re: Limoncello (Photos)

Thanks. Just saw your reply. Not sure we can grow them up here.

Thanks. Will keep my eyes open. Have been wanting to make some limoncello for a couple of years. From what I read, you pretty much have to use Meyer lemons.

Definitely don't agree w/using Meyer lemons for limoncello, based both on direct experience and hewing to Italian tradition. Meyers are a satsuma/lemon hybrid, with distinct orangey overtones in the peel. So I tried a batch 5+ years ago using Meyers & Everclear. It was *terrible*, and I was careful not to use any pity and only peel, did a proper extraction for 6 weeks, then a dilution w/simple syrup. It always had that rotgut, harsh, Everclear burn, even when very diluted. I went to the Amalfi coast a few years after that & had absolutely divine homemade 'cello, which made me determined to try again.

The limoncello of Italy is made with a lemon called sfusato (on the Amalfi coast), which is technically a subtype of the variety Santa Teresita. I planted this specific variety in my backyard orchard 3.5 years ago, and it produced its first crop this winter. I made a very, very nice limoncello out of those big sfusato/ovale lemons....Amalfi coast wisdom says to use the lemons just as they're turning from green to yellow, with a little green left on the peel (oil concentrations are supposedly highest in the peel at that time).

I used Kirkland/Costco brand vodka this time, even though grain neutral spirits, w/its higher proof, would have made for a faster extraction. Six weeks of vodka on the peels, then I filtered/strained, diluted w/simple syrup, and now it's resting for another week or two. Early samples are excellent. It's not as good as the homemade stuff I had in Italy, but I think that's more related to the highly mineral water used in the simple syrup...those 'cellos definitely had a dry, kinda calcium finish thanks to their water.

Anyway, forget the Meyers, they're nice lemons but a plain lemon variety will give you a brighter, truer lemon flavors without the orange overtones.

This one is good.

Trade lemon stuff for the orange stuff.

Pound cake

RA'd for the encouragement of bootlegging