479033 Sun Jan 13 18:49:09 -0800 2008 37 36 Spirits 0 3292018 I'd heard Mario Batali and Giada DeLairentiis singing the praises of limoncello, so when I saw some at Costco I bought it. Of course, Mario and probably Giada have access to time-honored Italian homemade family recipes, if not product, but I have to send out a general query- is it just me, or is limoncello supposed to taste the way Lemon Pledge smells? It was made in Italy, for what that's worth, and ir smells and even looks pretty awful. I'm rarely disappointed in liquor normally. I can't picture putting it in anything I'd want to drink but i'm certainly open to suggestion. Frankly it smells more like lemongrass than lemon zest. Sun Jan 13 18:49:09 -0800 2008 105625 EWSflash 1 3292937 What brand? just like anything else, there are good ones and bad ones. Homemade is best. Also how did you drink it? it should be served ice cold straight from the freezer, preferably in frosted glasses. Mon Jan 14 06:53:46 -0800 2008 3292018 10732 JMF 2 3320994 In addition to JMF's important advice (put it in the freezer) and experience (there are good ones and no-so-good ones), have you considered... Maybe you just don't like it!? Just because Mario Batali and Giada DeLairentiis like it, you have to? Tue Jan 22 12:01:20 -0800 2008 3292937 11148 Alcachofa 1 3299758 It can also be made at home, and can be quite good. Tue Jan 15 20:56:01 -0800 2008 3292018 106255 chazzerking 1 3300005 If Danny DeVito knows his limoncello and you are easily starstruck, ' ... there's a taste of life from this famous fellow ...' . Why Johnny Bench is there I don't know. Danny promoting his booze : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QPxC-3B576M Tue Jan 15 23:07:18 -0800 2008 3292018 10609 Cheese Boy 1 3318376 When I make it at home, it often has a slight brownish-tinge, and also a rather peculiar, fermented/rotten smell. This is normal: I do this whenever I can get ahold of Meyer lemons. Try tasting it: I think you will find it tastes much better than it smells. Or, make your own: 1) buy a zester 2) remove the zest from 3 supermarket lemons 3) place into 1 c. of cheap vodka 4) shake/stir daily for about 2 weeks 5) add 1/2 c. of simple syrup (50-50 mix of white sugar and water), or to taste 6) try not to drink it all up in one sitting Mon Jan 21 16:58:39 -0800 2008 3292018 21941 jerry i h 2 3318424 I just put up a whole bottle yesterday, I can wait to try it!! WInter is long in the NE, but this will just make it longer... Mon Jan 21 17:14:35 -0800 2008 3318376 53762 geminigirl 2 3322416 I neglected to mention that I was using the traditional Italian recipe: soak entire lemons in vodka + simple syrup. Inevitably, one of the lemons would turn brown and give the smell, color, and taste an off-note. I think this comes from a small break in the skin that allows vodka to get in and lemon juice to get out. I no longer make it this way, and now use the recipe given, which uses only the zest. It does not look as cool sitting on your counter, but the flavor is better. Tue Jan 22 18:04:49 -0800 2008 3318376 21941 jerry i h 2 3326514 I would recommend the following recipe: zest of 12-20 organic lemons zest of one lime 1 bottle 100 proof vodka 1 bottle of 80 proof vodka Mix the first three ingredients let sit in a mason jar in a dark cool place for 45 days. Shake container every day. after 45 days strain zest using a coffee filter or a cheese cloth. add 80 proof let sit for 2 wks. Many people add the simple syrup while adding the 80 proof. I usually don't add any choosing instead to add it to the individual drink I am preparing. An even better option than limoncello is using blood oranges. Wed Jan 23 19:54:47 -0800 2008 3318376 13330 quazi 2 3625451 Actually, it tasted like Lemon Pledge smells, too. Thu Apr 24 08:21:01 -0700 2008 3318376 105625 EWSflash 1 3322436 Most commercial Limoncellos taste like Lemon Pledge to me. I found one that doesn't, but it was a tiny airplane-size bottle (bought when I was travelling) and I don't remember what it was. Tragic. If anyone has recommendations for a specific brand of commercial Limoncello that is non-Pledge-like, I would love to hear about it. Making my own would require the ability to plan ahead - something I've always been very poor at doing. Anne Tue Jan 22 18:11:45 -0800 2008 3292018 12541 AnneInMpls 2 3323322 I haven't tried it yet, but the Devito one is supposed to be excellent. He asked the maker of one of the best limoncellos in Italy to make it for him and after much persuading he did. I heard the story from an inside source who has tried it and thought it very good. I should be getting a sample to review sometime soon. Wed Jan 23 05:30:22 -0800 2008 3322436 10732 JMF 1 3323365 Limoncello should be light, sweet, tasty and refreshing....not tasting of