Lemon juice is the juice of a lemon, or Citrus limon, a small, evergreen tree native to Asia. Lemon juice is mainly composed of citric acid, and has a pH of around 2.3. While lemon juice has an incredible amount of culinary uses (everything from curdling milk for cream cheese to balancing out pan juices for gravy to cleaning pots and pans), it is the primary acidity used in cocktail making, as it is the most neutral of the common acidifiers (other common acid sources include limes and oranges).

Lemon juice adds a fairly neutral balance in modest amounts, but can shift the flavors of other ingredients, as in the Jasmine, where lemon juice takes the cherry flavor of Campari and makes it taste like pink grapefruit.

Some popular cocktails containing Lemon juice

  • Coffee Cobbler — Venezuelan rum, Coffee liqueur, Orange liqueur, Simple syrup, Lemon juice
  • Constructive Summer — Hefeweizen, Suze, Reposado Tequila, Lemon juice, Simple syrup
  • Mickeys Toddy — Bourbon, Ginger liqueur, Pear liqueur, Allspice Dram, Water, Lemon juice
  • Colonel Grey — Bourbon, Earl Grey Tea Syrup, Lemon juice, Soda water, Lemon peel
  • Whispering Pines — Gin, Triple sec, Bitters, Lemon juice, Simple syrup, Egg white
  • Color in Your Cheeks — Fernet Branca, Applejack, Lemon juice, Grade A dark amber maple syrup, Egg white, Apple
  • Basic Bitch — Vodka, Cassis, Elderflower liqueur, Club soda, Lemon juice
  • Augusta Punch Shot — Bourbon, Apple brandy, Peach bitters, Tea, Lemon juice, Oleo-saccharum, Peach
  • Elske Sour #2 — Gin, Sake, Bitters, Simple syrup, Lemon juice, Yeast
  • Love Burns — Puerto Rican Rum, Sparkling rosé wine, Chinato, Grapefruit bitters, Lemon juice, Simple syrup
Lemon on tree
©2011 Kindred Cocktails