Grilling lemons transforms a puckery, straightforward fruit into something smokey and nuanced. A little bit of bite from the cocchi and a lot of lift from soda water, and you have the perfect cookout cocktail for a crowd.
Makes 1L carafe. To scale to a single cocktail, divide the total ingredients by 8.
Ingredients
- 7 lemons
- 10oz Cocchi Aperitivo Americano Bianco
- 6oz 1:1 simple syrup
- fresh thyme sprigs
- soda water
Preparation
- Cut 6 of your lemons in half, and cut the seventh lemon into ¾ inch cross-section slices.
- Heat your grill to at least 375ºF.
- Grill the half-lemons, cut-side down for 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl and set in the freezer to cool down.
- Grill the lemon wheels for 2 minutes per side. Transfer to a bowl and set in the freezer to cool down.
- Once your grilled half-lemons are cool, juice the lemons and then strain to remove any seeds or pulp. This should render about 6oz of grilled lemon juice. Combine with an equal amount of simple syrup.
- Fill the base of your carafe with thyme and and a few of the grilled lemon wheels. Next, fill the carafe with ice cubes, then top with the remaining grilled lemon wheels.
- Pour in your sweetened lemon juice and the Cocchi Bianco.
- Top with soda water and serve.
