Skip to main content

How to make a frozen lemon drop, the drink of this summer

How to make a frozen lemon drop

Frozen lemon drop.
Bar Pisellino / Bar Pisellino

When the summer heat drops, there’s nothing better than great frozen drinks. These refreshing beverages can cool you to the core and offer a friendly little buzz. The latest drop — a frozen lemon drop from a standout NYC bar — might just be the drink of summer 2024.

Bar Pisellino is behind the stellar recipe, which mixes up lemon sorbet, Prosecco, and vodka. Served in a proper upright glass with a classic paper straw and treated to some fresh citrus rind, the Sgroppino is the drink to have and hold right now. It’s easy to see why crowds show up to this West Village establishment on sticky afternoons and evenings for this fine riff on the lemon drop.

Recommended Videos

What’s not to like here? The lemon brightens the drink to no end, like a kiss of sunshine, while the Prosecco melds the flavors. The vodka provides the kick while the sweet and tart nature of the sorbet dances across the palate. If there was a grown-up drink equivalent of playing in front of a spraying fire hydrant in the middle of August, this might just be it.

Simply put, Italian culture knows how to beat the heat. The Mediterranean playground is behind everything from the ever-trending Spritz to flavorful sodas and Limoncello. Sure, you can just add more ice to your favorite drink, but sometimes that’s not good enough. Class it up with a drink like the Sgroppino, which not only wins in terms of complementary ingredients but fantastic texture and the ideal temperature.

If you can get out to the East Coast, by all means. The New York bar scene is very much worth exploring in depth. But if you can only sip on something reminiscent of a balmy Big Apple day, go with this drink. Making the thing easy and enjoying it goes without saying. You can hold it against your forehead in between sips on the warmest evenings or whip up a large batch for a gathering of friends.

Frozen drinks are summer drinks, and the season is here. Read on to learn how to assemble it.

Sgroppino

Bar Pisellino.
Facebook / Facebook

Start with the basic recipe, below, but feel free to play around with this tried and true template. You can try out different variations of citrus sorbet or incorporating some bittersweet Italian amari. If you’re really feeling crafty, try making your own sorbet.

Ingredients

  • 1/2 ounce vodka
  • 1-ounce prosecco
  • 3 tablespoons lemon sorbet
  • 1 lemon wedge for garnish

Method

  1. Scoop sorbet, Prosecco, and vodka into a small bowl and whisk until smooth.
  2. Pour into a chilled frappe glass and garnish with lemon zest and lemon wedge.

We’ve got more where that came from. Check out our features on easy cocktail recipes as well as sparkling wine cocktails for some effervescent fun. Cheers to the solstice!

Mark Stock
Mark Stock is a writer from Portland, Oregon. He fell into wine during the Recession and has been fixated on the stuff since…
Fireball is making a whisky using the tears of football fans
It's called Crierball and the secret ingredient will surprise you
Fireball

Fans of whisk(e)y know the appeal of Fireball Cinnamon Whisky at a frigid football tailgate. With one sip of this spicy, sweet whisky, you’ll start feeling warm inside and out. The brand is so entrenched in the football world that it will release a football-themed whisky. But you’ll never believe the secret ingredient.
Fireball Crierball

It’s called Crierball, and it’s being created to pay tribute to everything involved in gameday. From the exciting wins to the last-minute crushing defeats. If you didn’t get it already based on the name, there’s more emphasis on the latter. To create this unique whisky, the folks at Fireball will literally be collecting the tears of losing football teams to add to the whisky. Yes, you read that right. This whisky will be made with the tears of football fans.

Read more
Brew a bolder cup: How to make pour-over coffee stronger
Learn how to perfect the process
Pour-over coffee

If you like your morning pour-over coffee bold and strong, it can take some trial and error to adjust your brew to your liking. The art of pour-over coffee is unique, creating a balanced, rich, and complex coffee flavor that stands out from other brewing methods. But what do you do when your pour-over coffee keeps coming out too weak?

Making a few small adjustments to your pour-over brewing process can easily improve the strength of your final cup of coffee. For example, you can adjust your water-to-coffee ratio, grind your own beans, and ensure the proper water temperature for your brew. Here are our best suggestions on how to make pour-over coffee stronger.
How to make pour-over coffee stronger

Read more
How to order a martini like you know what you’re doing
Do you know the difference between martinis?
Bartender with a martini

The martini is one of the most iconic drinks in all of cocktail history, thanks in no small part to British superspy James Bond. Bond might take his martini shaken, not stirred -- but please, we're begging you, don't order a drink this way if you want to enjoy it. It's a mystery why Bond enjoys his cocktail made in what most bartenders will agree is objectively the wrong manner, but we're sure you'll have a better time drinking a martini if you have it stirred.

However, there are still a bunch of other details you can play around with when it comes to ordering a martini -- from what spirit to use and what garnish you prefer to the glass you'd like it served in. To learn about all the options, we asked New York City bartender Tom Walker about how to order a martini. Walker is a gin enthusiast and has worked at some of the best bars in America and the world, such as Attaboy in NYC, The American Bar at The Savoy in London, Bramble Bar in Edinburgh, and George Washington Bar at the Freehand Hotel. It’s safe to say he knows a thing or two about ordering a martini the right way.
Boodles proper martini recipe

Read more