew I’d say that, right? It’s the week of Halloween. Kids have bags of candy stuffed in every corner of the room. Isn’t it about time the adults got to enjoy something sweet?

How about a Lemon Drop? It’s a bright lemony, sweet and sour flavored vodka cocktail named after a classic little hard candy pucker. This cocktail is not a classic in the traditional sense, but it is a modern classic and it’s become a very popular drink. So popular that there are some pretty horrendous mixes available commercially. They’re laden with artificial ingredients and produce a sickly sweet drink that hardly even tastes like lemon and really has no place in your glass.

However, when mixed just right this drink is neither too sweet nor too sour. The trick it to use freshly squeezed juice. I also like to use lemon infused vodka. You can easily infuse your own. Just add the yellow parts of lemon peels to vodka and let it steep for a week or so. Try to avoid as much of the white pith as possible.

You can buy lemon-flavored vodka too. Citron from Absolut is just one example of many available. This drink is best served icy cold so keep the vodka in the freezer. GREG