This post may include affiliate links; see our disclosure policy.

The easiest method for how to make a lemon twist as a cocktail garnish uses no special equipment: all you need is a knife!

How to make a lemon twist
Save this recipe!
Get this sent to your inbox, plus get new recipes from us every week!

Got a cocktail that you want to garnish with a lemon twist, but not sure how to make one? We’re here to help! Alex and I are home cooks and homemade cocktail connoisseurs. We love finding the very easiest way to things, avoiding special tools if we can. Lately we made our French 75, Lemon Drop and Champagne Cocktail, and needed a cocktail garnish. Traditionally a lemon twist requires a special tool…so we set about finding a new way! Here’s all about how to make a lemon twist: with a knife.

Want more cocktail advice? How to Muddle Mint.

The traditional method? A channel knife.

If you’re a professional mixologist, how do you make a lemon twist? With a channel knife! A channel knife makes it easy to cut out a lemon twist. They’re relatively inexpensive, so it’s not hard to stock up on one. (Here’s a channel knife on Amazon.) But if you need this cocktail garnish now and don’t happen to have one…here’s the next best option!

Our easy method? Use a paring knife.

How to make a lemon twist
Yield: Cocktail garnishes!

How to Make a Lemon Twist

Active Time: 1 minute
Total Time: 1 minute

The easiest method for how to make a lemon twist as a cocktail garnish uses no special equipment: all you need is a knife!

Materials

  • 1 lemon

Tools

  • 1 paring knife

Instructions

  1. Cut the lemon width-wise into a circle.
    Cutting a lemon
  2. Run a paring knife around the edge to remove the peel, cutting away as much of the pith as possible. Remove the fruit and set aside.
    Cutting a lemon peel garnish
  3. Cut the remaining peel circle so that it becomes a long strip. Twist it, holding it for several seconds until the shape is kept.
    How to make a lemon twist

Cocktails with a lemon twist

There are lots of cocktails with this garnish! Here are our favorites that you can use this garnish trick on:

  • French 75 Cocktail A sophisticated drink that’s tangy, bubbly, and a bit botanical.
  • The Classic Champagne Cocktail A classic cocktail that’s festive and elegant, perfect for celebration. The sugar cube makes it sparkle!
  • Lemon Drop Here’s the best lemon drop martini you’ll have, made simply with vodka, Cointreau and lemon! It’s festive and refreshing, with a lemon twist and sugar rim.

About the authors

Alex & Sonja

Hi! We’re Alex & Sonja Overhiser, authors of the acclaimed cookbooks A Couple Cooks and Pretty Simple Cooking—and a real life couple who cooks together. We founded the A Couple Cooks website in 2010 to share seasonal recipes and the joy of home cooking. Now, we’ve got over 3,000 well-tested recipes, including Mediterranean diet, vegan, vegetarian, pescatarian, smoothies, cocktails, and more!

Leave a Comment

5 Comments

  1. Jeanette Lawson says:

    If you’re using lemon juice in some recipe, any recipe, just go ahead, juice the lemon, save the juice or use it right away, and then scrape out the remaining meat with a spoon. You can then slice up the remaining rind any way you like! You can of course cut off any pith you don’t want with a sharp knife. In a pinch , I’ve used a potato peeler, cut off the rind I want, then slice it into thinner strips.

  2. George Givens says:

    Wish you had a video of how to make lemon peel twist. I don’t understand how you cut the lemon length wise and yet still make a circle. I would think you would cut the lemon cross wise to keep make it a circle.

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      I’m not sure what you are looking at, but do width wise. There are step by step pictures in the recipe card.

  3. Fitz says:

    I am a retired bartender and was interested in your method for making lemon twists. Your method seems ideal for the more ornate cocktails while my way lends itself more to the neighborhood bar. I’m wondering if you are aware of the use of an ice pick.

    Cut off both ends of the lemon so that about 2″ remains. Insert an ice pick between the rind and the meat in one end and push through to the other end keeping the point of the ice pick away from the meat. Now, pressing the ice pick firmly against the rind, rotate the lemon allowing the rod of the ice pick to separate the rind from the meat. Massaging the lemon while rotating will facilitate the separation. Pushing the separated meat out one end will give you a tube of lemon rind. Cut the tube in half lengthwise and flatten in order to cut twists to measure 2″ X 1/4″ wide.
    The bartender will then twist the twist over the prepared cocktail to release a mist of citrus oil adding a hint of lemon taste and aroma to the drink.

    1. Alex Overhiser says:

      We’ll have to try this!