Lemon Pledge. Yuck! The thing is, the best lemoncello made in Italy come from the area around Sorrento, where they are grown organically with no chemicals whatsoever. The air, soil and other conditions are condusive to producing a sweet-ish lemon which is perfect for making the liqueur. They have a very strong aroma and very few seeds. Always served ice cold it's delicious mixed with champagne, but typically it's served at the end of a meal as a digestive. Wed Jan 23 05:49:46 -0800 2008 3292018 75332 Gio 1 3323398 Want another recipe? Tried and true... Peel only of 6 lemons 1 liter of grain alcohol (90 proof) add peels to alcohol and let sit for 7 days After 7 days prepare 1 liter plus 200ml of water, add 400 gr sugar and mix. Strain the lemon peels out of the alcohol and add to water/sugar. Refrigerate any remains. Wed Jan 23 05:59:38 -0800 2008 3292018 61392 sparkalina 2 3610676 I'm thinking of trying my hand at limoncello this spring, and I'm coming across recipes that take a week and recipes that take three months. What is the difference between the final products? Basically, is it the wait worth it? Sat Apr 19 15:28:28 -0700 2008 3323398 102571 mordacity 3 3610768 my 80 days hit this week so hopefully I will get time to strain and try tomorrow and will let you know... Sat Apr 19 16:18:41 -0700 2008 3610676 53762 geminigirl 1 3326613 I've had homemade limoncello made by a local Italian chef and it was heavenly stuff and not Pledge-like at all. He told us to keep it in the freezer and to sip it cold. Wow, was it good. Wed Jan 23 20:35:58 -0800 2008 3292018 119816 MysticYoYo 1 3328905 WTF??? was exactly the reaction I had, too. In addition to the weird Lemon-Pledge aspect, it's sickly sweet. Not to my taste at all. Any ideas what to do with a bottle minus about one shot? Thu Jan 24 13:12:52 -0800 2008 3292018 98500 Bat Guano 1 3330268 Have to agree with the posters above. It's probably that there are good ones and bad ones. It's unfortunate your first taste wasn't great. I was in Italy a few winters ago and tried limoncello for the first time in Sorrento and Capri (the island is right by Sorrento). It was refreshing and had the most amazing aroma. Thu Jan 24 19:34:48 -0800 2008 3292018 69250 juniormints 1 3332864 In the summer of 2006, we hosted an Italian exchange student for 6 weeks. One of the gifts she brought us was a bottle of Limoncello from the Lake Garda area next to Verona. The unusual bottle was shaped like the lake. She also gave us a set of 6 Lemoncello glasses (small colored shot glasses) in a small metal rack. On the last night she was with us, we hosted a bar-b-q for some of the other families that also had Italian kids staying with them. Three of the Italian kids insisted on making pasta, in our kitchen, for the party. After much food and wine, I got out the frozen bottle and passed it around. It was so good! Everyone loved it. One of those parties that you remember forever. Fri Jan 25 13:13:40 -0800 2008 3292018 144441 pasoguy 1 3344998 for an extra nice homemade batch use meyer lemons. You'll never use anything else. Tue Jan 29 11:54:21 -0800 2008 3292018 48769 18465 1 3534137 Thanks very much for all the observations, facts, and recipes! For the record, the Limoncello was purchased at Costco. I think I'll try making my own from now on- worth waiting for, from the sound of it. Thu Mar 27 13:25:50 -0700 2008 3292018 105625 EWSflash 2 3535861 even with really good stuff shake it with ice and sip out of a small glass so it aerates and stays cold. Fri Mar 28 01:34:10 -0700 2008 3534137 163722 hill food 1 3610700 I've always had good luck with Villa Massa brand. Keep it in the back of your freezer until ready to drink. Sat Apr 19 15:39:20 -0700 2008 3292018 168280 vino5150 2 3611652 I think you need to just go to Italy. The only place I've ever had it was in Umbria...and I fell in love with it there and that was back when we could bring liquid on planes. I've never bought it here. Go on a trip and enjoy it the proper way.... Costco????? common... Sun Apr 20 06:25:56 -0700 2008 3610700 183971 foodmusic 3 3625459 Well, of course that would be the ideal, foodmusic... Thu Apr 24 08:24:29 -0700 2008 3611652 105625 EWSflash 1 3636861 I need some feedback if anybody can. I have never done infusions before and decided to try my hand at them and came up with a clementine vodka, which tasted great; another with ancho chillies, which tasted interesting, somewhat like a tea; and another with meyer lemons in preparation for limoncello. Well, apparently I figured out how to make it taste like the aforementioned Raid. I tasted it only after a few days, but was stunned by this. Did I do something wrong or is the problem in the lemons? I tried Jerry I h's recipe (1 cup vodka, zest of three lemons (substitute meyer) and shake