Making Liqueurs at Home: Limoncello

Limoncello is a Italian liqueur with a strong flavor and a rich taste made from lemon peel; it is a veritable elixir abounding in vitamins and the energy of the sun.
If you prefer your liqueurs sweet, take more sugar than is given in the recipe. We go for not very sweet liqueurs, so we settled for 0.8 lb sugar and got a nice taste. But there are people who take 1.4 lb sugar.
Another tip is take biologically healthy lemons for Limoncello, grown without pesticides. If you have no lemon tree in your garden or friends who can supply you with such lemons, buy them in shops labeled Bio.

Ingredients for Liqueur Limoncello

• 8-10 lemons
• 0.8 – 1 lb sugar
• a liter (4 cups) of 95% spirits
• a liter of filtered water

Recipe for Liqueur Limoncello

1. Wash lemons carefully and let them dry. Take a jar large enough to contain a liter of spirits and lemon peel.
2. Cut off the skin with a vegetable peeling knife; take care to cut off only the yellow part without any white tissue.

1. Put the peeled skin into a jar and pour in the spirits; cover it tightly and put in a dark place.
2. Let it come to for 10 days, giving the jar a good shakeup every day.
3. Mix sugar with water, bring to boil and let it cool down.
4. Take the skin pieces out, put them in a colander and squeeze. Now you can throw the skin away.
5. Mix the spirit infusion with the syrup and filter through a fine strainer.
6. Bottle the liqueur and let it stand for a week in a dark place, then you can drink it.

Another tip is to take biologically healthy lemons for Limoncello, grown without pesticides. If you have no lemon tree in your garden or friends who can supply you with such lemons, buy them in shops labeled Bio. Of course this may motivate you to prepare your garden for spring and grow your own lemon tree!