Highballs and long drinks · Vodka
Bitter lemon does most of the work here: sharp lemon, a quinine bite and plenty of sparkle. Add clean vodka and a glass full of ice and you get a highball that is drier and more grown-up than most vodka and soda mixes.
1¼ oz
vodkae.g. Absolut · Smirnoff · Grey Goose · Ketel One · Belvedere
5½ oz
bitter lemon well chilled
Garnish: Lemon wheel · Ice: Ice cubes
Vodka Lemon
Tart lemon and a clean quinine bitterness, lightly sweet, with a neutral vodka warmth. Crisp, fizzy and refreshing, light to medium in strength.
In German bars, a Wodka Lemon means vodka with bitter lemon, a cloudy soft drink made from lemon juice, sugar and quinine. Bitter lemon became widely available in Europe in the second half of the 20th century, and vodka with bitter lemon grew into one of the standard highballs in German pubs, clubs and at home, alongside Wodka O and Gin Tonic.
The name can mean something slightly different elsewhere: in some countries a vodka lemon is made with sweet lemon soda or lemonade. The bitter lemon version is closer to a vodka tonic with extra citrus, and that quinine edge is what makes it popular. There is no known inventor; it is a simple mixed drink that developed in everyday bar practice.
A carbonated soft drink made with lemon juice or lemon extract, sugar and quinine, which gives it its slightly bitter taste and cloudy look.
Not in Germany: here it means bitter lemon. With sweet lemonade or lemon soda the drink is sweeter and has no bitter note.
With 40 ml vodka and 160 ml bitter lemon, about 8% ABV.
The perfect sound
Simple, zesty and unpretentious.
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