Making Limoncello

[Jacksoup]

I get a lot of lemons this time of year and slice them fairly thin and dehydrate them.  Use the slices in tea and water.  Also as @Anna Nsaid, freezing the juice in ice cube trays and decanting into a zip loc is good too.

[gfweb]

you could freeze the zested lemons and thaw as required for juice

[Shelby]

Lemon posset!

[ambra]

Why not just lemonade? For the lemon juice I mean. 

Edited March 16, 2021 by ambra (log)

[Kim Shook]

1 hour ago, Shelby said:

Lemon posset!

Mmmmmmm!  I had to look that up.  The name "posset" makes me think of Little Women or a Jane Austin book!

[haresfur]

6 hours ago, ambra said:

Why not just lemonade? For the lemon juice I mean. 

 

A strange thing about Australia is that they don't drink American style lemonade and if you order a lemonade you will get something like Sprite. Unfortunately I have been unsuccessful at growing a lemon tree and in this work from home covid world, I can't just pick them up when someone leaves produce in the tea room.

[heidih]

Lemonade - as to North America - it is bleepin cold now! No need for a cooling refresher. I just use the juice as the acid in many preps when it is abundant. The freezing as cubes is great but at some point freezer space could be an issue.  

[Kim Shook]

The lemoncello has begun:

 

 

 

[Kim Shook]

We decanted the limoncello on the 1st and chilled it.  Tasted last night:

 

We all agreed that it was tasty but needed a little tweaking.  It needed more lemon flavor – not sure if that means a few extra days steeping or more lemon zest.  Any suggestions?  Also, there was a good amount of cheap vodka burn.  I used Smirnoff for the first bottle (like Katie suggests) and Ketel One for the second.  I think next time I’ll go with both bottles being Ketel One - both Jessica and I are super sensitive to that burn and it did interfere with our enjoyment.  We both finished our glasses, though. 😁

 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

We all agreed that it was tasty but needed a little tweaking.  It needed more lemon flavor – not sure if that means a few extra days steeping or more lemon zest.  Any suggestions? 

 

A lot of recipes say to let the ingredients "marry" for about a week or so after sweetening so I'd recommend that you taste it again in a week and see if that affects the burn you are tasting.  I generally use an inexpensive 151 proof vodka for the initial extraction and don't have an issue with the harshness after it's been diluted and rested a while. 

It looks like you used a microplane to zest the the lemons, I don't think you need more than a month for the extraction, though you could try.  I've done all sorts of things when I forgot a batch!

 

It's possible that the missing lemon flavor is really tartness so you could also try squeezing a little wedge of lemon into your glass to see what you think.  I'm sure it's not at all traditional but I like the addition of the fresh flavor.  

 

And your glasses are perfection!

 

Edited to add that this recipe from Kathy Casey's book Sips & Apps is a delicious use of limoncello in a cocktail.

 

Edited April 3, 2021 by blue_dolphin (log)

[rotuts]

what do you think the final ' proof ' is ?

 

that might be the harshness if its too high.

 

although you really are hoping for someting

 

' home made '

 

a drop or two of

 

Grande Marnier might be helpful 

 

understanding it Orange based. 

 

 

 

 

[blue_dolphin]

1 hour ago, Kim Shook said:

It needed more lemon flavor – not sure if that means a few extra days steeping or more lemon zest.  Any suggestions? 

Another option I should have mentioned, especially if you are concerned about a high alcohol burn, is to just infuse the zest into a vodka you find acceptable, maybe giving it a bit longer if you are going with a lower proof option.  Then, just strain and add your sweetener to taste rather than diluting further with additional vodka.  You can add a little water if it's still too "hot" but I'd let it sit a while before you decide if that's needed. 

I went that route using lime zest and tequila and got a nice result. 

[MokaPot]

@Kim Shook, I love those stemmed glasses, the color and shape. Perfect match for your lemoncello.

[oli]

Does anyone know of a T&T recipe for Creme Leoncello?

 

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, oli said:

Does anyone know of a T&T recipe for Creme Leoncello?

 

 

T&T = Tequila & Tonic????

 

Can you describe Creme Leoncello?  Is is something like this? 

 

[oli]

Does anyone know of a T&T recipe for Creme Leoncello?

 

Tried and True.

That recipe might work.