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!

Surprise Your Senses with a Bottle of Homemade Tahini Sauce or House Dressing from Neomonde’s!

When the Saleh family immigrated to America in the 1970's - unable to find the foods and products they were accustomed to from their native land back home - they decided to start baking their own homemade pita bread...

Soon, their bread became so popular that they began to expand their business to fit the growing demand.

Today, what started out as a family bakery over 35 years ago has grown into the Neomonde Middle Eastern Market, Deli & Café where customers come to enjoy a Mediterranean-style lunch or dinner, pick up their meal to go, or shop in the market that’s attached to the restaurant.

All of the different types of food and groceries the Saleh’s offer at Neomonde’s are based on family recipes they learned while growing up in their native Lebanon.

About 5 years ago, they started selling their homemade Tahini Sauce and House Dressing in the market as well. They like to bottle their sauce and dressing in 16 oz PET Plastic Salad Dressing Bottles from http://www.ebottles.com/.

Neomonde’s favorite part of doing business with eBottles: “It’s simple, cheap and easy! eBottles keeps track of our past orders so with a few clicks of the mouse, we can reorder with no hassle. They communicate with the customer really well, letting you know if your item is on back order, when to expect it, when it is shipped, etc.”

Having been in business for over three decades, the Saleh’s know what it takes to properly package a product, and offer this piece of advice:

“Make sure your product is labeled clearly and correctly. List all the ingredients, include nutritional information if possible, and, if you can, invest in labels that look professional.”

To learn more about Neomonde, visit them online at http://www.neomonde.com/. And if you’re ever in the area, be sure to stop by their market located at 9650 Strickland Rd. in Raleigh NC 27615. 

Great Smelling Fragrances in a Bottle to Freshen Up Your Space While Vacuuming

After spending 10 years as a vacuum distributor and noticing that customers had a difficult time replacing their supplies, Josh Posey and his Dad decided to start their own online business, watervacfragrances.com, in January of 2009.

Since then, they have been selling a large variety of great smelling fragrances for water filtration based vacuum systems, such as Rainbow, Hyla, Pro Aqua & many others.

Their fragrances are unique blends of scents that are added to the vacuum’s filtration water and freshen up your space while vacuuming.

Josh likes to package their fragrances in 1 oz and 2 oz Natural HDPE Plastic Cylinder Round Bottles with Lined Closures from eBottles.com.

When we asked him whether he had a recommendation about labeling products, this is what he had to say:

Don't try to cut corners in this area. Spend the money to have an attractive, durable label. An attractive label can encourage a first time purchase but a label that fades, peels, etc. can discourage repeat business.  (We made this mistake in the beginning)

Josh’s favorite part of doing business with eBottles.com: “The ability to go online and purchase product within a few seconds while having the option to speak to a rep when needed.”

If you would like to try one of Josh’s great smelling fragrances for your water based vacuum system, simply visit their online store at http://www.watervacfragrance.com/.

Great Idea - Cocktails in a Jar!

Fill your cooler with these cocktails in a jar! Great for tailgating at the game or for your next party. No more mixing and measuring cocktails for guests - these drinks are ready for guests to grab so you can enjoy the party too!  

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Here is What You'll Need...

• Round Glass Jars with lids or Wide Mouth Glass Jars with lids from eBottles.com
• Your favorite cocktail recipes
• A bucket or cooler with ice

Below you can find a great recipe for a "Beer Margarita" - sure to be a crowd pleaser!  

Makes (6) 1 cup servings
1 (12oz) can frozen limeade concentrate
12 oz tequila
12 oz water
12 oz beer
limes

Mix all the ingredients together. Add 1 slice of lime into each jar and fill with 1 cup of mixture. Place over ice to chill.

For more recipe ideas click here.

Appetite Control & Energy in a Bottle to Help You Achieve Your Goals… Naturally!

Tired of constantly lacking energy and carrying around those extra unwanted pounds, Chris Daugherty was on a quest to find the natural solution to weight loss.

He found it in A.C.E., a dietary supplement developed by scientists for natural energy and weight loss. A.C.E is short for Appetite Control and Energy and has been flying off the shelves at his Broadway Styling Salon in Vincennes, IN for a little over two months now.

