Modern Vespa

A fellow MVer asked me to post my recipe for Limoncello that a Tuscan woman taught me decades ago. So here it is. I'm sure others have variations on this recipe. Please post those variations....

8-10 large lemons
1 liter Everclear grain alcohol
2 cups sugar
2.5 cups water

1. Wash the lemons well with a brush or cloth, you are going to use the lemon rind.
2. Zest the lemons in thin strips with a zester tool or paring knife. You only want to use the lemon rind (the skin around the fleshy part of fruit), no fruit. Lots of YouTube vids showing how to do this.
3. Put the Everclear* and the lemon zest in a 1/2-gallon glass bottle that you can cover. I use a 1/2-gallon Ball canning jar.
4. Boil the water with the sugar on medium-high heat for 5 minutes or so. Let it cool.
5. Add sugar syrup to the bottle and sir it all together
6. Cover the mixture.
7. Let it sit for 6 weeks in a dark closet. It will develop that sweet, lemony flavor and color.
8. Filter out the lemon zest, put in a decorative bottle and enjoy immediately.

You can also make this with oranges, tangerines, maybe limes and other fruit.

* Everclear is 190 proof, most liquor stores have it in California tho I don't know about some of the puritan state. You can use vodka if you can't find Everclear but the alcohol content will be lower. Taste the Everclear (just a bit) if you never have. Its a whole-new experience.

You can also just buy Limoncello for ~$25 but there's nothing like making it yourself. Gives you bragging rights.

Ciao.
Miguel

Last edited by Miguel on Sun Apr 12, 2020 1:48 pm; edited 1 time in total

This is one of the things I like about this forum, the versatility of topics; some may not like it but it is so human to go beyond the passion that unites us.
Too bad that Babel separated us in ancient times, perhaps it would have been a different world.

Thanks! My wife fell in love with Limencello when we were in Italy. You guys are amazing

What is different between my recipe and yours is that in mine the simple syrup is added after the Everclear (or high proof Vodka) has steeped for 30-45 days. Use organic lemons and swirl the glass container I use occasionally.

When I'm happy with the extraction I make up two batches of simple syrup. One traditional of sugar and water. The other for Crema using shelf stabilized milk (Perkalat is the brand I use) instead of water for Lemoncello Crema we had in Pompeii and Sorrento on our last visit. I prefer my Lemoncello to be a bit more tart than some commercial brands after trying various versions in Italy. By adding the simple syrup after extracting the flavors from the peels it is easier to sweeten to taste.

As you pointed out keeping the pith out of the peel is criticalto a good Lemoncello otherwise you get a bitter after taste.

Wonderful!

When the state liquor store reopens, I’m gonna give it a shot.

Best limoncello I ever had was at Louie’s Backyard in Key West.

Thank cdwise for the recipe variation. I had not heard of using creme but looked it up and it looks delicious. I'll have to try that.

Also thanks for the tip about adding the sugar mix after brewing, rather than before, to control sweetness. This is an excellent approach. One variation I was going to try with a small batch was using Stevia in place of the sugar. I try to stay away from sugar. By adding the sweetness after brewing, I can experiment with a just a glass and not ruin a whole batch.

Lastly thanks for emphasizing the need to exclude the pith. For those unfamiliar with the pith, it's the white part on the inside of the rind.

Ciao
Miguel

My personal winning recipe I came across back in September (though I’d probably table it for now):

Fly to Stuttgart
Train to Ulm and climb Münster (you can thank me later)
Train to Memmingen and hitch ride with family to civil wedding in Switzerland*
Train to Innsbruck with slight hangover
FlixBus to Rovereto and then local bus to Limone sul Garda
Replace jaw due to jaw dropping beauty
Purchase ridiculously reasonably priced bottle of limoncello
Retire to lakefront and enjoy the second best limoncello you’ve ever had

Next day
Climb Cima Mughera (you can thank me later)
Replace jaw
Replace jaw again, multiple times (consider having it wired shut)
Descend and purchase additional ridiculously reasonably priced bottle of limoncello
Retire to lakefront and enjoy simply the best limoncello you’ve ever had.

*The civil Swiss wedding (groom’s family) is certainly optional—very pragmatic and very expensive. The church Bavarian wedding (bride’s family) is a story for another time. But, my, do those bavarians know how to party.

Great plan!!

Miguel

The type of lemons you use makes a difference too. If you can’t find sorrento lemons in the store you might be able to find trees in old Italian neighborhoods. Old trees put out more fruit than anyone knows what to do with and people are happy to give them away.

Around here we have one major shortfall in making homemade Limoncello - the lemons.

I can buy organic lemons from the closest store, but they for sure ain't the same as the ones growing fresh in Sorrento area!

So for the taste, I usually buy the readymade stuff.

In our family we don't consume much alcohol, nor do we often have very hot weather , But in summer, freezer cold Limoncello or Pastis, and also Bayleys on ice are the favourites in our patio bar....sometimes a jug of homemade white vine Sangria, with varying incredients.

