this is my first post about something to drink. for many years i have loved the sweeter parts of life. Limoncello is definitely one of those. It’s always been something I’ve enjoyed drinking and now I’ve made it I like it even more. Below is a description of how Mike and I made our first batch.
Start by zesting lemons with a microplane grater. We did about 85 meyer lemons producing about 4 cups of zest.
Put the zest into a sealable wide mouth glass container.
Add Everclear or grain alcohol until all of the lemon zest is submerged. Just enough to put all of the lemon zest in suspension.
Seal the container and put in a dark place for up to six months. We put ours in our pantry so that every time we went and grab something from the pantry we would remember to shake it. But we would still forget and nothing bad happened. lightly shake at least once a month. Once a week is best.
Once we waited as long as we could about 2 months it was time to move on to the next step. Filter the alcohol and zest by putting it through a coffee filter in a funnel. Then Filter a second time or use two filters for maximum clarity
Pour the filtered liquid into 750ml swing top bottles.
Make sure to split it up equally into’ a few bottles this is your base for the final product
Put 150 ml of the filtered liquid into each bottle. Then add 500ml of simple syrup.
You can make a simple syrup by adding 1 cup of sugar to 2 cups of water and heating it until it melts. When the sugar is completely dissolved in the water you have simple syrup.
top off with ~100ml neutral vodka (Skye, Finlandia, or any flavorless such drink. I’ve heard of people using Gin but I think that would give a bad flavor.
Now leave it sit for 2-3 months before consuming.
Sometimes there will be a slight haze or clouds that form in the limoncello. This is protein and is not harmful. It is actually a very tiny amount. Crystals might also form. Also harmless. If you leave the bottles clouds will settle out and crystals will redissolve eventually.
We draw our bottle out once in a while after dinner with friends and a small glass of limoncello is really a refreshing way to end a perfect meal with good friends. enjoy and tell me how you like this fantastic Italian treat.
This has lasted us a very long time and we still have some of our first batch but love sharing it. So the next time you come by please be sure to ask for a taste. I loved making this but boy was it hard to zest that many lemons. And to top it out early on in the process i cut my hand and the lemon juice sure stung. But overall i would definitely do this one again give it a try and in a year or so let me know how it gos. Hay, and i would love to compare your product to mine.