Cocktails with Lemongrass stem
Lemongrass stem is the tender lower stalk of Cymbopogon citratus, a tropical grass used fresh as a lemon-scented culinary aromatic.
Taste profile
Bright, fresh and distinctly lemony on the nose, delivering lemon character without any of the fruit's sourness.
How it's used
Bruise, crush, or finely slice the stem to release its oils — a whole unbruised stalk contributes little — then infuse it as an aromatic; a defining lemon note rather than a source of acidity or body.
Substitutes for Lemongrass stem
As a background accent its loss is tolerable, but as the leading aromatic it is essentially not substitutable — only another citral-bearing aromatic can approximate the bright lemon-without-sourness profile, while any lemon note that relies on the fruit's acid cannot reproduce it.
Often confused with
East Indian lemongrass
C. citratus (West Indian lemongrass) is the species used culinarily and as the stem aromatic, whereas C. flexuosus is grown chiefly for perfumery and citral extraction; both share the citral-driven lemon aroma and are sometimes used interchangeably.
Citronella grass
Citronella grasses (Cymbopogon nardus / winterianus) are distinct species of the same genus grown for citronella oil used in soaps and insect repellents, not as a culinary stem, despite a shared citrus-like aroma.
