Homemade Limoncello

"Meyer lemons, this. Meyer lemons, that." For awhile there, every blog we read was extolling the virtues of the Meyer lemon. Unfortunately for us, here in nasty New England, in cold Connecticut, Meyer lemons are pretty hard to come by. Unless you drive an hour out of state to Trader Joe's and happen to come across of small bag of the beauties. Imagine our glee!

New, albeit related, topic. We have been enjoying limoncello for over a decade, since Amy had her first sip of the real thing on her first of many trips to Italy. We've never been 100% satisfied by anything we've bought from the liquor store. However, now and then, an Italian friend-of-a-friend, or a kind restaurant server or manager somewhere will share some of their homemade stash. We've always wanted to make it ourselves...so, we thought, when life gives us Meyer lemons, make limoncello!

We mixed the Meyer lemons with regular, organic ones because we weren't thinking straight in the store and didn't buy enough of them! Nonetheless, the mix produced a vibrant yet smooth tasting liquor. It was not too sweet, as some brands tend to be, nor too harsh with an alcohol burn, as others are. It was appropriately thick without having a cloying syrupy texture. Basically, it seemed to fall somewhere in between all of these things, and we were delighted with our results. Here's how we made our own homemade limoncello. Enjoy. It's soooo worth the effort.

Ingredients:

8 medium-to-large organic lemons

4 Meyer lemons

750 ml. bottle of grain alcohol (we used Everclear)

5 cups water

3 and 1/4 cups sugar

 

Directions:

Thoroughly wash and dry the lemons. Using a vegetable peeler, peel the skins from the lemons, taking care not to get any of the white pith, which will cause a bitter flavor. Put the peels in an airtight container and add the alcohol. Seal the container and shake well. Store the container in a cool, dark place for seven days. Each day, once a day, shake the container well. You will begin to see the alcohol take on a yellow tint - this is a good thing! On the seventh day, mix the sugar and water in a large saucepan. Heat it over medium heat until the sugar dissolves (no need to boil it) - this is simple syrup. Strain the lemon peels from the alcohol, then mix the alcohol with the simple syrup. You have now created homemade limoncello. Store in an airtight container or bottles as desired. Serve chilled.