Peppermint Lemon Stick co*cktail Recipe on Food52 (2024)

5 Ingredients or Fewer

by: Burnt Offerings

May27,2011

4

2 Ratings

  • Serves 1

Jump to Recipe

Author Notes

Baltimore is a city of tradition, and one of the great Baltimore springtime traditions (besides the Preakness!) is Flower Mart. Since 1901, precisely 110 years ago this year, on the first weekend in May, the Women's Civic League has sponsored a Flower Mart in the wonderful old cobblestone square of historic Mt. Vernon, near my house in the heart of Baltimore. The traditions of Flower Mart are many: ginormous, over the top, flowery spring hats (Princess Beatrice, eat your heart out!), great food, good music, and plenty of spring flowers to buy for your garden. But aside from these mainstays, perhaps the most loved, and most looked forward to tradition at Flower Mart is something called a Lemon Stick. Simply jam a hollow peppermint candy stick into a well scrubbed lemon as a straw, and you have an instant treat. It's sweet, juicy, sour and minty, and it simply wouldn't be Flower Mart, springtime, or Baltimore, without one. Inspired by its happy simplicity, here is my adult version of the Lemon Stick co*cktail. Like the Lemon Stick that inspired it, it's fast, fun, and simple. Equally good on a summer afternoon or evening, it doesn't require simple syrup, marinating vodka for a month, or hard to find or out of the ordinary ingredients. It's cool, light, sweet, tart, and very refreshing - but be careful - it can sneak up on you! For more photos of this year's 110th Annual Baltimore Flower Mart and the infamous Lemon Sticks, you can go here:

http://www.flowermart.org/may_pix.html —Burnt Offerings

What You'll Need

Ingredients
  • 3-4 peppermint leaves
  • 1 jigger (2 oz.) limoncello
  • 1 jigger (2 oz) citron vodka
  • sparkling water and ice
  • Hollow peppermint stick candy for a straw
Directions
  1. Muddle the mint leaves in the bottom of a highball or Tom Collins glass.
  2. Add ice, limoncello and vodka
  3. Fill with sparkling water and stir with peppermint stick. Use peppermint stick as a straw.
  4. Muddle, mix, repeat.

Tags:

  • co*cktail
  • American
  • Lemon
  • Vodka
  • Fruit
  • 5 Ingredients or Fewer
  • Christmas
  • Winter
  • Vegan
  • Vegetarian
  • Breakfast
  • Hors D'Oeuvre
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  • Your Best Soda Fountain Recipe

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  • healthierkitchen

  • cheese1227

  • TiggyBee

  • Summer of Eggplant

  • meganvt01

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23 Reviews

toehead55 June 2, 2011

The secret is to use HARD peppermint sticks. The soft ones will melt and disappear into the lemon. Therefore you will not be able to enjoy the entire lemon/peppermint experience.

Burnt O. June 2, 2011

Very true - thanks for mentioning this. I can usually find them in the candy section at the grocery store.

healthierkitchen June 1, 2011

I have never seen one of these - festival style or adult! what fun!

cheese1227 May 31, 2011

And this one doesn't look like it will set me back $5 a piece!

Burnt O. May 31, 2011

Wow! I don't what festival you get yours from, but ours are only $2 a pop.

cheese1227 May 31, 2011

One of my favorite festival treats!

TiggyBee May 29, 2011

This is fantastic. I love the story, too!

Summer O. May 28, 2011

Thank you for this! I grew up in Baltimore (Bolton Hill to be exact) and always mention this treat to my friends, none of them had the pleasure of lemon sticks at their childhood festivals. I plan to make your adult version soon. You brought a smile to my face today, thanks again!

Burnt O. May 28, 2011

I live in Bolton Hill! Been here since 1999. Best community and neighborhood I have ever lived in - love it here. Where did you grow up?

Summer O. May 28, 2011

Jordan St. in the Jacobson houses, last one on the right. Small world! My very best friend and her husband own On the Hill Cafe.

Burnt O. May 28, 2011

Very small! I live in Park Purchase III. Jessica and George are friends of mine as well!

Summer O. May 28, 2011

So weird! Jessica, George, me and my spouse (Jim) are now planning our annual vacation together. Oh and we were oh so lucky to tag along on their trip to Spain prior to opening Centro. Oh how I wish that restaurant was in Atlanta.

