Lemon Drop

The Lemon Drop first squeezed to life in San Francisco sometime during the 1970s. Its inventor, Norman Jay Hobday, an out-of-work Vietnam vet turned saloon owner, is also credited with opening the country’s first fern bar, a concept that mixed house plants and Tiffany lamps with throngs of upwardly mobile urbanites.

While the Lemon Drop is usually served in a cocktail glass, it can also be poured as a shot—a common occurrence at college bars and nightclubs. However you choose to serve it, the best results are produced by using fresh lemon juice and simple syrup. Bottled sweet and sour can get the job done if it’s your only option, and that is often the case at bars. But the fresh lemon with the sugar is what gives the cocktail its signature flavor. Besides, if you’re going to indulge, you might as well enjoy the best version of the drink. Not only will it taste better, but fresh ingredients are also less likely to cause ill effects the next morning.