.5 liter batch
* 200 ml of 95% neutral
* 1.5 lemon (yellow of skin only. Zest or skin to remove white pith.)
* 5 lemon verbena leaves, crushed
* 100 g sugar
* Add distilled water to sugar for a total of 300 ml simple syrup (makes for 40% final product)
1. Macerate zested lemon skin and crushed lemon verbena leaves in 200 ml of 95% neutral for 2 to 3 hours. Stir or shake occasionally. Strain through a stainless steel strainer to remove solids from the spirit.
2. Add 100 grams of sugar to a measuring cup then add distilled water up to 300 ml. Stir or shake until all the sugar is dissolved.
3. Mix the spirit into the syrup, seal and store for a few days or longer before enjoying
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Recipe Back Story
10 years ago while I was in Italy I met and shared an evening with Franco, the father of my Italian friends. When Franco discovered that I like to make and drink spirits he brought out a bottle of Limoncello to share with me that he had made himself years ago from a generations old family recipe. It was amazing. Later he brought out his still to show me and I just had to get a picture of us together with his baby. We spent a fair amount of time talking about distillation through his young granddaughter who was translating for us. He told me the secret to his spirit was a leaf, but the granddaughter simply could not relay to me what type of leaf it was. The best I got was it was a type of lemon leaf, but not from a lemon tree. Well, 20 years later I think I figured it out what that mystery leaf is.
Last month I met a man born in Italy who was buying a badmo style aging barrel from me. While discussing the making of various spirits and learning he was from Italy, I shared my Italian limoncello story with him and my quest for the missing “lemon” leaf ingredient. He said he had something for me and a few days later he sent me his grandfathers original recipe for limoncello and it included my mystery leaf, lemon verbena.
Recipe Notes
I started making the limoncello using my Italian friend’s recipe and made multiple small batches using less and more of each ingredient to see how it impacted the spirit. I found that I preferred the original recipe but with only half the sugar originally specified. Simply double the sugar amount listed if you wish to try the original recipe. I also enjoyed this spirit proofed down to 30%.
For comparison I made a control batch without the lemon verbena leaves. I found the lemon verbena has a positive impact on both the nose and taste of the limoncello. The nose was not quite as strong lemon wise and seemed a bit more floral and sweet. The spirit with leaves has a much better finishing taste. The verbena did add a greenish tint to the spirit.
Proofed at 40% there is just a little louching from the lemon oil. The verbena leaves do not cause louching.
I would like to try this recipe in the future with Meyer lemons. I think the smell of Meyer lemons could go really well with the verbena.
Otis