Our Favorite Limoncello Recipe

There are many Limoncello recipes available on the internet. Here’s one that we liked. Remember, you can find all different shapes and sizes of Limoncello Bottles at http://www.ebottles.com/.

Ingredients:

2 750ml bottles of pure grain alcohol
zest of 17 lemons
3.5 cups of white sugar
5 cups of water






Instructions:

Zest the lemons, put them in a glass one-gallon jar with the alcohol and let it sit for 45 days. Then mix the sugar and water in a pot and bring to a boil for 5 minutes. Let the mixture sit until completely cool and then mix with the alcohol and lemon infusion. Let that mixture sit for 45 days. Then filter the mixture 4 times using #4 coffee filters. Bottle the liquid and put it in the freezer.

That’s the short, basic version. For more detailed instructions, check out the 10 Easy Steps below!

10 Easy Steps to Make Limoncello…

This is basically a long version of the Limoncello recipe that omits no details or explanations. If you plan to make Limoncello at home and have never tried it before, you should read this very closely.

Step One: The first step is to select your lemons. Whenever possible, select organic lemons because it’s actually the skin you use in making Limoncello and that’s also where all the pesticide is. Organic lemons also aren’t waxed, another thing that you don’t want to end up in your liquor. Try to choose thick-skinned lemons with smooth skin. This will make it a lot easier to zest the lemon.

Step Two:  Wash the lemons. You’ll need to do this whether or not they are organic but if they aren’t organic it’s more of an ordeal. You need to scrub them under very warm water with a vegetable brush or some other plastic scrubber. Remove all stickers or stamps and as much of the wax as possible, then dry them with a paper towel.

Step Three: Zest the lemons. Using a Microplane Zester makes doing this step quickly and doing it well. Place a cutting board or a large piece of aluminum foil down to catch all the zest. Then use the zester to remove a thin layer of zest from the whole lemon. If you get even a little bit of the white pith just below the zest, it will make your Limoncello bitter. So don’t take chances, if the lemon is bumpy and you can’t get all the zest without hitting the pith elsewhere, let it go.

The lemon in the picture on the left has been zested. Notice how it is still yellow because only the outer skin was removed without touching the pith anywhere. This step is all about quality over quantity. Our recipe calls for 2 more lemons than what you typically see because it is so important not to worry about not having enough zest. With the Microplane, you should be able to zest all 17 lemons in about half an hour.

Step Four: Filter the liquor. This should actually be done simultaneously with the zesting to save time. Any water filtration pitcher, such as a Brita pitcher, will work. Pour one bottle in, let it filter, pour it into a regular clean pitcher, then back in the top and repeat the filtration about four times for each bottle of liquor.

Whenever possible, use grain alcohol for authenticity. It’s difficult to get because many states don’t allow it to be sold. Vodka tends to have a flavor of its own that is imparted to the Limoncello. However, 100 proof, mid-grade Vodka is the next best thing. If you must, you can also use the 80 proof, but more alcohol is better for making Limoncello.

Step Five: Combine the zest and the filtered liquor into a clean one gallon glass jar and screw the lid on tight. If the lid isn’t tight enough, put a piece of plastic wrap on the top before screwing on the lid. You can use any glass jar of sufficient size from eBottles.com. Put a label on the jar that tells you at least the date and some additional details about how you made it. You may also want to number your batches and track them if you like.

Step Six: It’s a good idea to keep the jar in your kitchen for the first week to ten days and shake it up about four times during that initial period. After that, let the mixture sit and infuse for a minimum of 45 days, longer if you can stand it or if you forget about it. This is where all of the lemon flavor comes from so don’t short-change yourself here.

Step Seven: Add the simple syrup by bringing 5 cups of water to a boil, remove it from the heat and stir in 3.5 cups of white sugar. Then let it sit until it cools down to room temperature. It’s best to use filtered water and regular white sugar. Other types of sugar such as raw sugars tend to have subtle flavors of their own (most notably molasses) that will show up in the final product. Once the simple syrup cools down you can just add it to the lemon/liquor infusion, screw the lid back on and shake the jar. Mark the date you mixed the infusion with the simple syrup on your label.

Step Eight: We suggest that you wait for at least another 45 days. The longer the mixture rests, the smoother the flavor of the final product. (Optional: You can also filter first and then let it sit longer in the bottle).

Step Nine: Filter the Limoncello. This is one of the most important steps and by far the most laborious. However, you should never skip it. The filtration actually gives Limoncello the color, clarity and flavor you expect from it.

First, use a flat-bottom permanent coffee filter that you can buy at the grocery store. Put the filter in the funnel, and the funnel in the container you’re using. Then ladle the Limoncello out of the storage jar and through the filter. This first pass removes all of the zest and other large debris.

Then comes the tough part. Take flat-bottom disposable coffee filters, the ones with the fluted edging, and put them inside the permanent filter. This is basically double-filtering and you should repeat this step a second time. Then, on the last pass, just put the Limoncello through the permanent filter by itself in case any debris or zest gets back in there during the filtration process. So, that makes two filtrations with just the permanent filter and two filtrations with the permanent plus disposable filters.

When filtering, you want to be patient and preserve as much of the liquid as possible, but there will come a point when it looks like there’s more liquid at the bottom but no more liquid is dripping through. Do NOT try to salvage that liquid. Throw it away along with the filter (or wash the filter) because that stuff is exactly what you’re filtering in the first place.

Step Ten: Now comes the fun part: Bottling your Limoncello! On the last filtration, funnel the liquid directly into the bottles you’ll be using. You may want to wash, dry and then sterilize the bottles first. You can find any kind of bottle you want at eBottles.com. Choose from a variety of Swing Top Glass Bottles in 250 ml, 500 ml, 750 ml or 1000 ml sizes.

You’re done! A few bonus tips for you though. From experience, the Limoncello mellows a lot in the first week. So, if you’re not in a tremendous hurry, we recommend that you do your first tasting a week or so after bottling. The longer Limoncello sits, the smoother it gets.  Enjoy!