LimoncelloQuest

I changed a few things on this batch but only one that I think makes a big difference. In this batch I used distilled water instead of tap water. We have a WaterWise distiller that I used for this experiment but you can get cheap distilled water at any grocery store. And I recommend doing that because this is a VERY good batch.

The aroma is very clean and crisp. The flavor is also very clean and lemony. I noticed some film on the inside of the bottle but much less than in other batches. This is perhaps the purest tasting batch I’ve ever made. There are no detectable off flavors and it’s a batch I imagine the Italians would love. It needs some time to sit, there’s a heavy dose of heat on the finish but this could prove to be my best batch ever. Two other minor changes to help with the film buildup were washing the lemons with Environne fruit wash before zesting and in the final filtration I added an extra filtering.

Liquor: One bottle of 151 Proof Everclear
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 12 organic lemons scrubbed with Environne fruit wash
Days peels and liquor rested: 84
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 1.75, Cups Water: 2.5
Final filtration: 5x

I’ve gotten numerous questions on exactly how much zest I use in a typical batch of Limoncello. I’ve also had some very insightful comments regarding how I measure my ingredients. Apparently one “cup” of water isn’t the same amount in the U.S. as in other countries. Being American, this hadn’t really occurred to me but it’s a good point.

So my first LimoncelloQuest acquisition was a food scale! Yes, very exciting. The first thing I did with this scale was measure the amount of zest I use in a typical batch. I just started a new batch with 12 organic lemons. I zested them with the microplane grater yesterday and weighed the resulting zest. The zest weighed in at 46 grams. The lemons were a little on the small side so I bet I often use more like 50 grams but that should give you a good idea of what I typically use to make a batch.

I should also mention that a “batch” for me these days is half of what is described in my standard recipe, using one 750ml bottle of Everclear rather than two bottles. This is primarily to conserve Everclear and get more tests in. Still, this 12 lemon batch I just started contains significantly more zest than I used to use in the past. I may update my standard recipe because I just prefer a LOT of lemon flavor these days.

I just added a brand new section to the site for commercial limoncello reviews. I kicked it off with five widely available brands of limoncello and I summarized them on one graph so you can easily see the differences. I plan to add more in the near future, feel free to make suggestions!

This batch was hard to rate on my flavor graph because it embodies two distinctly different characteristics. I finally made the decision you see below but it actually starts sweet and smooth and then as the flavor matures on the palate it gets more rough and a little tart.

I think many hard core limoncello enthusiasts would say that this is how it’s supposed to be and I enjoy this batch myself. It’s mellow and then you get the heat of a good limoncello. The mint adds a little something, you wouldn’t necessarily detect it but it does add a certain character to the batch. There are different styles of limoncello, but as authentic styles go I like this batch a lot.

Liquor: One bottle of 151 Proof Everclear
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 14 scrubbed organic lemons plus one mint leaf torn in half
Days peels and liquor rested: 36
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 1.75, Cups Water: 2.5
Final filtration: 4x

Limoncello - Batch #13

I should have posted this review while it was still summertime but better late than never I guess. This is actually batch #12 for those who follow along. I wanted to get fancy and do a batch that tasted like a Mojito.

Here’s the recipe I used:

Liquor: One bottle of 151 Proof Everclear
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 14 scrubbed organic limes plus one mint leaf torn in half
Days peels and liquor rested: 36
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 1.75, Cups Water: 2.5
Final filtration: 4x

There were a few things wrong with this attempt. The first is pretty obvious, lime zest doesn’t taste like lime flesh. So unless I use lime juice in the future I don’t think the finished product will really taste like Mojito. I also used far too little mint, it was barely detectable in the flavor.

Here were my tasting notes:
Has the typical lime-cello green color and the texture is extra dense. Tastes like a sweet batch of lime-cello, you can hardly detect the lime that would make it mojito-like. There’s a hint of mint on the finish but this doesn’t taste like a mojito.

Despite the fact that it didn’t turn out as I’d initially hoped, this was a tasty batch. I may repeat it and add 10 mint leaves instead of one next time.

I’ve heard that the secret to great limoncello is to add the zest of one lime to the lemon zest before infusion. So I gave this a try to see if it adds anything. The result had a nice milky white color out of the freezer, I don’t usually get that effect but I doubt it had to do with the lime. It may be the temperature of the freezer.

