Ahh, Limoncello! One of the most refreshing summer time drinks I have ever tasted.I first wrote about this delightful lemony drink back in August last year in the post, funnily enough, titled Limoncello. This post also includes the recipe that I used for this batch.
The first batch I made was nice, but it was cloudy, and a slight bitter after-taste. So I made a second batch two months later.
Now, I thought that I drank this second batch last year with Kim and friends, but it turns out that it was hidden away at the back of the pantry, all sealed safely in a re-purposed coffee jar. We discovered it on Saturday, so being the adventurous one, I gave it a taste test. It was delicious, even after having infused for over a year with the lemon rind!
It was still a little cloudy, so I tried something different. I found some coffee filter papers that were lurking in the pantry, and filtered the Limoncello using a funnel.
It took about an hour for all of the liquid to pass through. I had to change the paper three times, but got there in the end.
The end result was a perfectly clear liquid. We store ours in the fridge for a cool, refreshing tipple on those hot summer days.
I don’t know if I would ever leave it to infuse for a whole year if I made it again, but there is certainly no hint of an after-taste, except for lemon of course. Maybe it is worth making another batch and hiding in the back of the pantry!
We are all looking forward to relaxing days around the yards with a small glass as the sun passes over the yard-arm!
Have any of you tried to make this drink, or something similar?
Hi Gavin
I have been reading your blog for a while now and found your original limoncello post and having access to lots of lemons I made it in late October
Very tasty and I have given some samples to friends. The word spread unbeknownst to me and at my permaculture group Christmas party they were hoping I would bring it along (I didn’t as I want aware of the news spreading)
I left the rind and juice soaking in vodka for about 6 weeks before adding the syrup. I felt the syrup would inhibit the full essence being extracted from the rind
Claire in Kalorama
Hi Claire,
I might try your method next time to see if it makes a difference.
Gav x
I have also located a recipe for a liquer made from the seeds of the loquat fruit. You dry the seeds, peel them, soak them in alcohol along with lemon balm leaves, rose petals and a vanilla bean. Then add sugar syrup. Allow to infuse for 6 weeks then strain
Have just finished the painstaking task of peeling a cup full of dried loquat seeds.
Not sure how someone came up with the idea for this one. It’s called Nespoli (I think)
Claire in Kalorama
Hi again Claire. Could you share the exact recipe? I have a friend who has a loquat tree, and would love to try this liqueur.
I’ve made raspberry liqueur in a similar manner and used a coffee filter to strain it. It came out beautifully.
Just contemplating making some. Our lemon tree just dropped most of its lemons and I must have about 300 sitting in my kitchen!
I’d never heard of limoncello till I went to Italy last year – and then you blogged about it, too! Around here, we have a dearth of local lemons, but a lot of people do a blackberry liquer, including us. You bung as many blackberries as you can into a narrow necked bottle, and fill it up with vodka. Let it sit as long as you can, at least till Christmas, and then decant it through a strainer. Voila! My Dad always saved the blackberry mush to have on his ice cream…
I’ve made strawberry vodka (strawberrycello?) for the past two years. The hardest part is waiting the 6 months for it to mature fully, but it makes a wonderful Christmas treat! I like to filter it through coffee filters too for a crystal clear drink.
Back before I gave up drinking alcohol (I’m enough of an idiot stone cold sober 😉 ) I made plum vodka. It involved a lot of plums and a lot of sugar and then a lot of vodka. Yum! A friend in the UK taught me how to make it. Her daughter used to give “Mums Plums” as Christmas gifts. She made it one year using Polish Spirits instead (a clear spirit like vodka but a LOT stronger) and oh my it was evil. You could sit and drink it easily and feel little effect but the minute you tried to stand up you’d realise your legs had passed out several drinks ago. 😛 Made for some funny moments. 😀
Hic’
Loquat liqueur (nespolino)
1 cup loquat seeds
Pinch of crushed vanilla bean
6 domestic rose petals
4 leaves lemon balm
360ml 95% w/v alcohol
Dry loquat seeds in sun for 10 days. Peel of sons. Place seeds and botanicals in glass jar. Add alcohol. Add sugar syrup. Macerate for 4 weeks then strain. Age for 3 months
360ml water
360g sugar
Make sugar syrup and allow to cool. Add to mixture above
Make sure the rose petals and lemon balm have not been sprayed. I have used good quality vodka. After about a week there is an ‘almond’ aroma
Another friend found a recipe where three unpeeled seeds are left to soak in alcohol without the other bits and syrup added
Claire in Kalorama
Smart phone has corrected (incorrectly) some of my words – should read ‘peel off skins’ and ‘where the unpeeled seeds’
Claire in Kalorama