Limoncello
 

Had this wonderful liquor after dinner at a cute little Italian trattoria in Venice and loved it. Bought some at the airport to take home. I know it is served chilled and in a shot glass or cordial glass. Does anyone know what type of liquor it is made of with the lemon flavor? It sort of has a mild vodka/lemon taste. I am not a vodka fan, but I do like this drink!! Very refreshing too! Also, does it go by other names as well. There were so many to choose from at the airport and in Italy and they all had a little different name, but they all started with Limon.....Cheers!<BR><BR>

MyBelle,<BR>Do a search here and you'll find lots of info and even recipes for making it yourself.

MyBelle: If you want to be really &quot;authentic&quot; they had limoncello glasses at Crate &amp; Barrel recently!

We bought limoncino in Venice. I have no idea if this is different from linoncello.

When we were in Apulia, in the south of Italy, recently we stayed with friends who own an olive grove there and Yolanda was making her own limoncello (same as lemoncino according to her). She used these funny, very thin- skinned, greenish lemons that were very pungent. <BR><BR>They are allowed to ferment (no details, secret family recipe) then helped along a bit with the Italian equivalent of &quot;alcool&quot; and a simple sugar syrup which I was allowed to boil up on the stove. <BR><BR>Bottled and kept in the freezer and served after dinner in these tiny frosted yellow glasses that were also pre-chilled. <BR><BR>Of course, being a loyal pal, I am going to say that nothing is as good as Yolanda's but the Limoncello I bought back home tasted quite fine, too.

Hi all,<BR> Remember, in making your own limoncello, the most important ingredient is the lemons from the Amalfi Coast.

Limoncello is one of the finest food treats of Italy IMO. Can't answer your question about type of alcohol that's in it but whatever it is it is good. First taste I ever had started me thinking about choosing this as my drink of choice. Putting a little in the bottle of the glass and filling the rest with champagne (like you do with Kir) is a good way to serve it if you want to vary the just straight over rocks thing. I also made a limoncello cake by using the Bacari rum cake recipe made in a bundt pan, substituting limoncello for the rum and using lemon cake mix and lemon pudding mix instead of the yellow and vanilla called for in the Bacardi recipe. Yummy!.

When we were in Positano, we became hooked on Limoncello. We buy it whenever we can, and it is a big hit at dinner parties. <BR><BR>As far as ingredients, here is a Limoncello recipe that somebody sent me. I have not tried it yet.<BR><BR> INGREDIENTS:<BR>* 15 thick-skinned lemons (Eureka, Lisbon or Citron)<BR>* 2 bottles (750 ml each) of the best 100 proof Vodka<BR>* 4 1/2 cups sugar<BR>* 5 cups water<BR><BR> INSTRUCTIONS:<BR>Wash the lemons in hot water before starting. Remove the peel with a vegetable peeler, removing all white pith on the back of the peel by scraping with a knife, and put the peels in a 4-quart Mason jar. <BR><BR>Add 1 bottle of Vodka and stir. Cover the jar, date it, and put it to rest in a dark cabinet at room temperature. <BR><BR>After 40 days, take out the lemon-Vodka mixture. Ina sauce pan set over high heat, stir the sugar and water together and boil for 5 minutes. Let the sugar syrup cool completely in the pan, about 10 minutes. Add the sugar syrup to the lemon-Vodka mixture along with the second bottle of Vodka. <BR><BR>Stir well to combine. Replace the cover on the jar and note the finish date. Return it to the dark cabinet and store for 40 more days. <BR><BR>At day 80, remove the limoncello from the cabinet. Strain the mixture and discard the lemon peel. <BR><BR>Pour into clean, unused bottles with caps or decorative corked bottles. Store the bottles in the pantry, but put one bottle at a time in the freezer until ready to use. <BR>Makes approximately 3 quarts.<BR><BR>Good drinking to you.<BR><BR><BR>

Limoncello! Yum! We discovered it on our first trip, when checking the freezer of a rental villa and found what looked like a bottle of antifreeze! Bless the brave soul amongst us who tried it before we tossed it.<BR><BR>We've been making it at home for a few years, similar recipt to mai tai tom's, but let me suggest tips we've learned: <BR><BR>Use the &quot;large&quot; scraping-place on a zester to create fat strings of rind. It creates more surface area of lemon for the vodka to absorb. (or, slice the peels into thin strips with a knife) Also, avoid cheap vodka; it makes yucky limoncello. Go for middle-of-road stuff like gilbeys. When bottling, strain the limoncello in a coffee filter. Our system uses a paper coffee filter inside of a paper/mesh paint filter (?) this thingy costs 11 cents, and fits neatly into a large tumbler for collecting the limoncello.<BR><BR>Salute!

&quot;Also, avoid cheap vodka;&quot;<BR><BR>I am assuming to make the Limoncello. I can still drink cheap vodka, can't I?