About the recipe - I've also tried homemade Limoncello so, that you'll first let the alcohol - peel mix sit in a closed jar. At least until the peel color fades.... but even up to 1 month.
Only after this you'll add the sugar mix... and then let it stay again.

I can see the practical viewpoint in the recipe Miquel wrote though: this is a much faster way!

Everclear - jeebus, that stuff is probably classified as a poison around here!


There are so many Limoncello brands... all I know that the best one is whatever enjoyed in the island of Capri, under the shade a lemon tree...

Can't seem to find the picture anymore, but it was me sitting in my campervan with my first batch of self made Limoncello.

The recipe given to us on the campsite we stayed on near Napels:
The zest of 10 well cleaned lemons.
If bought in a supermarket make sure they are biological. Non biological lemons can have wax and coloring on the outside. You do not want that in your drink.
1 liter 98% alcohol (can be bought in almost every supermarket in Italië
1 liter water
800 grams sugar
1 or 2 little branches with a few leaves from an lemon tree.

Do the same you wrote:
Clean the lemons, zest them.
Boil the water with the sugar.
Let it cool down.
Put all of it together in a few bottles and put a little branch of the lemon tree in there with a few leaves.
Let it sit for a 4 to 6 weeks.
After that put it through a filter, and bottle it some nice bottles.

It will hit you in the back of the head when you drink to much of it.
1 liter alcohol and 1 liter water, hats almost 50% alcohol.. (okay there is sugar in it as well but still)

Recipe was given to us by the campsite owner, he wrote it down on a piece of paper.
That campsite used to be a lemon tree yard. He let us pick the lemons our self's from the trees surrounding our camper van.
When you walked off that campsite on to the beach you had the best view on the Vesuvius. It was great there.

Forget the lemon or the orange.Butia is a genus of palms in the family Arecaceae, native to the South American countries of Brazil, Paraguay, Uruguay and Argentina. Many species produce edible fruits, which are sometimes used to make alcoholic beverages and other foods. The name is derived from a Brazilian vernacular word.

I finished up making and bottling my limoncello today. I used all the white sugar I had on hand in the crema but had to use some of the organic unbleached sugar for the plain limoncello so it has a bit of a weak tea color to it instead of that beautiful pale straw I started with. I ended up with about 3.5-4 liters as there are a couple of smaller jars of each type besides the ones you see here.


Base made from everclear after steeping.

Next step was strain the steeped alcohol.

Which I divided into two batches. One of which became the crema on the left and the other the slightly tea colored traditional style.

Beautiful. Thanks for sharing!
Miguel

I like your counter splash tiles!

Thanks they came with the house and seem appropriate for living in the Rocky mountains.

If you have to take alcohol this is the best way compared to someone who has suggested injecting it into your lungs.

Interesting.. I did not know the beverage is called Limoncino in the north (I think?) and not Limoncello . Anyway picked this up today on sale at the LCBO (gov't liquor store) . I've actually never had Limoncino or for that matter Limoncello. I imagine it should be served very chilled? The alcohol content was a bit of a surprise.

Great tasting stuff:

When I was a young man (chasing girls in Rome), it was popular to hang out
at the sidewalk cafes and bars on the Via Veneto. I would notice Italians,
in near by tables, sipping on a gold colored liquor. Very popular with young
couples.

It was a liquor called "The Witch" or correctly La Strega. I was hooked and loved this Italian Liquor. To this day, 50 years later, I sip a shot of La Strega while I smoke one cigar every night. After tax, a bottle is $33 - I go easy on it.

If you like limoncello - I believe you would like La Stega. I sip it without ice.

So many gifts from Italian Culture,

Ciao,

Roberto Copeland
Minnesota


Reportedly, the receipt was developed by witches during the Reformation and passed to monks.

...mo' si che ragioni Bob..!

-----> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strega_(liqueur)

Attila,

mo si che ragioni (what reason now). Well I am no longer chasing girls.
One advantage to aging is you are not completely dominated by hormones.
When I was a young man, I was semi-out of control fascinated with ladies.

Attila, much more, beautiful Italian girls walking around in the latest high
fashion of "Hot Pants". This style of stylish short shorts had not hit the USA
yet. I show up in Italia, and was amazed by young ladies walking around
with hot pants.

What reason now? I sit and sip The Witch, and think back of the great memories of Italia as I watch the cigar smoke swirl softly and vanish in the air.

Bob Copeland

Bob ... in the summer on the Sabaudia seafront (LT) girls (from 15 years of age onwards) go with minikinis or topless in a quiet way ... ugh! For me blind in the right eye, traveling that road on a scooter is dangerous because I risk hitting the large rectangular garbage cans!
Well ... my friend Mauro has a bar along that street and he rents beach chairs and beach umbrellas and I take advantage, with the excuse of helping him, to sit in that place and watch all that good of God that passes in front of me and make comments (even spicy) to understand if any matrons close to my age (many are busty russian tourists) are willing to "rent" a local tour guide (me).



However The Witch with ice and a drop of mint syrup drunk in the summer is better than any medicine. Try it.

Creepy.

Country where you go, different customs you find ... Um yes, creepy, I have to admit.

Exactly so.