Ingredients
For about 1.3 liters
- 8 large lemons yellow peel only; reserve juice for other cooking
- 750 ml 80-proof vodka food-grade, 40% alcohol by volume
- 1 1/2 cups water
- 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar 300 g
Equipment
- Clean 2-quart lidded glass jar
- Vegetable peeler
- paring knife
- Small saucepan
- Measuring cups
- Fine-mesh strainer
- Coffee filter
- Funnel
- Clean glass bottles
Instructions
Infuse and bottle
- Scrub the lemons under running water and dry them thoroughly with a clean towel.
- Use a vegetable peeler to remove thin strips of yellow peel. Trim away any white pith with a paring knife. Put the yellow peel into a clean 2-quart glass jar.
- Pour the vodka over the peels, close the lid, and keep in a cool, dark place for 14 days. Gently turn the jar every couple of days.
- After the infusion, combine water and sugar in a small saucepan. Heat, stirring, until the sugar dissolves; simmer 1 minute. Remove from heat and cool completely. Never heat the vodka.
- Strain the lemon vodka through a fine-mesh strainer lined with a coffee filter. Discard the peels. Stir the cooled syrup into the strained infusion.
- Use a clean funnel to fill clean bottles. Label as alcoholic limoncello and refrigerate for 2 days before serving. Keep refrigerated and use within 1 month after mixing. Serve small chilled pours to adults who choose to drink alcohol.
Video
Notes
Estimated US dollar cost basis for the quantities used: vodka $12.00, lemon-peel allocation $1.50, sugar $0.50, water negligible; about $14, rounded to $15. The lemon cost is apportioned to the peel; reserve the juice for other cooking. Prices vary.
Gennaro Contaldo's video on Jamie Oliver - Drinks was originally uploaded October 1, 2014: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AWZlnMmnE3I. It demonstrates the same peel-infusion and cooled-syrup method but uses a stronger grain spirit. Follow this card's 80-proof vodka and syrup quantities.
Use beverage-grade vodka only. Keep the alcohol away from flames and heat the syrup separately. Final alcohol strength is not laboratory verified; do not label a precise ABV. This vodka-based version may freeze in a household freezer, so use the refrigerator.
