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    Home » Recipes » Citrus

    Lemon Soju

    Jul 10, 2022 · 1 Comment

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    This lemon soju drink is light and refreshing, perfect for anyone who likes vodka lemonades.

    Hand with a thumb ring holding a clear glass filled with light yellow liquid. There's a bowl of lemons and a bottle of soju in the background.

    Ingredients

    Lemon

    The lemon is key in this lemon soju drink (surprise!), so this is a good time to use fresh lemons and not that little dropper bottle.

    Soju

    Soju is a Korean alcohol made from rice. It’s super smooth, so it’s fairly easy to sip, take shots of (though I prefer flavored soju for sipping or shots), or mix into cocktails.

    This recipe is best made with plain, unsweetened soju so that you can better control the sweetness.

    If you need help deciding what to do with the rest of the soju, how about this refreshing strawberry soju cocktail? Or if you’re in the mood for something on the creamy side, how about a glass of yogurt soju or a honeydew soju cocktail?

    How to Make

    Combine the hot water and sugar together first to make a very liquidy simple syrup.

    Once the sugar is dissolved completely in the water, pour into a cocktail shaker or old jam jar. Add the lemon juice, soju, salt and a few handfuls of ice. Cover the container and shake until the outside is cold.

    Strain out the ice and pour the drink into your serving glass filled with fresh ice (thin slices of lemon for garnish are optional but pretty). Serve!

    Clear glass filled with light yellow liquid and a few slices of lemon. There's a bowl of lemons and a bottle of soju in the background.

    Tips

    Simple Syrup

    There’s no need to boil or cook the simple syrup here, since you’ll be making the drink immediately and don’t need to store the syrup for a while.

    Since there’s a fair amount of lemon in this recipe, the water content in the simple syrup is fine. All that lemon needs to get diluted anyways.

    Salt

    Any drink I make, whether or not it ends up on the blog, has a bit of salt in it. Like in cooking and baking, the salt helps enhance the other flavors, so add it!

    Ice

    You might be tempted to serve the cocktail with the ice you shook the drink with; why waste this ice and use new ice?

    This isn’t a good idea though, since the ice that was used to shake the drink has already started to melt and break down. This ice will dilute your drink a lot faster than fresh ice.

    Make Ahead

    You can make this lemon soju ahead of time by a few days. Once you’re done shaking, strain it into a container, cover and refrigerate.

    When you’re ready to serve, add fresh ice!

    I can imagine this would be perfect if you’re trying to make a big batch and don’t want to individually make each drink on the spot.

    Variations

    Sweetener

    I like to mix sugar and hot water together for a quick, liquid sweetener, but you could sub out the sugar for honey or agave instead.

    If the honey or agave is already liquidy enough, you can forego the hot water, though I like dissolving the sweetener in hot water just in case (no one is looking for uber sweet clumps in their drink, blech).

    I probably wouldn’t use something more flavorful here (ie dark brown sugar or maple syrup), since those flavors wouldn’t make for a light, fresh drink.

    Alcohol Content

    This cocktail is not very alcohol heavy; this is mostly due to personal preference as well as personal lack of alcohol tolerance.

    That being said, you can definitely make this drink boozier if you would like. Extra soju would be easy enough to add, or you could add vodka should soju be too mild for you.

    Flavors

    As is, this drink is pretty simple in terms of flavoring. Sometimes this is the mood, though I know there are times that you might want something a little more exciting.

    If that’s you, consider adding a dash of something floral, like rosewater or orange blossom water.

    Fresh herbs would also be delicious in this, perhaps some basil or mint. Muddle it a bit before adding everything else and shaking it up to help extract the flavor more.

    Hand with a thumb ring holding a clear glass filled with light yellow liquid. There's a bottle of soju in the background.

    And if you want to make another light, refreshing cocktail, try out this Hugo spritz!

    4 from 1 vote
    Hand with a thumb ring holding a clear glass filled with light yellow liquid.
    Print
    Lemon Soju
    Prep Time
    5 mins
    Total Time
    5 mins
     
    This drink with its soju lemonade vibes is light and refreshing, perfect for casual sipping!
    Course: Drinks
    Cuisine: Asian, Korean
    Keyword: alcohol, cocktail, egg-free, lemon, nut-free, soju, vegan, vegetarian
    Servings: 1 person
    Calories: 149 kcal
    Ingredients
    • 2 tablespoons hot water
    • 1 ½ tablespoons granulated sugar
    • 1 pinch kosher salt
    • ¼ cup plain unsweetened soju or 2 ounces
    • 2 tablespoons lemon juice or 1 ounce
    • ice
    • thinly sliced lemon for garnish
    Instructions
    1. Combine the hot water, sugar and salt until the sugar and salt are completely dissolved.
    2. Pour the sugar water into a cocktail shaker or an old jam jar, then add the soju, lemon juice and a few scoops of ice. Place the top or lid on the container, then shake until the outside of the container is cold.
    3. Place a scoop of fresh ice in your serving glass. Strain the drink (leaving the ice behind) into the glass, then serve!
    Recipe Notes

    Granulated sugar can be substituted for honey or agave.

    Can be made ahead; store in the fridge without the ice for up to a few days.

    More Citrus Recipes

    • Lemon Ginger Cucumber Water
    • Blood Orange Vodka
    • Grinch Mimosa
    • Loquat Lemonade

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Chef Mimi says

      July 13, 2022 at 2:00 pm

      I’ve never heard of soju! I’ll have to sub with vodka. Rum is also good with lemonade. I was going to make a lemonade with watermelon for my grand kids, but have the rum on stand by for the adults…

      Reply

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