This is so apropos... I was just given 6 beautiful limoncello glasses. Thanks for the thread and the recipes...

And lucky you lovers of that drink can find it at any good shop that imports all our favorites from around the world, or ask a friend or relative who is nearer.

Having read similar posts before my first Italy trip last November, I decided to buy a bottle here in So. Calif at Trader Joe's and &quot;practice.&quot; Fortunately, it was love at first sip and still love--six months later. Yes, I had it in Tuscany served out of the same glasses I had purchased at Crate and Barrel for $2/ea (pictured on catalog website).<BR><BR>You will find TONS of recipes using GOOGLE as your search engine, and can buy a large, screw-top glass bottle at Crate and Barrel also.<BR><BR>Nope, haven't made it yet, just keep buying the brand that Trader Joes has for $10--a bottle in three freezers should last a while!<BR><BR>BTW, I did have the homemade version at a Birthday party for an Italian, and it was made with the &quot;cheapest&quot; vodka that Trader Joe's carries (because they had bottled it in the vodka bottle). A young clerk there told me that her Aunt uses &quot;grain alcohol&quot; and a few of the recipes on Google call for that.<BR><BR>Good luck and Bon appetit!

My sister Burta gave me some Crate &amp; Barrel limoncello glasses--to go with the &quot;Limoncello Cream&quot; recipe that she got from Monica Pileggi on this board! yummy. But as an avid vodka fan, I have to agree that you use high-quality vodka when making limoncello or it just won't be as fabulous.

In case any unsuspecting person gets this and thinks they will automatically love it.....here's a dissenting opinion. I hate the stuff!

Grasshopper said, &quot;here's a dissenting opinion. I hate the stuff!&quot;<BR>Maybe Grasshopper prefers this drink.<BR>1 ounce green cr&egrave;me de menthe<BR>1 ounce white cr&egrave;me de cacao<BR>1 ounce light cream<BR>1/2 cup crushed ice<BR><BR>

Aha! I recognize the ingredients for a &quot;grasshopper&quot;. Nope, give me a nice glass of Valpocello, Monica, Amarone, Sangiovese, Brunello........

&quot;Sangiovese, Brunello&quot;<BR><BR>My two favorites.

Obviously, the posters on these forums are not teetotalers:)<BR>Over the past few months, friends would discuss their love of Limoncello. I was ignorant of what it was, so someone gave me a wee bottle with two tiny glasses. I love it ice cold, just after a large rich meal, when you know there is no room for another bite:)<BR>I have recipes for ice cream with Limoncello poured over it also:)

&quot;Obviously, the posters on these forums are not teetotalers&quot;<BR><BR>I hope my screen name doesn't give me away.

<BR>Lol, I never realized what your screen name meant! Guess it didn't give it away to me! :)

&quot;

&quot;Guess it didn't give it away to me!&quot;<BR><BR>Now I am busted.

<BR>Lol, yep~

In honor of this post, I served the last of our Limoncello to my guests tonight. I hope they feel better than I do tomorrow morning. Good night. maitai...i mean...limoncellotom

Wow! I never thought my original post would get so many fun and helpful responses. Thanks. Well, a good friend of mine and I broke open the Limonce (same as limoncello) from Italy Saturday night. I used small pretty purple cordial glasses and filled them 1/2 to 3/4 full. OK, I know that was probably a lot, but we sipped it all night and looked at my Italy photos from the trip and when it came time for us to stand up we felt like a bus hit us!!! :) That is some good stuff! Next time I know to serve a little less per glass. Even in the morning we were feeling a little &quot;out of it&quot;. It is so good though and after a nice dinner especially. I am not a vodka fan at all, I like Gin and Tonic in the Summer and red wine in the Winter, but I like this lemonce. My friend enjoyed it too. I think it will be a nice addition to our usual Summer line up of cocktails at parties. Very refreshing!<BR><BR>Thanks again all and cheers, salute, nastrovia (sp), ching ching! :)<BR>

I have just come back from a trip to Australia (Adelaide) and you should know that South Australia now produces Limoncello. I visited last year and saw write ups in magazines but was too late to buy. This time, I made sure I got some. Pretty frosted bottle which comes in various sizes. Very exciting Aussie culinary find!!!!

We just returned from our honeymoon where we spent 3 nights in Monterosso al Mare of the Cinque Terre. The town is full of lemon groves (our hotel was smack dab in the middle of one!), and we enjoyed the locally produced &quot;limoncino&quot; so much that we brought 2 bottles back home with us. We tried &quot;limoncello&quot; in Florence and I have to confess I could not tell much of a difference between limoncino and limoncello except for that whatever we tired in Florence was a bit more dry than what we had in Monterosso. Not knowing much at all about liquors, my guess was that perhaps it was slightly less fresh or contained a different type of alcohol...??

