There are 34 shopping days until Christmas. Do I care? Not really. I am more concerned about how many days I have to create the sweet Italian elixir limoncello. Citrus fruit is in season and I am woefully behind in preparing my limoncello.

A freshly bottled batch of Limoncello

Making limoncello is relatively simple and makes for a great gift. I like to give it as a Christmas gift, but I also make enough to bring it as a host/hostess gift throughout the year. I think a handcrafted gift beats a bottle of wine picked up on the way to a dinner party any day.

While limoncello is simple to make if you follow the recipe, making it incorrectly can lead to a drink that is too strong, too sweet, or not lemony enough. Limoncello is a basic extraction – a simple feat of food engineering. You need to draw the flavor and the color from the lemon peels without drawing the bitterness.

The process begins by carefully peeling clean, unblemished organic lemons with a vegetable peeler. Alcohol is added to the peels and the flavor and color are extracted over six weeks or so. After the alcohol has done its work, I strain it, add simple syrup, and bottle it. Since I give it at Christmas and provide instruction to not touch until a hot Summer night, the finished product is smooth and delicious.

There are differing opinions on what alcohol to use. Purists will cite that grappa is the way to go. I am not sure I care for the flavor and I think the proof is too low to really get all of the color and flavor desired. The same holds true for Giada De Laurentis’s recipe which uses vodka. The resultant liqueur also does not have the kick one looks for in limoncello.

At the other end of the spectrum there are those who use pure grain alcohol. While all of the color and good flavor is extracted quickly, grain alcohol also produces a slightly bitter taste even if all the pith is removed. Chris and I had homemade limoncello made by the bartender of an Italian restaurant in Aspen, and the bartender proudly told us that he used everclear in his recipe. I had a sip of it and thought I was going to go blind. All I tasted was alcohol and thought that he must make his limoncello to get a date.

The best combination I have found is to use half 80 proof vodka and half 190 proof grain alcohol. The 135 proof mixture is able to extract only what you want from the lemons. When blended with simple syrup, it is only 67 proof which is plenty-strong to give you a kick without sending you to detox.

Limoncello made with other citrus fruits. From left to right: grapefruit, lime, orange, and blood orange

I have also experimented with using other citrus fruits including oranges, limes, grapefruits, and blood oranges. My favorite of these would have to be the grapefruit. It has a bitterness that is a great counterpoint to the sugar and the alcohol. Lime makes for a great adult Italian soda. Add a shot of the “lime-cello” to a glass of ice and fill with seltzer water.

Check out the recipe here: Limoncello