What’s the secret to this science-based formula? A proprietary blend of synergistic ingredients, including Dark Cocoa and Natural Caffeine.

Just one or two capsules will turn off your hunger switch and kick your body into gear! The combination of reduced caloric intake and increased activity levels naturally leads to successful weight loss!

Chris uses 100cc HDPE Pharmaceutical Rounds and Fine Ribbed Lids with Pressure Sensitive Inner Seals from eBottles.com to package the dietary supplements.

His favorite part about doing business with eBottles.com? “Fast and reliable - and all my questions were answered friendly and quickly!”

If you’re ever in the area, be sure to stop by the Broadway Styling Salon Vincennes, IN 47591 or simply call (812) 882-9295 to get your bottle of the weight loss formula - shipped FREE within the U.S!

Know Your Bottle’s Body Parts!

When looking for the right bottle to package your product, it sure helps to know what the bottle is made of. And we don’t mean just the material.

In fact, there’s a lot more to it than the material that determines whether a particular bottle is the right choice… Today, we’ll go through all the bottle body parts – top to bottom!

Let's start with the Orifice. This is the central opening of a bottle. Often referred to as the mouth, it is the means through which the container is filled and accessed by the consumer.

Next is the Finish. Finishes come in different styles and sizes and each finish has an assigned number. For instance, our 16 oz BBQ Sauce Round has a 38/400 finish. The first number in the finish, in this case 38, refers to the diameter of the neck measured in millimeters. The second number, 400, is associated with the bottle’s thread size. This number determines which closures will securely fit on which bottle. Note: Bottle and closure finishes should always be an exact match in order to work properly.

The finish sits on the Neck of the Bottle. Granted, some bottles, such as Pharmaceutical Rounds or Spice Jars, don’t have a neck. But others, such as wine bottles or sauce bottles do. The neck is the narrow part of the bottle that connects the finish to the shoulder.

Below the Neck is the Shoulder. The shoulder alludes to the widening of the bottle, just after the neck and slants down into the body of the container.

The Body of the bottle is the area that most people are familiar with. Primarily used to contain and display the filled product, the body also provides a label panel for product decoration.

Toward the bottom end of the container, you may notice a slight curve, before the container goes straight into the base. That curve is the Heel. The heel accommodates the change in balance as the vertical sides of the bottle angle into the horizontal base.

The Base is the final piece in the bottle puzzle. Located at the bottom of the container, it provides a balanced foundation on which the bottle can stand.

From orifice to base, we have covered each element in the bottle formula. Now take a look at our wide selection of plastic bottles and glass bottles to see if we have what you’re looking for.

It’s a Family Affair at Sassie Sharons… Flavored Gourmet Vinegar in a Bottle!

This Husband & Wife Team started out making homemade flavored vinegar in the kitchen of their own home, using hand-painted wine bottles and giving them away as gifts to family and friends. 

Sassie Sharons Gourmet Flavored Vinegar

Today, they have a State Health Approved Kitchen where they are passionately dedicated to making gourmet flavored vinegars of the highest quality with only the best organic ingredients nature has to offer.

While some of the recipes they’re using date back as far as 35 years, to this date, each bottle of Sassie Sharon’s Gourmet Flavored Vinegar is still hand-filled, decorated and aged to perfection before making it onto store shelves.

Plus, each of the herbs, fruits, vegetables, hot peppers & custom blended spices used to create these delectable delights is carefully researched for its health benefits.

When Sassie Sharons was looking for bottles unique enough to do their Gourmet Flavored Vinegar justice, they came across the 8 oz and 5 oz corked Message Bottles at www.eBottles.com. Turns out they were the perfect fit!

If you’re interested in spicing up your marinades, salads, soups and more the healthy way, Sassie Sharons products are presently available at 4 local stores in Forsyth, MO as well as online at http://www.sassiegourmet.us/.

When asked about tips for fellow business owners, Sassie Sharons suggests to DO YOUR RESEARCH! Check with your state and local laws pertaining to your individual business and – the one thing they can’t say enough -  Marketing, Marketing, Marketing!

And they sure know about Marketing! Sassie Sharons will be featured in the April edition of the online magazine http://www.417mag.com/. Be sure to check them out!