Limoncello

When life (or your mother in law) gives you lemons what else do you do? Make Limoncello of course LOL!

I had never even thought of the idea of making our own Limocello - that was until my girlfriend Tanya mentioned that she was thinking of making some with some lemons that she had. I was astonished how easy it actually was - in fact too easy to produce a sweet slightly tart lemon liquor that literally warms you from the inside out. Well, it turns out all you need to make truly incredible limoncello are some good lemons, a bottle of stiff good vodka, and just a little patience.

Firstly, what is Limoncello? Limoncello is one of the most famous Italian liqueurs in the universe. It is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy, especially in the region around the Gulf of Naples, the Sorrentine Peninsula and the coast of Amalfi, and islands of Procida, Ischia, and Capri or as we have just discovered also finely made in a garage in Skye, an outer suburb of Melbourne by a British born couple. LOL!

Drinking it straight, and straight from the freezer, is the most common and preferred way to drink limoncello. Limoncello is considered a digestif, an after-dinner drink, thought to aid digestion. However, it is also used in many cocktails because of it's bold citrus flavours.

For me - a shot glass and limoncello straight out of the freezer is the way to go. Trust me!

Limoncello

(recipe sourced from The Kitchn)

10 lemons, washed and dried

750 ml bottle vodka

1 to 4 cups sugar syrup, to taste

Peel the lemons using a vegetable peeler to remove the peels from all the lemons. Try to remove only the outer yellow skin and as little of the white pith as possible. Trim away any large pieces of pith with a paring knife, but don't worry about trimming every last scrap.

Place the lemon peels in a large air tight jar big enough to hold the lemon skins and the vodka. Cover the peels with vodka. Screw on the lid or seal.

Infuse the vodka and lemon peels infuse somewhere out of the way and out of direct sunlight for at least 4 days or as long as a month.

Once infused for the set amount of time. Line a strainer with paper towel or a large coffee filter and set it over a large jug. Strain the infused vodka. You may need to stir the vodka in the strainer if the flow stops.

Prepare a sugar syrup of 4 cups of water and 4 cups of sugar. Bring the water to a simmer and stir in the sugar to dissolve. Allow the sugar syrup to cool. This is the stage that you will need to experiment with flavours. You may like it sweeter or tarter in flavour just remember that the more sugar syrup will dilute the alcohol base, making a less alcoholic, milder, and smoother-sipping liqueur.

Mix the cooled sugar syrup with the infused vodka: Pour the sugar syrup into the infused vodka one cup at a time.. Stir gently to mix. Taste and continue to add additional sugar syrup to your tastes. Remember you can't take the syrup back out so make sure you really want to add more.

Insert the funnel in the neck of one of the bottles and fill with limoncello. Repeat with remaining bottles.

Chill the limoncello in the fridge or freezer for at least 4 hours before drinking.

Enjoy!