A rosemary lemon drop martini sounds like a perfect way to ease out of summer’s vacay lifestyle and into the demands of fall. The sweet-tart cocktail gets an unexpected boost from the addition of earthy rosemary.
If ever I’ve needed a lip-smacking cocktail, it’s today, the Friday after Labor Day. I should be used to it by now, but each year the “Back to School” moment rudely jerks me out of whatever mellow I’ve managed to achieve during the summer. It plunges me headfirst through a chaotic scramble for supplies and into a pool of anxiety (mine, my son’s, and other parents’) concerning teachers, classmates, lunches, the return of the playground bully, after-school activities, and the grim reality of homework. Nor was my week helped by the shoe store pairing mismatched shoes in the box, or the fact that the art smock I swore was in the closet suddenly vanished the night before school. (Cutting the sleeves off one of your own shirts is not what you want to be doing the exact minute you need to leave the house or risk being late on Day One.)
On the upside, I did talk my son out of wearing a stained sports shirt from the dirty hamper, and he somehow avoided having the one teacher whose name was muttered darkly in our house all summer: the dreaded Ms. X. According to the second-grade gossip mill, she’s both strict and a frequent screamer.
One week down, 36 to go. One hundred eighty days of making turkey and cheese sandwiches at the crack of dawn, of spelling test trauma, and my son’s caveman-like answers to the question “How was your day?” Today, though, happy hour starts at 2:55. Maybe I’ll gather some other mothers and serve up this cocktail. It might be just the thing to make us all forget the pain of tuition.–Kathy Casey
LC Bottoms Up! Note
You could follow this Lemon Drop Martini recipe to the letter and shake these cocktails one at a time. Given their rather compelling nature, however, you may instead wish to stir up a batch of them in a pitcher with some ice and set them out for guests to pour at will. (If you’re about to multiply the amounts below but are as bad as we are at math, just bear in mind that 1 ounce = 2 tablespoons.)
☞ Contents
Rosemary Lemon Drop
Equipment
- Cocktail shaker
Ingredients
- 2 sprigs rosemary
- 1 1/2 ounces vodka
- 1/2 ounce limoncello
- 1/2 ounce fresh lemon juice
- 1/2 ounce Simple Syrup
- Rosemary Sugar optional (recipe follows)
Directions
- Bend 1 sprig of rosemary and drop it into the cocktail shaker. Fill the shaker with ice. Measure in the vodka, limoncello, lemon juice, and simple syrup into the shaker. Cap it and shake vigorously.
- Rim a martini glass with rosemary sugar, if desired. Strain the cocktail into the martini glass. Float the remaining rosemary sprig (or part of the sprig, if it’s large) in the glass. Imbibe!
Notes
Rosemary Sugar
LC Look at All the Ways You’ll Use This Note: This recipe makes ample rosemary sugar, but we’re confident that once you have it on hand, you’ll come up with ample ways to put it to good use. We find a sprinkle of it atop shortbread and grilled or poached stone fruits to be quite nice. Coarsely chop 2 tablespoons rosemary leaves. Combine the rosemary with 1 cup superfine sugar (or just blitz granulated sugar in a blender until finely ground but not powdery) on a rimmed baking sheet. Place the baking sheet in a warm, dry place until the rosemary has completely dried out, about 4 days. Now blitz the rosemary and sugar in a food processor or spice grinder until finely ground. You can keep the sugar in a tightly sealed container at room temperature for up to 1 month.Show Nutrition
If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We’d love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Recipe Testers’ Reviews
After the strong perfume from a fresh sprig of my rosemary plant drifted up to my nose, I was really worried about how much I’d like this drink. But I love it, and I may make it my designated summer cocktail. I’m already thinking of who to invite over so I can make this again. The fresh lemon works so well with the limoncello to break up that sweetness without diluting the lemon flavor. There’s just a faint hint of rosemary left on the tongue after the intial lemon flavor. Don’t be afraid as I was to break that rosemary sprig and give the shaker a good shake. You won’t be sorry. The only change I’d make would be to pour this drink through a fine sieve, as I had little bits of rosemary floating in my glass which were not caught by the cocktail shaker.
Loved it! This is the perfect lemon drop. Usually I find them to be way too sweet, but this one was more like a good lemonade, not too sweet and not too tart—although you have to like vodka and lemon to like this pretty little cocktail. I wasn’t able to make the rosemary sugar as I didn’t realize until too late that you had to let it dry out for more than a day, but I did finely grind some fresh rosemary and mixed it with the sugar to put on the rim of the glass. The rosemary helped to balance the sweet and tart. This will be on my summer drink menu for sitting on the deck, watching the sun slip to the west.
Originally published September 10, 2010
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If you make this recipe, snap a photo and hashtag it #LeitesCulinaria. We'd love to see your creations on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
These drinks were a big hit with my friends a few weeks ago and I finally got around to using up that rosemary sugar. I subbed it in for regular sugar in my lemon cheese pressed cookies. Not too sweet and perfect with the late harvest viognier we enjoyed picnicking @ Zaca Mesa winery yesterday.
This is very nice with an assertive lemon flavor from the Limoncello. I found that a Rosemary Simple Syrup introduced more rosemary flavor into the drink. I recommend trying it if you like more rosemary, and don’t mind making a special syrup!
Glad you liked the cocktail, Larry. Thanks for taking the time to let us know. Cheers to you!
What a good idea to celebrate surviving the back-to-school routine with a cocktail. Who knew that this time of the year puts so much stress on parents. Between lunch-making, school supplies, homework and teacher assigments, how appropriate to take a moment to indulge! Love the photo, beautiful!
“Who knew?” Indeed. It’s actually a great time of year—as full of promise, new goals, sharpened pencils, and eager minds as it is boring sandwiches and potential pitfalls. A part of me does enjoy it… but the cocktail at the end of lift-off week is definitely welcome. Glad you liked the post, and I agree: the photo is really lovely. Cheers!
Thank you for the wonderful post including my Tuscan Rosemary Lemon Drop!
Definitely our pleasure—particularly mine! Talk about hitting the spot. Thanks for a great recipe.
Now, Kathy, how could we not? It’s just too marvelous to pass up. (And I mean that!)
If any question remains as to whether that cocktail hour ought to be a regular event, let me reassure you, it’s quite deserved! Lovely little tale, Allison, of the gauntlet that is the first week of school. May subsequent weeks be far less…well, like this one!
Thanks, Renee. Not sure about the subsequent weeks, since I just got an email detailing the overall homework schedule for second graders. I don’t recall having that much to do until middle school. I am, sometimes, a most reluctant task master. Now, where’d I put that cocktail shaker?!