daily). tried it after about 5 days and my wife promptly kicked me out of the kitchen so she could clean everything I spit on. Both the clementines and the pepper tasted fine after just a couple of days. Mon Apr 28 11:37:18 -0700 2008 3292018 124704 Icantread 2 3641469 IASS. I left out one important thing: to the vodka, add 50% the volume of simple syrup. This is just a 50-50 mix, by weight or volume, of regular white supermarket sugar and water. What I gave was my own personal, secret recipe for infusions: tasting the vodka + flavoring, I can judge what else to add. As we speak, I have the zest of 3 supermarket limes soaking in a cup of Reposado I got at TJ's for an Alexander Hamiliton. There is also the juice of said fruit, along with saccahine tabs and orange extract; I did a test cocktail, and it was pretty good and zero carbs. Tue Apr 29 17:22:57 -0700 2008 3636861 21941 jerry i h 1 4551675 Has anyone tried Ventura Limoncello? It is made in Southern California with local fruit and has no artificial ingredients or dyes (thus no Lemon Pledge taste that some here unfortunately associate with limoncellos they have tasted.) Very fruit forward and delicious. I have a bottle in my freezer now. Mon Mar 30 12:54:08 -0700 2009 3292018 278652 frittomisto 2 5127605 Went to Ventura website, and it looks like you can only find it in the CA area? Sat Oct 24 10:47:18 -0700 2009 4551675 110080 VAfoodie 1 4941005 A friend in Paris made me a Baba au Limoncello, which as you can guess is a Baba au Rhum with the rum swapped out for Limoncello. It was really quite delicious. Wed Aug 12 14:47:19 -0700 2009 3292018 19052 shane 1 4948821 I've found one in Boston that is really good and not pricey: Petrone, from Italy. It was recommended to me by an Italian couple who runs a seafood joint and nearby liquor store in Somerville (Pescatore, for those from the area). It's sweet, but not too sweet, and very lemony. There is absolutely no lemon-pledge-factor going on, which I've definitely encountered in other brands. It's heaven, drunk straight, directly from the freezer. Also excellent as a mixer, or just with some tonic over ice (a grown-up lemonade). Petrone runs $17.99 a bottle around these parts. Here's the company's site. The label on the one I have is the same, but our bottle looks more like a wine bottle, and less squared/short: http://www.distilleriapetrone.it/liquori_petrone.html Sat Aug 15 10:06:59 -0700 2009 3292018 47694 litchick 1 4952870 OK, I've changed my mind on this, since having some in Italy - at a little place in Milan they brought out a bottle after dinner, ice cold out of the freezer, and poured us several little glasses each. It was a homemade limoncello, and far, far better than the one I'd had before; this was actually pretty good: not as sweet, and it tasted like lemons, without whatever strange artificial taste the bottle I'd had in the states had. Still not one of my favorites, but I quite liked it, in this context. Quality of the experience and the quality of the drink itself both played a part; I still don't know what to do with a nearly-full bottle of some crap I bought a couple of years ago. Mon Aug 17 09:29:20 -0700 2009 3292018 98500 Bat Guano 1 4964566 I think it could be the limoncello. Since it is from Costco, it may just be some thoughtlessly mass-manufactured product that cuts corners by using artificial flavorings and amped up sugar to cover the chemical-flavor. You may want to try to make it yourself, it's commonly made in Italy at home. Thu Aug 20 22:29:35 -0700 2009 3292018 229420 Iota 1 5073402 I'm looking for a great bottle of limoncello to give as a gift. The best limoncello I've ever tried was in Sorrento. Here in the U.S. I've tried a few different brands, but haven't found one that I really like. Also, the aesthetics of the bottle itself is important. Any suggestions? Thu Oct 01 17:34:27 -0700 2009 3292018 255446 Gigi007 2 5114770 If you can get, I would suggest Ventura Limoncello -- all natural, very fruit forward, made in small batches using California lemons and with a sleek sophisticated bottle and labeling that doesn't have the "kitsch" factor of some limoncellos. Their web site lists retailers. Mon Oct 19 12:00:20 -0700 2009 5073402 278652 frittomisto 3 5115502 Thanks, frittomisto Sounds good. You can say that again about the kitschy bottles and labels of oh-so-many limoncellos. Personally, I find the bottle of Danny de Vito's limoncello off putting although I have heard the quality of the limoncello itself is good. Mon Oct 19 15:49:31 -0700 2009 5114770 255446 Gigi007 1 5130279 I'm loving the people that gave instructions on how to make my own! I will be doing that next Feb. or March, that's when they get ripe here. Thanks, all. You rock. Sun Oct 25 17:56:34 -0700 2009 3292018 105625 EWSflash