Meyer Lemon Limoncello
By: Sheri Wetherell
Published: Wednesday, December 16, 2009 - 3:43pm

Ingredients




2 1/2 pounds Meyer lemons
10 lemon leaves
1 liter distilled spirits (90 to 95% pure spirits)
1 1/2 pounds sugar
34 ounces water

Preparation

1 Wash the lemons and leaves; with a potato peeler remove the rind from the lemon (take care to only remove yellow skin and non of the white pith) 2 Place lemon rind, leaves and alcohol in a sealed jar and let it soak for two or three weeks. 3 Toward the end of the two/three weeks put sugar and water in a pan, let it boil for 4 minutes and let it cool. 4 Mix everything, remove the lemon rind and filter the mixture through a coffee paper filter or washed cheesecloth. 5 Pour into bottles and place in freezer. In few hours the limoncello is ready to be served.

Comments:
Fred Groth

Limoncello is a perfect Holiday tradition.  For a more traditional approach look for lemon varieties that have a thick skin and are high in essential oils.  In Italy they use Sorrento Lemons.  In the US a Eureka is similar.  Meyers is not a true lemon and will give an interesting result.  Not as lemony and paler in color since the skins are thinner and have less oil.  The photos are of imports that have yellow #5#7 in them. Since you are using only the outer skin of the lemon, look for organic lemons that have not been treated with nasty stuff. Even scrubbing won’t get rid of that.  Instead of the weight of the lemon I would weigh the amount of peeled rind since lemon sizes vary.  Usually the ratio is 220 grams per liter of Alc.  Also try an alternative sweetener such as agave instead of refined sugar for a warmer palate feel. The after effects of Limoncello are partially due to the sugar crash – there is a lot of sugar. More info at www.hellosonoma.com  Salute!  This makes a great Christmas host gift
Fred Groth

Limoncello is a perfect Holiday tradition.  For a more traditional approach look for lemon varieties that have a thick skin and are high in essential oils.  In Italy they use Sorrento Lemons.  In the US a Eureka is similar.  Meyers is not a true lemon and will give an interesting result.  Not as lemony and paler in color since the skins are thinner and have less oil.  The photos are of imports that have yellow #5#7 in them. Since you are using only the outer skin of the lemon, look for organic lemons that have not been treated with nasty stuff. Even scrubbing won’t get rid of that.  Instead of the weight of the lemon I would weigh the amount of peeled rind since lemon sizes vary.  Usually the ratio is 220 grams per liter of Alc.  Also try an alternative sweetener such as agave instead of refined sugar for a warmer palate feel. The after effects of Limoncello are partially due to the sugar crash – there is a lot of sugar. More info at www.hellosonoma.com  Salute!  This makes a great Christmas host gift
Teresa

What do you do with the 2 1/2 pounds of lemons that you peeled?
Lazyann

Make lemon marmalade!
Gina Barone

Hello, I just posted up Santa Cruz Meyer Limoncello. I juiced all of my peeled lemons and put the juice into ice cube trays to freeze. Once frozen, pop them out into a freezer bag for later use. Picatta, lemon cubes in cocktails or water. Pasta dishes... endless possibilities! Cheers, Gina M Barone