What is limoncello?
Limoncello is a lemon flavored spirit. It’s Italian in origin. The base recipe is lemon zest macerated in vodka/NGS for a time then sugar is added to balance the bitterness. It would be considered a post distillation flavored spirit, a compound spirit. Traditionally it’s enjoyed super cold in a small glass. We would call this “Ready to Drink”, or RTD. You don’t need to add anything else to enjoy it.
The Ingredients
The Lemons
First up, the main ingredient. I use standard lemons from the store mostly as they are easy to get. If I lived somewhere I could get a more interesting variety I probably would. As always make sure they are clean, fresh and don’t have major blemishes. This also presents your first choice. How lemony do you want it? Most standard recipes are 10 lemons per gallon of GNS/Vodka. This will yield a nice balance of lemon flavor and tanginess. I prefer a richer flavor so I do 12. If you prefer lighter then go with less.
The Zest
Zest the lemons and minimize how much pith (the white part) you get in with the zest. The zest provides the lemon flavor as well as some floral components. Most of us use a veggie peeler to do this. Some people use a zester. Either works though a zester’s smaller shavings will speed up the transfer of flavor. Unless you’re trying to make it quickly it doesn’t matter.
The Pith
Basically every single limoncello recipe out there says “Minimize the amount of pith”. Pith imparts bitterness without adding flavor. This is the first interesting part though. Here you can include some pith to make your limoncello more like an amaro or bitters. Standard limoncello doesn’t make that great of a mixer as it’s too balanced. By including more pith you’re intentionally upsetting the balance. If you’re a bartender too then you’ll be familiar with the modifiers. A modifier is something that adds flavor or something else (bitterness, sweetness,etc) to a drink that doesn’t necessarily add alcohol. Pith adds extra bitterness without changing the lemon flavor. Bitterness helps balance a sweet drink. By having a more bitter limoncello you can then use it to make a more dry cocktail. With a sweeter limoncello you would need an additional bittering agent in the cocktail to make it dryer. As a general rule bartenders don’t find sweet spirits as useful as dryer ones. As I make a balanced RTD spirit I minimize the pith.
The Sweetener
Most of us use plain white crystalized sugar. Why? It adds the most sweetness without adding any extraneous flavors. You could try molasses, brown sugar, agave, honey, or a mix of white sugar with some of the others, whatever. I only use white sugar as I want the cleanest flavor so that the lemon flavor is the top note. Top notes, a phrase stolen from the fragrance industry and something I stole from Stephen at Boston Apothecary, are the main experiences (flavors or aromas) in a spirit. Base notes are background items that don’t stand out but add to the complexity of a spirit. How much to use? That’s your thing. I would say make a batch and split it into 3. Try different levels of sweetening. I did standard strength simple syrup (50/50 by weight of sugar/water), a 40/60, and 60/40. From there I honed it in again. I went to the dryer side as I don’t like it super sweet. My exact numbers don’t matter. The point of this is for you to experiment to see what you like.
Sweeteners also help add body. People don’t perceive watery spirits as good as ones with more viscosity or body.
As a side note to sweetening - sugar, in all its forms, reduces flavor. It’s why dryer spirits can be perceived as being harsh. Sugar mellows them out. You’ll also find sugar added post distillation in some rums, gins, vodkas, and other spirits. It reduces the harshness of a poorly made spirit to make it more palatable. The more sugar you add the less lemon flavor you’ll perceive.
The Juice
Here’s the first real curveball. While the pith adds bitterness it didn’t add flavor. The juice adds acidity (brightness/tartness) as well as flavor. I add the juice from all the lemons. This adds a great brightness to what is normally a not bright spirit. There is a trade off. In order to not be too overly bitter/acidic you’ll need to add extra sugar. For me the added brightness is worth that price. The amount of juice you add, if any, is up to you. If you do add the juice it will end up with a more lemonade type flavor in the end. For me that’s a good thing.
The bonus of using juice: Pectin and Clarification. Lemons have pectin in the cells that hold the segments together. If you use juice and let it sit for a few weeks it will clarify itself with no added effort. You will need to properly decant the limoncello, possibly a few times, but you will have super clear limoncello.