Burnt O. May 29, 2011

Centro Tapas is a treasure! Best Tapas on the East Coast. When you are in town, you, Jessica, and I should grab lunch there or at On the Hill Cafe. Great neighbors, and the Cafe is a neighborhood mainstay. So glad it's open for dinner and Sundays now!

Summer O. May 29, 2011

Sounds good! I wish more people in Baltimore 'got' Centro but that's a hard crowd.

meganvt01 May 28, 2011

Love it! I remember having the non-alcoholic version as a kid!

Burnt O. May 28, 2011

They're wonderful kid's treats.

boulangere May 28, 2011

Knew you'd come up with something interesting and delicious.

Burnt O. May 28, 2011

Ah - the week is young yet boulangere - I expect yours will be fantastic!

wssmom May 28, 2011

How fun!

wewhine May 27, 2011

Dang! I could have used this in the infield at Pimlico!!!

Burnt O. May 27, 2011

Alas, another one of Baltimore's great traditions - bringing your own booze to the Pimlico infield debauchery - ended two years ago. Still plenty of infield debauchery, but you have to buy your booze on site and can't bring it in with you.

Sasha (. May 27, 2011

What a fun tradition... thanks for sharing :) Your photo is so pretty.

Burnt O. May 27, 2011

Aw thanks - I'm not very confident with my photo skills compared to some of the more artistic images on this site. I took this at last year's event.

Peppermint Lemon Stick co*cktail Recipe on Food52 (2024)

FAQs

What is a lemon with a peppermint stick? ›

But almost all Baltimoreans look forward to one juicy, yellow, and striped treat, often considered a summer rite of passage: the licking of the lemon stick. In short, the lemon stick is nothing more than a peppermint stick lodged into half a lemon.

Do lemon and peppermint go together? ›

Lemon and mint can be a refreshing and tasty combination. The tartness of the lemon pairs well with the cool, refreshing flavor of mint. You can try using them together in drinks, such as a mint lemonade or a mojito, or in dishes like a salad with a lemon mint vinaigrette or a lamb dish with a lemon mint sauce.

Where did the lemon peppermint stick come from? ›

Though there are many theories that speculate how the novelty came to be, local lore has it that lemon sticks were first introduced as a way to cool down during summer social gatherings in early 20th-century France. “Another story I've heard is that someone saw it during a visit to New Orleans,” Lease adds.

What is a peppermint stick in a lemon Baltimore? ›

Baltimore lemon stick

The tradition may have come from France. They are sold at the mid-spring Flower Mart held by the Women's Civic League. These simple 'drinks' are made by cutting the top off a small lemon, cutting a hole into the flesh, and placing a soft peppermint stick into it.

What should you not mix with lemon? ›

Avoid adding lemon to extremely spicy dishes as it may make them even spicier and tangy, which makes the food less enjoyable. The acidic nature of lemon can often interfere with the flavour and taste of red wine and red wine based sauces, concoctions and marinades and ruin the experience.

What can you not mix peppermint with? ›

Possible Interactions
  • Cyclosporine. This drug, which is usually taken to prevent rejection of a transplanted organ, suppresses the immune system. ...
  • Drugs that reduce stomach acid. ...
  • Drugs that treat diabetes. ...
  • Medications changed by the liver. ...
  • Antihypertensive drugs (blood pressure medications)

Are peppermint sticks good for you? ›

Like everything else we consume, it's best to consume them in moderation. Eating enough peppermint candies helps reduce bad breath and relieve indigestion and other stomach problems. However, peppermint candies have a high calorie and sugar content. Eating them in excessive amounts is not good for your overall health.

What does the peppermint stick symbolize? ›

One legend suggests that an Indiana-based candymaker shaped the peppermint stick into a “J” shape to represent Jesus, with the white stripe symbolizing the purity of his birth and the red stripe later added to acknowledge the blood he shed on the cross.

What is peppermint stick used for? ›

You use the porous peppermint stick as a straw to suck up the lemon juice! At first you just get peppermint, and you might even want to bite off the top of the stick if the juice just isn't flowing. But as the stick starts to dissolve, the lemon works its way up and each sip is a surprise!

What is a peppermint candy stick? ›

I know the candy you are talking about. They are called sugar sticks or soft sugar sticks. They are not shiny like candy canes.

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