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
  • Spicy Sandilla — Blanco tequila, Elderflower liqueur, Lemon juice, Simple syrup
  • Sissy's Bane — Cardamaro, Bourbon, Brandy, Lemon juice
  • StregViation — Gin, Strega, Crème de Violette, Lemon juice
  • Muzetta's Waltz — Gin, Elderflower liqueur, Orange liqueur, Peychaud's Bitters, PInk grapefruit juice, Lemon juice, Simple syrup, Sugar, Lemon, Rosemary
  • Spare Parts — Bourbon, Rhubarb liqueur, Lemon juice, Simple syrup
  • Off The Vine — Gin, Vodka, Aromatized wine, Celery bitters, Lemon juice
  • The Runaway — Bitters, Batavia Arrack, Rye, Orgeat, Lemon juice, Lemon peel
  • Paraiso — Blanco tequila, Campari, Triple sec, Strawberry shrub, Lemon juice
  • Fist Bump — Aquavit, Cappelletti Aperitivo, Crème de Banane, Lemon juice, Cinnamon syrup, Lemon peel
Lemon on tree
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