How To Make A Strawberry Lemon Drop Martini

This strawberry lemon drop martini is a delicious cocktail made with fresh strawberry puree, lemon juice and vodka. It has a nice balance of sweet and tart with the berries and lemons complimenting each other perfectly. This is the perfect summertime cocktail for sipping on the patio.

Two strawberry martinis with sugar rim and garnished with a strawberry and lemon wedge.

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What is a Strawberry Lemon Drop?
Ingredients
Step by Step Instructions
Substitutions & Variations
How to Make Simple Syrup
Top Tips & FAQS
More Delicious Beverages
Recipe

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What is a Strawberry Lemon Drop?

A strawberry lemon drop martini is a delicious take on the popular lemon drop martini. It is a perfect summer cocktail for sipping on the patio.

It is made with lemon juice and lemon vodka, but the addition of fresh strawberry puree makes this drink slightly sweeter than a lemon martini while still maintaining a nice, tart flavour. It is just the right balance of sweet and sour.

Strawberries and lemons compliment each other nicely, with lemon bringing out the flavour of the fresh berries. This drink is smooth and mellow with a nice, bright finish.

I highly recommend making this drink with fresh berries and fresh lemon for the best flavour, but frozen berries may be used as long as they are thawed first.

Ingredients

For a full list of ingredients and measurements, see the printable recipe card at the bottom of this post.

Fresh strawberries – While fresh strawberries are best, frozen strawberries will work as long as they are thawed first.
Fresh lemon juice – You will need 1 ounce of lemon juice, which is equivalent to about ½ of one fresh lemon. While you could use bottled if you don’t have fresh lemons on hand, you may need to adjust the amount as bottled can have a stronger taste than fresh.
Simple syrup – Simple syrup is made from equal parts water and granulated sugar. You don’t need a lot for this recipe, but it does help mellow the tartness and blend the flavours.
Vodka – I highly recommend using a lemon or citrus vodka for this recipe. However, if you only have plain vodka, you can use that, but I suggest adding another ½ ounce or so of lemon juice.

You will also want a few things to garnish your glass. We’ve used granulated sugar to garnish the rim and added a lemon wedge and a fresh strawberry.

Ingredients for strawberry lemon martinis.

Step by Step Instructions

Puree the Strawberries

Place the strawberries in a blender with 1 ounce of water. Blend until smooth then pour the strawberry puree through a mesh sieve to remove the pulp and seeds.

Stir the puree in the sieve to help it move through and press with a spoon, if needed.

Set the puree aside.

Pureed strawberries in a mesh sieve over a glass bowl.

Pro-Tip: Adding a bit of water to the blender with the strawberries helps liquify them and will make it easier to pour through a strainer. If you don’t mind the pulp or seeds, you can skip the straining if you like.

Sugar the Rims of the Martini Glasses

Fill a small shallow dish with granulated sugar.

Run a lemon wedge around the rim of each martini glass, then dip the glasses in the sugar and swirl to ensure the rim is fully coated.

Martini glass upside down in a dish of sugar.

Make the Martinis

Fill a cocktail shaker half way with ice, then add the strawberry puree, vodka, simple syrup and lemon juice.

Place the lid on the shaker and shake until frosty and cold.

Pour the martini between the two martini glasses. Then garnish each with a whole strawberry and slice of lemon.

Top view of two strawberry lemon martinis garnished with sugared rim, a strawberry and lemon wedge.

Substitutions & Variations

There are a few ways you can customize this drink to suit you preferences or adjust for what you have on hand.

Vodka – While lemon or citrus vodka is highly recommended for this recipe, you can substitute with plain if you like. You will want to increase the lemon juice by about ½ an ounce.
Fresh strawberries – Fresh, in-season strawberries are going to give this cocktail the best berry flavour. But if you can’t get fresh berries, you can use frozen, just make sure you thaw them first.
Simple syrup – If you don’t want to go to the work of making simple syrup, you can add a couple of teaspoons of granulated sugar to the shaker. However, it may not dissolve completely.

Make it a sparkling cocktail – If you want to make this a sparkling cocktail, you can do so by adding the drink to a tall glass filled with ice, then top it with sparkling water or club soda.

Make it a mocktail – If you don’t want to use alcohol in your drink, you can omit it and replace it with an additional ounce of strawberry puree and half ounce of lemon. Or simply make it as per the recipe, omitting the vodka, and topping the drink with club soda, sparkling water or lemon-lime soda.

How to Make Simple Syrup

Simple syrup is made with just 2 ingredients:

Granulated sugar
Water

Simply place equal parts sugar and water in a sauce pan and heat over medium heat until the sugar is fully dissolved. Allow the sugar water to cool and then pour into a container, such as a glass jar or bottle, for storage.

This should keep for several months in the refrigerator.

Top Tips & FAQS

For best flavour, be sure to use fresh lemon juice in this recipe.
If you can’t find fresh strawberries, you can use frozen strawberries instead. Just be sure to thaw them first.

Strawberry martini garnished with a whole berry and lemon wedge and bottle of vodka in the background.

More Delicious Beverages

Recipe

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