make limoncello

Yeah, so, here’s the thing: I don’t even think I drank any. The night before, I had, shall we say, a titch too much to drink. So come party time, I had about three drinks, and nursed them all night. As responsible people would have done anyway, but meh. Anyway, none of those drinks contained everclear.

However, the color was very pretty, although people said the smell was reminiscent of 409. My friend made two limoncello martinis and got hammered, and in watching her, I’d say it was worth it. But you’d have to ask her to be sure.

This recipe is currently fermenting in my closet. I made it on Tuesday, and next Saturday we’ll see how it is.

I’ve bought my lemons, and, after a trip to Illinois, a bottle of everclear. (Damn you, Minnesota, and your liver-friendly laws.) The recipe I plan on using only takes ten days to ferment, so now it’s just a waiting game for a couple of weeks. I’m pretty excited. I had a cocktail the other night that had green tea vodka, pomegranate liqueur, and limoncello in it, so my big quest now is to figure out exactly how it’s made so I can replicate it.

It is wonderful! We sampled the wares today (mid afternoon, which made for a very productive rest of the day) and it was so smooth and lemony! Yay! Will bottle for gifts.

I pulled all the lemon peels out, strained the alcohol and made the syrup. It kinda looks like very clear pee. Above is a picture of the straining process. On the left is the strained and the right is the unstrained. The last part is adding the syrup after it cools and letting it sit for 40 days.

It’s been 2 months but the lemon peel is not breaking like it should. so, i am going to give it another week and see where it is at that point. . .

The lemon peel has been marinating in the liquor for a few weeks now. I made the mistake of taking a whiff of it and it nearly burned my eyebrows off. that stuff is highly flammable! I am looking forward to being able to try it next summer!

so, i bought the lemons a couple of weeks ago. i went to pick up the liquor and was carded at the store. the clerk looked at my license for a good two minutes. i realized she thought it wasn’t mine (with good reason) because my hair was long and blonde. i wore glasses. now, my hair is short and reddish and no more glasses. well, it also ended up that my license had been expired for 3 months. she wouldn’t sell me the liquor. it was hilarious. i ran into a friend of mine in the parking lot, told him the story. he asked me if i wanted him to buy me what i needed. i declined. i haven’t had to have someone buy me alcohol since i was in high school. i did kind of feel delinquent though!

i got the chance to really try this stuff this weekend! it was bottled and I have a feeling that it would taste better if it was homemade, but it was still very tasty!

this would be perfect if you wanted to have a bar in your basement :)