Limoncello is my favourite after dinner digestive and it’s really easy to make at home. This batch will make 6 500ml bottles, keep 1 in the freezer and the rest in a cupboard ready to take to friends as gifts.
If you’re in the UK like me, you probably can’t get your hands on Everclear grain alcohol, because it’s not legal. If that’s the case, use the strongest cleanest unscented you can get your hands on. I used Balkan 176.
Ingredients
Alcohol 1.4l
Organic unwaxed lemons zest only 10
Sugar 1120g
Water 1.4l
Equipment
Large airtight jar
Vegetable peeler
Heavy based saucepan
Sieve
Funnel
Coffee Filters
6 500ml glass bottles
The Process
Sterilise a large glass jar with boiling water. Dry completely.
Using a vegetable peeler, zest the lemons being careful to take just the yellow zest and not the white pith as this will bring a bitter flavour to the finished product.
Add the zest and vodka to the jar.
Seal and leave in a dark cupboard for about 10 days.
After 10 days
Sterilise your bottles
In a heavy based saucepan add the water and the sugar and heat to a boil.
When the syrup is clear take it off the heat and let cool.
Using a sieve, pour the lemony alcohol into the cool syrup. Discard the zest.
Stir the limoncello and filter it into the bottles using coffee filters and the funnel. I did two rounds of filtering to make sure there was no sediment in the finished limoncello.
