Because we (the Amazing Reese and I) have wonderful friends with a freakishly prolific lemon tree, it's time to make limoncello again. The first time making limoncello, it was rather strong, so this year, I'm tweaking the recipe.
This is stage one, peeling the lemons. In this part of the process, it's important to use only the zest from the peel, because the fleshy white part of the skin under the zest is bitter. It's the oils from the lemon zest that give limoncello its lovely yellow color and lemony flavor.
After zesting the lemons, we (enthusiastic helpers and I) soaked the lemon peels in grain alcohol (Everclear) for eight days. Last time, the 190 proof was a bit strong so I wanted to use 151 proof this go around. All the liquor store had was 190 proof, so the Amazing Reese calculated how much water to add to the Everclear to turn the 190 proof into 150-ish proof. One might say that he came to my lemon aid! (ha)
The eight days of soaking the lemon peels has passed, but I'm waiting until the very enthusiastic helpers return from an epic road trip before finishing the project.
2 comments:
I'm enthusiastic! In fact, VERY enthusiastic!
Mitch -- you are more than welcome to help with the next step which includes bottling and sampling and taking some home.
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