Batch #14 – Limoncello with Distilled Water
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
20090609 10:39 am
I noticed you only used 12 lemons this batch with 1 bottle of alcohol. Would you still recommend using 17 lemons with two bottles of everclear as per your recipe or would you now up that to 24 lemons?
Also, after you added the simple syrup to the liquor/peel did you let it rest as well for any amount of time or did you test it immediately?
20090612 11:34 pm
I’ll have to try this out on my next batch. On another note I stumbled by mistake upon a very very tasty recipe after I tired out of peeling a hundred lemons. The recipe calls for 60 lemons, 1 bottle of spyritus 75%abv (filtered 5x) 2 cups 1:1 ratio of sugar and water, 4 Madagascar vanilla beans. prepare it as normal, leave in the vanilla untill you are ready to combine the simple syrup which for me was after 3-4 months. filter 3x and enjoy a very smooth, excellent taste of lemon peel with the right balance of sugar and vanilla I have ever tasted. this makes 2 bottles
20090709 3:00 pm
Hey Ben… I totally just created a username and password to comment on your blog. That’s just how special you are… j/k ANyway, I saw the comment you left on my blog over at blogspot and was just going to say that I have made a whopping total of 2 batches now and have not had any type of film develop on the top of my Limoncello. I like your blog and it’s given me some good ideas about the next batch I will make. I can tell you really like Limoncello. Talk to you later!!! ps. I love using cheesecloth to strain. It’s awesome.
20090719 1:35 pm
Sorry about the registration, I had the wrong spam filter installed on my blog and was getting inundated with comment spam. Fixed now. I appreciate the patronage though!
20090803 11:52 pm
I’ve just started my first batch of Limoncello today. I used two bottles of 151 Everclear. I just came across your post for batch #5. I didn’t filter my alcohol!! What can I do to salvage my batch? I suspect it’s too late to filter after one day of infusion. huh? What can I add or do to mellow it out after the infusion? You have a wonderful website, I just wish I had found it sooner!
20090810 2:56 pm
Hey there, I would just go ahead and finish the batch and enjoy it. Once you’ve started infusion you can’t really filter the liquor but it just smooths out the flavor. It will still be drinkable anyway. Just try to filter it next time and compare the batches to see what you like.
20090814 1:18 pm
Did a bit of research and found that it is illegal to sell the 190-proof variety of Everclear in some states of the United States, namely California, Florida, Hawaii, Massachusetts, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Hampshire, New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Washington and West Virginia. Where as the 151-proof variety
is available in California, Minnesota, Ohio, and some other states.
In my state Oklahoma, we have the 190 proof but can’t find the 151 proof anywhere. Seems if you can get the 190 proof no stores want to carry the 151 Everclear, Bacardi 151 is abundtantly available though.
20090821 5:56 pm
tul9033 -
Yeah, in NY it’s a drag about the 190pf ban.
I use 160pf vodka (Devil Springs, and man it’s harsh by itself right out of the bottle!)
I filtered it 4x through the Brita and gave some of the batch to an Italian coworker, who gave it to his _really_ Italian mother, who said it was the best limoncello she’d ever had. (I’ve seen pictures of this family’s Christmas dinner – enough food to feed a wedding for 100 people, easy. The point is, they know their food and they know their drink)
High praise, but I only take perhaps 5% of the credit (for doing the grunt work), but really it’s from following Ben’s recipe. Follow the technique and you can’t lose!
20090821 6:05 pm
Ben -
It’s been awhile since I’ve combed through every entry on here, but did you ever try spring water instead of tap water (real spring water, not tap water that someone else bottled…)?
The reason I ask is because whenever I’ve heard of the great Scotch and Bourbon makers, they always talk about the quality of the spring or brook water that they use, that good spring water has a balance of minerals/gasses in it, etc. It seems like if distilled water was better, they’d talk about that (and maybe they do, I juut haven’t heard of it).
I realize Limoncello is not whiskey, but I was curious just the same if you’d tried that.
20100121 12:57 pm
My first attempt to make it. I curious, others sites have said to put the Limoncello in the freezer when done, but I don’t see that in this recipe?
20100121 1:26 pm
Yes, absolutely. Limoncello is most enjoyable straight out of the freezer.