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Ingredients
- You can use either 750ml or 1.5L of Everclear. The 1.5L quantitites are in parentheses.
- 750 ml (1.5L) of Everclear alcohol
- 11 + (22+) medium to large lemons (+ as in you can use a few more if you like)
- Water (see table below)
- Sugar, ¼ cup per cup of water above
Details
Preparation
Step 1
Note: it seems that there are two limoncello camps: the vodka camp and the Everclear camp. Now, I understand that there are places where you just can't get Everclear (For example, I think it's illegal in California. Another reason not to live there! lol) If you happen to live in one of these areas then my condolences. If not, then you really should use Everclear for your limoncello. Number one, it just flat tastes better. Number two, the process is much much shorter with Everclear ... we're talkin' the difference between soaking something in a 190 proof liquid or in an 80-90 proof one ... no contest. That said, it's still your choice ... on to the instructions.
Wash the lemons with a vegetable brush and hot water to remove any residue of pesticides or wax; pat the lemons dry.
Using a vegetable peeler, zest all the lemons ... no white pith allowed! Place the zest in a large container (a gallon) with the Everclear alcohol. Cover the container and let it sit for 5-7 days or more.
Strain the zest from the alcohol; discard the zest.
In a large saucepan, make a simple syrup by combining the water and sugar; boil for 5 minutes. Let syrup cool to room temperature. Add to alcohol. This is one of the coolest parts of the process ... you have clear sugar water and a clear yellow Everclear mixture ... mix 'em together and they combine into a translucent mixture ... it's just cool.
Transfer to glass storage flasks. Put a bottle at a time in the freezer to cool before serving. Our freezer is set to zero degrees F and the limoncello does not freeze. We have friends who have set their freezers to a colder temperature (-5F I think) and the limoncello will freeze up ... if yours freezes you need to plan ahead and take it out of the freezer like 5 minutes before serving.
A table for proof:
NOTE: hopefully, someday, I'll figure out how to make a real table here ... this was cut and pasted from an Xcel spreadsheet and then editted/formatted again ... KeyIngredient doesn't have a clue about tables ... lol. There are some equations, below the table, that you can use to create your own table ...
Cups of water to add for
Proof 0.75L 1.5L Everclear
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190 0.00 0.00
180 0.18 0.35
170 0.37 0.74
160 0.59 1.18
150 0.84 1.68
140 1.13 2.25
130 1.45 2.91
120 1.84 3.68
110 2.29 4.58
100 2.84 5.67
90 3.50 7.00
80 4.33 8.66
70 5.40 10.80
60 6.83 13.65 <------
50 8.82 17.64
40 11.81 23.63
30 16.80 33.60
20 26.78 53.55
10 56.70 113.40
My current choice (marked <----) is about 60 proof, so, 14 cups of water and 3.5 (14 times ¼) cups of sugar. I rounded to 14 cups … that makes the ‘real’ proof of my limoncello 58.96 …
The equations …
For the 0.75 Liter column: cups = 3.15*(190 – proof)/proof
Or solving for proof … proof = (190*3.15)/(cups + 3.15)
For the 1.5 Liter column: cups = 6.3*(190 – proof)/proof
Or solving for proof … proof = (190*6.3)/(cups + 6.3)
3.15 and 6.3?? That’s the number of cups in 0.75 and 1.5 liters. And the 190 is the proof of Everclear.
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