The Story Behind The Mandarin Lemon Drop

Drinking in summertime is a delicate balance. Your primary goal is always going to be to concoct something refreshing. But many roads lead to the kingdom of the refreshed. This week, I decided to go with the perfect balance of sweet and sour to get me through a particularly hot summer afternoon.

I made a classic Lemon Drop Martini. It was lovely, but I wanted something with a little more freshness. I grabbed some mandarins out of the kitchen and extracted as much juice as I could from them. And wow, did that make a difference. It was so perfect, so refreshing, so eminently quaffable. The fresh natural mandarin juices worked so well in conjunction with the original lemon drop ingredients. This cocktail will definitely get anyone through the warmer months.

Ingredients

  • 1.5 ounces vodka
  • ½ ounce triple sec
  • ¾ ounce lemon juice
  • 1 ounce mandarin juice
  • 1 teaspoon fine sugar

Directions

  1. Rim your cocktail glass with sugar
  2. Combine vodka, triple sec, lemon juice and mandarin juice with ice in a shaker
  3. Shake hard to chill and dilute ingredients
  4. Double strain into your glass

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(125 votes)

Yield: 1 cocktail
Updated: 2019-05-06

Mandarin Lemon Drop Recipe