Alright, so I found out today was National Lemon Drop Day. Didn’t even know that was a thing, but hey, any excuse to try something, right? Seemed like a good enough reason to break the routine a bit.
First thing I did was head to the kitchen. Needed to see what I actually had. Dug around in the fridge and, lucky me, found a couple of decent-looking lemons. Also had some vodka tucked away, leftover from some gathering ages ago. Okay, basic ingredients sorted.
Getting Things Ready
Needed sugar too, obviously. And something for that citrus kick besides just lemon juice. Found some triple sec in the back of the cabinet. Good enough. For the sugar rim, just regular granulated sugar would do. Grabbed a small plate for that.
- Checked for lemons: Found two.
- Located vodka: Check.
- Found Triple Sec: Yes.
- Sugar for rim and maybe syrup: Got it.
Realized I didn’t have simple syrup ready-made. No big deal. Just heated up equal parts sugar and water on the stove for a few minutes until the sugar dissolved. Let that cool down a bit while I dealt with the lemons.
Making the Drink
Okay, action time. Cut one of the lemons in half and squeezed the juice out. Got a decent amount. Took the other lemon and cut a wedge for garnish, then rubbed another wedge around the rim of a martini glass. Dipped the wet rim onto the plate of sugar. Got a nice little crust going.
Then, grabbed my shaker. Dumped in a good pour of vodka. Added the fresh lemon juice, a splash of that triple sec, and a bit of the simple syrup I just made. Eyeballed the amounts mostly, not going for perfection here.
Put the lid on the shaker, made sure it was tight. Then I just shook it like crazy. You know, until the outside of the shaker felt really cold. That’s the signal.
The Moment of Truth
Strained the mix into the sugar-rimmed glass. Looked pretty good, actually. Stuck that lemon wedge on the side.
Took a sip. Wow. That first hit was properly tart, then the sweetness came through. Pretty well balanced, surprisingly. The sugar rim added a nice little crunch too. It wasn’t fancy, wasn’t complicated, but it hit the spot.
Just sat down and enjoyed it. Felt like a nice little treat for a random weekday. Sometimes these little “national days” are just a fun prompt to do something small and enjoyable you wouldn’t normally think of. Simple stuff, you know?