The Modifiers
Traditional Limoncello will have no modifiers. That’s not super fun for me. I add a very small bit of fresh basil at the end to impart an extra bit of herbal brightness. I think most any fresh herb would do well. I don’t believe that a dry herb would add the same brightness. As a modifier I am using it as a base note. I don’t want to overpower the lemon. Most people know that there’s something extra in my limoncello but can’t always place it. That’s what is meant as a base note.
Modifier number 2 and the real curveball: Oak. Oak adds complexity and more importantly tannins. I actually use aged whiskey. I use a tiny percent - 1-3% based on weight based on each batch. If you are using chips/cubes/etc make sure they are toasted. Raw oak is going to impart a horrible flavor. For how much, look up wine making and how much they suggest. Use the low end of that estimate. You’re not making a top note “barrel aged” spirit, you’re using it as a base note modifier. With the chips you can keep adding a little more until you reach the level you prefer. If you want to use an aged spirit like I do find one you like and think would have a compatible flavor. I would think any aged whiskey, brandy/cognac, or rum would be great. Realistically it should be at such a low level that it does not interfere with the flavor of the limoncello, only enhance it. You’re adding this as a way to reduce sweetness/syrupiness, not to add a flavor. Could you? Yes! That’s your judgment. I don’t add much as I don’t want to mess with the top note.
Why???? Of all the ingredients in my limoncello this is the one that is most important as it balances all the components together. The bitterness of the zest, the acidity of the juice, and the sweetness of the sugar are not really able to be balanced without producing a super sugary/syrupy spirit. Tannins are astringent. It means they “dry out” your mouth. They actually irritate your tastebuds. Sugar “pads” the tannin molecules. The more sugary your spirit the more tannins you’ll need to balance it. Even a small amount will reduce/eliminate the syrupiness of spirit. With mine you get the bright tartness upfront, then a sweetness, then it just fades to lemons. No syrupiness, no cloying sweetness. You don’t taste the rye or oak. This is intended. They are base notes. Of all the people that have tried it I’ve only had 2 people guess what I did and only one was actually able to figure out it was rye whiskey.
The Spirit
Most recipes say to use high proof GNS/vodka as the base spirit. Why? Because you’re an english speaker and google feeds you recipes in english. In most of the English speaking world we have easy access to high proof vodka. In Italy you’ll find some recipes pointing to high proof grappa - a brandy made from the pomace (remains) of wine making. For the average person it doesn’t matter. Grappa would be more fun though. Since GNS is way easier and cheaper that’s what I use. It also has a cleaner flavor so I like it so the lemon can stand out and not get muddled. I can see the case for high proof rum or brandy. I’m not sure newmake whiskey would be good in this situation but hey, why not try and see. The spirit should be over 100 proof/50%ABV for extraction purposes.
Proofing down post maceration
As part of adding the simple sugar I also proof down a little more. I do it post maceration so as to not affect the maceration. There’s a lot of super high ABV limoncello out there. That’s great if you like it but most people do not. I prefer mine to be between 20-30%ABV. I want this to be a gentle sipper, not a lemon version of Fireball.
The Process
Maceration
I start with 190 Proof/95% ABV GNS. For 12 lemons I use 1 gallon of GNS. I peel and juice the lemons. I freeze the juice. I put the lemon peels and wood chips if you are using them into the GNS and let it sit for a week. I like to do the high proof maceration as the main flavor compounds are alcohol soluble. I want to extract as much of them as possible. After a week I put in enough water to make it 100 proof/50% ABV. This will help extract the water soluble compounds and lead to a less chemically tasting spirit. After a week of that I put in the frozen juice of the lemons. Two more weeks and it should be clarified and ready to decant leaving all the materials behind. If you did not use wood chips add the aged spirit and the basil. I use a small/medium size leaf, no more. After a day remove the basil. If this is your first batch use this as the test for how much sugar and post proofing water you want to add. Now add the simple syrup and proofing water to it and let it sit for a few days to a week to integrate.
Bottle and enjoy. You’ll notice that I didn’t include many absolute measurements. I did that on purpose. I want you to explore and try things out.
See! Wasn’t that easy?