Thought people might like to know that lemons from the Sorrento area are available in the US through www.melissas.com. In season only. This info is courtesy of an article on the subject in the current issue of Saveur magazine.

And Saveur magazine is, IMHO, the single best food magazine for travel fanatics because it really cares about WHERE things come from...we have travelled to more out-of-the-way wonders because of that publication than any other single source.

Has anyone tried adding cream of some type to Limoncello to make an impromptu Crema di Limoncello? We got back from Sorrento this morning and my bottle of Limoncello survived the trip (three buses, two trains and a flight)! I hate to waste any of this precious fluid if just adding cream to it isn't going to work. I loved both versions and have to admit that I brought back the version without cream in hopes that I could extend it by adding my own here. Any suggestions?

What is 100 proof Vodka?

I read this thread in 2003 and I got so curious and i went and bought most expensive Limoncello there was in a store - some Brothers farm in Italy blah blah...I was very dissapointed...what brand you would recommend?

For years, I've made my with Stoli, the highest alcohol content (I forgot what it is) and found that we like it better than the other top brands/highest alcohol content, like Schmirnoff's. Tried it once with Grey Goose ...no where's near as good as Stoli.

We always have bottles in the freezer. In a pretty bottle, it makes a nice hostess gift for a casual get together. How come they never serve it to US ?????
I guess that's a compliment - they want to keep it all for themselves? My recipe is pretty the same as the one above. I think I got it out of Gourmet or Bon Appetite.I strain it through cheesecloth, maybe I'll try the coffee filter next time.

I use Meyer lemons. Hopefully someday my little tree will be able to give me the 15 lemons that I need - although I doubt. I usually make it in the spring as lemons are much cheaper.

Wait here...I always though all vodka is 40 proof...no?

Try strain it through Bounty...best result then cheesecloth I guarantee!

Nope - google &quot;100 proof vodka&quot; and see for yourself!

I was always under the impression that true Limoncello was made with pure grain, Everclear brand. At least that is what I have been told.

Well, I just bottled my limoncello from Maitaitom's recipe!! I started it 80 days ago, and took a small taste about 2 weeks ago...YUMMY!!

I bought 1/2 split champagne bottles and plan to give some away as Christmas presents. I've got 36 little bottles out of the two gallons or so of Limoncello I made.

I used 100 proof vodka for the first part of the vodka, and then wasn't paying attention and used 80 proof for the second part, still tastes fine to me!

I might try Everclear for the next batch. When we were in Italy in October, we were told that grain alcohol is used.

Happy Holidays and Happy Travels!

We live in So. Calif and we used to go to Tijuana, Mex. and buy 2 liters of pure alcohol to make our own anisette, creme de cocoa, etc.

We also used Vodka, but liked the alcohol better. We could bring back 2 liters of alcohol and we would always go to the large grocery stores, they were much cheaper than a liquor store.

Now, if only I could find the bottle that a friend gave me for my birthday...

Up front let me say that this in no way to diminish anyone's recipe the has come before or any other comments!
My daughter is attending the University of Tennessee and taking Italian classes after trips to Europe in 2004 and 2006 (with me). She brought two of her Italian teachers with her for Thanksgiving dinner and with them came a recipe for homemade Limoncello. This recipe calls for PGA or pure grain alcohol and I am in the process now. It only takes 15 days to let it set in the lemons and I will know next weekend whether it tastes like what I had in Italy and what I finally found locally. I have great expectations!
On two different trips through Italy I have had the opportunity to taste and drink Limoncello and Limoncino as well as other forms in other places. A few things have become apparent to me. The cheap stuff that I found in Venice was not nearly as good as the actual Limoncello that cam e from either Sorrento or very close to it. What I had that was bottled as Limoncino did not taste nearly as good as the real thing. The cream version of Limoncello although different is just as good and could be considered better according to individual tastes. It is supposed to be something about the leomons grown in Sorrento or surrounding area in volcanic soil that gives the stuff its excellent taste, I'll find out soon as I used ordinary lemons from the grocery store in what is &quot;cooking&quot;. It is definitely better served at least cold and I prefer it ice cold from the freezer and even then I add ice cubes. The ice cubes are great after the drink is gone. It is a great summer drink on a hot evening but I like it even on the coldest nights. And last, a recent visit by Danny Devito to the tv show &quot;The View&quot; received a lot of publicity because he was supposedly tipsy and hadn't slept since partying with George Clooney. Clooney is known to have a villa in northern Italy on Lake Cuomo which was used as a base of operations during the filming of &quot;Oceans Twelve&quot;. Devito is reported to have said something to the effect that &quot;the last seven or eight Limoncellos with George Clooney really got to me...&quot;. A man after my own heart.

Baldworth