Another variant on Lemoncello.

Ingredients

• 1.75 L Everclear
• 12-15 unmarked, unblemished lemons
• 7 cups water
• 4 2/3 cups sugar

Instructions

• Wash the lemons with hot water, removing any wax. Be careful not to damage the skin.
• Using a citrus zester or chef’s microplane, remove the yellow zest, and set aside. Try not to score too deeply into the pith (white part) of the rind, as it will bitter the product
• Combine the alcohol and zest in a large jar. Seal and store in a cool dark place for 20-40 days. Allow to macerate. Give it a good shake once or twice during the first week.

On bottling day, prepare the simple syrup. Combine sugar and water in large saucepan and stir over medium heat until solution clarifies. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature (2 hours). Measures above yield about 2.5L.

When the syrup is cool, strain the zest out of the alcohol mixture. A coffee filter works well, and can be supported in a strainer or a funnel.

Combine the alcohol and syrup in a vessel large enough to accommodate the alcohol and the syrup.
-or-
Combine measured amounts of syrup and alcohol in screw-top bottles using 3:2 sugar-alcohol ratio.

[Optional] Store bottles in a cool, dark place to rest for another 20-40 days. This allows flavors to “marry” in the bottle, and lends a smoother product.

Store one bottle in the freezer and serve ice cold in a shot glass or small cordial.

Some notes:

• You want to start with a neutral alcohol, the higher proof the better. Higher alcohol content will leach the oils out of the lemon rind more quickly. I use Everclear. Things finish up in about 3 weeks, but I give it the full 40 just because.
• Higher proofs call for more lemons, because you’ll cut it down more at the end for a “sane” proof. This dilutes the lemon flavor.
• Pick 12 unmarked, unblemished lemons. Try to avoid lemons that are still green, have been stamped, bruised or have dark spots. You’re going to use the outermost layer of the fruit, so you’ll want to work with the best you can find.
• You’re going to have a lot of nude lemons laying around. They’re good for gin & tonic, marinade or whatever else. If you can’t use them immediately, the juice lasts longer in a bottle than it does in a denuded lemon.
• The simple syrup mix is subjective. Some people like sweeter cello, and use a water-sugar ratio of 1 part water, 1 part sugar. I found that to be a little too sweet for my tastes, and thinned out to 3 parts water 2 parts sugar. I’ve seen some recipes that go out as far as 2 parts water to 1 part sugar. It’s up to you. You’ll just need a working volume to hit your target alcohol content. (see below)

One thing I’ve found is it’s hard to target a given volume of syrup. The sugar loses volume when it dissoves, and again when it heats. In general, I think you lose about 25% of the sugar volume to solution and heating. You’ll have to play around and see.

• Alcohol content. You probably know that the “proof” value on the bottle is twice the value of the alcohol by volume (ABV). So, 100 proof is 50% ABV. Most lemoncello sold commercially has a bottle proof of 60 to 70, or is between 30 and 35% ABV. I like mine a little stronger, around 80 proof which is the proof at which most liquor is sold. Everclear is 195 proof, or about 97.5% ABV. I like using Everclear because (1) it makes the math easy and (2) when cut down to bottle proof, it yields a larger volume. Good for storing and good for gifts.

When I’m done macerating the fruit rinds and strain the alcohol out, I get a hair less than 1750mL in the jar, and it’s still at 97%. I want to target 80 proof (40%) so I just divide the volume (1750) by the target proof to get a total volume of 4375mL, or 4.375L. I need to add 2.625L of volume to my 1.75L of “pure,” 97% alcohol cut down to roughly 80 proof. If you have a big pot, bottling bucket or lemonade tun, you can just dump everything into the pot, mix it up, and then pour it into the bottles. If not, then you need to mix measured ratios into your bottles. With Everclear, it’s an easy 3 parts syrup to 2 parts alcohol mix. (60-40– see?)

When working with lower proof alcohols, part of the “cut” is already done. It complicates the math. If you started with 100 proof vodka, and just cut it in half, you’d have 50 proof limoncello. Your need to adjust your sugar ratio, too.

For a given volume of 100-proof vodka, it’s 50% water by volume.