The Perfect Tipple🍸🍊🍋For Citrus Season
All the beautiful citrus around here is ripe and incredible. It makes a cocktail conjurer like me, look to ways to use as much of the delicious fruit as possible. This Gin Lemon Drop makes use of the best of the best. Try your hand and mix up a cocktail tonight, it’s a Gin Lemon Drop Cocktail 🍋. (But you can make yours with Vodka, if you prefer 😉.)
Citrus Oleo Saccharum is one of the ingredients. If you’re not familiar with it, it literally means exactly what you’re thinking, citrus in sugar oil. You are infusing the oils found in the zest of the fruit into the sugar. Oleo–saccharum is an ingredient that is easy to blend yourself. It was very popular in the 1900’s used to add fruit flavors to punches and other drinks.
Since I’d never made it before, I thought I would give it a go. I’m seriously glad that I did. Citrus Oleo-Saccharum gives the drink a flavor you can’t get by other means. The process of making it puts all the lovely flavors of the citrus peel into a sweet simple syrup. It’s worth the extra effort, for sure. Plus, how fun to use your beautiful fruit in yet another way. The concentration of flavor from just the zest of the fruit adds a complex layer of flavor without watering down your cocktail (and who wants that???😛)
To Make Citrus Oleo Saccharum 🍋🍊
To make Citrus Oleo Saccharum, you want to impart as much of the flavor from the zest only, leaving as much of the white pith behind. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin from 2 lemons, 2 oranges and 1 grapefruit. Put the zest/peel into a shallow bowl or glass pie plate. Cover with 1 cup of granulated sugar. Give a light rub to the fruit and sugar, then let it sit for about 24 hours.
Next, add 1 cup of warm water to the dish and let it sit until all the sugar has dissolved. Help it along with a little stir if necessary.
It will take up two a couple of hours. Then drain the syrup into a glass container with a sealed lid. This will keep in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
For The Gin Lemon Drop Cocktail (Okay, Okay, Yes, You Can Make Yours With Vodka! But Gin Is Really In!)
Moisten the rim of a martini glass with lemon. Roll the rim into a plate of granulated sugar.
Into a cocktail shaker filled 1/2 with ice, add 2 ounces of your best gin, 3/4 ounce of citrus oleo saccharum and 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice.m Shake vigorously for about 20-30 seconds, strain into the prepared glass. Serve with a twist of lemon.
Or for a different way to serve this cocktail, try it in a rocks glass without the sugar rim. Serve with a giant ice cube with a bit of zest on top of the cube.
Ingredients
- 2 ounces Gin (or Vodka)
- 3/4 ounce citrus oleo saccharum
- 1 ounce fresh lemon juice
For the Citrus Oleo Saccharum
- 2 lemons
- 2 oranges
- 1 grapefruit
- 1 cup granulated sugar
- 1 cup warm water
Instructions
For the Citrus Oleo Saccharum
- You want to impart as much of the flavor from the zest only, leaving as much of the white pith behind. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skin from 2 lemons, 2 oranges and 1 grapefruit. Put the zest/peel into a shallow bowl or glass pie plate. Cover with 1 cup of granulated sugar. Give a light rub to the fruit and sugar, then let it sit for about 24 hours.
- Next, add 1 cup of warm water to the dish and let it sit until all the sugar has dissolved. Help it along with a little stir if necessary. Strain the liquid into a jar, seal. Discard the peel.
For the Gin Lemon Drop Cocktail
- Moisten the rim of a martini glass with lemon. Roll the rim into a plate of granulated sugar.
- Into a cocktail shaker filled 1/2 with ice, add 2 ounces of your best gin, 3/4 ounce of citrus oleo saccharum and 1 ounce freshly squeezed lemon juice. Shake vigorously for about 20-30 seconds, strain into the prepared glass. Serve with a twist of lemon.
- Cheers and Enjoy!
