Limoncello

Over the years, my husband and I have visited a few wineries, breweries and some distilleries and I find myself fascinated by the science that goes into creating the perfect tasting wine, bourbon or liqueur. Weather, water sources and age can vastly change the end result. It is as much art as it is science.

Once you have seen behind the curtain, so to speak, you begin to appreciate the process and effort that goes into crafting these drinks. You definitely understand that they are created for sipping and savoring the experience, and not meant for mindless imbibing.

Recently, there has been a boom in home brewing. While I am sometimes tempted to try some of the at-home-kits, these usually require a larger space than I have, something like a garage, basement or magic shed out back. I have none of these things, and only one bathtub, so bathtub gin is out. (I’m joking, of course.)

But sometime last summer I was reading another food blog and stumbled upon a recipe for homemade limoncello. Now this I could do in my small kitchen.

Years ago, friends introduced us to limoncello and I remember it was strong, but delicious. It is an Italian liqueur, generally served chilled as a digestif, after dinner, meant to help cleanse the palate.

So, I was intrigued to try my hand at this simpler version of home brewing and create my own limoncello.

Making limoncello at home is not about saving money, but more about experimentation, your own delicious science project. You can experiment with how long your lemons soak, allowing your alcohol to absorb as much lemon flavor as you like. You can also experiment with how sweet you want it to end up. You can even play with adding in other flavors for complexity, if desired.

You will need some basic supplies, but nothing overly complicated. You need a clean glass jar with an airtight lid for steeping your concoction. You need some cheesecloth for straining and holding your peppercorns, if you use them. And of course, you will need some glass bottles for storing the finished product. I use bottles from Aldi’s French lemonade. They are the perfect shape and have a rubber stopper to keep your liqueur fresh. Be sure any recycled bottles are thoroughly cleaned before reusing.

It is essential to use organic lemons, and you need 12. The alcohol will be leaching out all the essence of lemon from the peels, which means any pesticides or other unwanted cooties could also get into your drink, adding a very unwelcome secret ingredient.

Many recipes call for vodka, but as my husband and I researched what to use for our first batch, we discovered many vodka brands have their own subtle flavor, due to water sources, etc. So we opted for EverClear, which is literally just straight grain alcohol. EverClear is STRONG, like could cause blindness strong, so we cut it with purified water.

Our equation is 500 ml EverClear with 250 ml purified water, which is the equivalent of a 750 ml bottle of vodka. If you have a preferred brand of vodka, or want to avoid the looks you get at the liquor store when you buy the giant plastic bottle of cheap booze, use your own brand.

If you choose to mix EverClear with water, I recommend using purified water. I confess that once I spaced out and used our tap water and it was fine. But if you know you have lots of minerals in your water, etc., I would stick with purified.

The process is simple. Peel the lemons, avoiding the white pith, which can be bitter. Incidentally, those leftover lemons make great lemonade. Add the peels to the jar and pour your alcohol on top of the lemon peels. If desired, add a little lightly crushed black peppercorns tied up in a little cheesecloth pouch. This will add a subtle spicy note. Remove after a day or two, so it doesn’t become overpowering.

The hardest part is letting it sit and stew. It’s best to move it to a cool countertop out of direct sunlight where it will not be moved around a lot. I tend to give the jar a gentle shake every day or so, to make sure all the peels are covered in liquid. The longest we have waited so far is 10 days, and we have stopped the process as early as 7 days.

Once you are ready to call it, make up a simple syrup with one cup granulated sugar to one cup boiled water. Stir until dissolved. Allow to cool. In the meantime, strain out the lemon peels, pressing on them lightly to makes sure all the liquid is released. Double strain again through cheesecloth, if desired.

Pour the simple syrup into the lemon mixture and gently stir. Pour the limoncello into glass bottles for storage. My recipe fills about 1 and 1/2 recycled French lemonade bottles. Store in the fridge or freezer for up to a month.

Serve chilled. Feel free to embellish the finished product, add it to your favorite cocktails, or enjoy straight up.

Recipe adapted from Food52.com.