Inaugural Post Addendum: Limencello

If I had written about both of the drinks I had consumed the other night, it would have been way too long. So let me tell you a little bit about Limoncello.

Limoncello is a simple liqueur, Italian in origin and made from nearly pure alcohol, lemon zest, water, and sugar. So why not just drink the ostensibly similar in composition Mike's Hard Lemonade? 3 reasons:

1. Mike's doesn't hold a candle to Hooper's Hooch.
2. Its taste belies its alcohol content; i.e. weak, unsophisticated drinks like Mike's, Bud Light and others are for frat boys to chug, not for you and me to revel in.
3. It can be made in large quantities inexpensively. (And then sold at an absurd markup in a restaurant--more on that later)

Limoncello is what is known in the old country as a digestivo. It is meant to be sipped and nursed after a good hearty meal as digestivos, as the name implies, are believed to aid digestion. Typically, an Italian dinner would be followed by such a drink to settle your stomach after eating a starchy, carby pasta-topped-with-highly acidic-tomato-sauce dinner. It can be enjoyed by itself or coupled with a light dessert such as vanilla gelato (which happened to be the way that I had it last Sunday).

As mentioned before Limoncello is exceedingly simple and embarrassingly inexpensive to make yourself. And totally legal to do so as well because you don't actually have to create the alcohol you use. That part you have to buy yourself. But once the final product comes together, you'll be extremely proud of yourself. Take it from someone who paid USD$6 for an ounce and a half of the stuff.

Here's one way to make it*:

• 15-20 lemons
• 2 750 mL bottles of Grappa**
• 5 cups sugar
• 6 cups water

1. Zest all the lemons. So you don't waste anything juice the lemons and make lemonade for your kids. (Limoncello has a strong lemon flavor but is not bitter because it contains no juice.)
   
2. In a glass jug (you can clean out a Carlo Rossi wine jug for this step) place all the zest and pour one bottle of Grappa. Store in freezer for 10 days, stirring optional. The waiting periods are when the alcohol extracts the lemon flavor from the zest.
   
3. Boil sugar into water in a large saucepan. Allow to cool.
   
4. After 10 days, combine zest/Grappa mix with sugar/water mix. Add second bottle of Grappa. Chill in freezer for 10 days.
5. After 10 days, strain zest out of mixture. Store in freezer, serve in chilled shotglass or cordial glass.

*There are hundreds of Limoncello recipes out there. If you have the patience, experiment to see how you like it best.
**Grappa is one of the best alcohols to use, but you may use whatever. I wouldn't recommend anything less than 100 proof, because the lower the alcohol content, the less flavor will be extracted from the lemon zest.

Play it up to your guests that your limoncello is homemade from fresh ingredients and aged and they'll be wholly impressed. Just don't tell them how simple it was. :)