The lime did exert a flavor in the finished product, it’s pretty subtle but definitely a mild lime zest flavor (not to be confused with an actual lime flavor). It has a few other off flavors, possibly because the lime wasn’t organic, and it’s a little tiny bit harsh. The lime zest adds a certain something but I don’t think it’s a real improvement so I’m declaring that adding the zest of one lime isn’t the secret to great limoncello. Here’s the breakdown:

Liquor: One bottle of 151 Proof Everclear
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 12 scrubbed Organic lemons plus the zest of one lime
Days peels and liquor rested: 56
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 1.75, Cups Water: 2.5
Final filtration: 4x

So far in my limoncello-making career I’ve made very few batches that would qualify as unmitigated train wrecks. This is just one such batch. I read somewhere on the internet that adding the juice of the lemons to the batch along with the zest creates a nice flavor. I doubted it but like everything else I tried it.

YUCK. I can’t even rate it on the normal scale. It has such an overpowering tartness that it almost can’t be endured. Again, this was a fairly predictable outcome but I wanted to try it and now I have a batch of something, not limoncello, that I’ll have to use as some kind of disinfectant.

Just a site update, I’ve significantly expanded the page on recipes using lemon juice. If you have any additions, please email them to me. Enjoy!

I regularly surf the web in search of ideas for better limoncello recipes and I wandered onto this site where I found the idea for putting pineapple into the infusion. The author of the blog was kind enough to send me the recipe which I modified in minor ways to fit my normal limoncello making routine. Here is the recipe I used:

Liquor: Two bottles of 151 Proof Everclear
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 18 scrubbed Organic lemons plus 1/3 of a ripe pineapple, cut into chunks
Days peels and liquor rested: 35
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 3.5, Cups Water: 5
Days syrup rested with infusion: 5
Final filtration: 4x

Even though I know this liquor contains pineapple I have a hard time detecting the flavor in the finished product. I’d bet that no one could figure it out if you didn’t tell them. The effect on the flavor is exactly what I was told, it makes it a slightly sweeter more “gum droppy” flavor. It tastes more like candy than normal limoncello but it’s otherwise hard to pinpoint the difference in flavor. I think it will be a crowd pleaser though I’d like to use a more ripe pineapple next time. Actually, the entire batch is almost gone already (within a couple weeks) which is rare even around my house.

As an aside, I just added a new page to the site that suggests uses for the lemon juice that the limoncello making process produces. Please email me any additions you may have and I’ll include them.

I ran out of grain alcohol but wanted to run a test between organic and non-organic lemons. I have always heard that non-organic lemons are better for making Limoncello and that makes sense but they are expensive and very hard to find so I wanted to test it.

I tried to treat the two batches as equally as possible. The organic lemons were roughly half the size of the non-organic lemons so I used about twice as many to produce the same quantity of zest. I used half a cup less sugar than normal in both batches because Vodka is much smoother than grain alcohol and I thought that would produce a more balanced Limoncello. Indeed, I didn’t miss the extra sugar at all.

Batch #7:
Liquor: Two bottles of 100 Proof Smirnoff Vodka
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 23 Organic, scrubbed
Days peels and liquor rested: 40
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 3.5, Cups Water: 5
Days syrup rested with infusion: 0
Final filtration: 4x

Due to the use of vodka rather than grain alcohol, the flavor of the batch is very smooth. It has fewer chemical flavors than most other batches I’ve made. There is a strong lemon flavor and an off flavor that strikes me as rotten lemon, but isn’t really bad and doesn’t reduce my enjoyment of the liquor. The lemons were just barely starting to get soft when I used them so I’m sure that’s where the off flavor originated. If you use organic lemons, make sure to zest them the same day you get them home because they go bad ridiculously fast.

Batch #8:
Liquor: Two bottles of 100 Proof Smirnoff Vodka
Liquor filtration: 5x
Lemons: 15 Non-Organic, waxed, scrubbed
Days peels and liquor rested: 40
Simple Syrup - Cups Sugar: 3.5, Cups Water: 5
Days syrup rested with infusion: 0
Final filtration: 4x

One of the first things I noticed when doing the final filtration is that using non-organic lemons makes it much harder to filter the liquor. This is probably because of the wax on non-organic lemons, I think it gums up the filter. This is a huge advantage of using organic lemons because final filtration is my least favorite aspect of making Limoncello.

You’ll notice that the flavor graph shows this one as rougher than batch #7 even though they were exactly the same except for the test variable. It is smoother than normal because it contains vodka but not as smooth as the organic lemons. This taught me something interesting, that the contaminants in non-organic lemons apparently introduce roughness to the flavor. This actually makes sense since contaminants in the liquor make the flavor rough as well.

There are also off flavors that seem chemical in nature. The off flavors in batch #7 were more natural and it had a more lemony flavor overall. I think there are enough benefits to work almost exclusively with organic lemons moving forward.