Hi, Friends of Cocktails! Here on Cocktail Time 2024 has been the year of Limoncello. We made it homemade, twice, plus a bunch of cocktails perfect for the summer. But now as they say in the north “Winter is Coming”. That’s why today I’ll show you how to make a hot, fluffy, soul-warming Limoncello Cocktail.
I’ve covered a traditional version of today’s cocktail in the past. It’s called Šato in Slovenia, and my grandmother would make it with white wine, sugar, and a whole egg. It was a delicious, soothing treat when you were feeling under the weather. And as we’ve covered then, the French and Italians have similar deserts, Sabayon and Zabaglione, but they’re both a little different.
Today’s version will be a little more Italian than what my grandma would make, because we’re adding our homemade Limoncello. And because it’s so fluffy I’m calling this cocktail the Lemon Winter Cloud. And as many Friends of Cockails often ask me what’s my thought process behind creating a new drink, so today I’ll better explain how I approach creating a twist by swapping an ingredient in a cocktail.
But if you want to learn more about how to create cocktails, make sure to follow the weekly issues of my newsletter, The Cocktail Times. There I often ask friends or colleagues from the bar industry to share a few of their tips and tricks, like Iain McPherson from Panda&Sons, who’s a true expert on freezing techniques.
So join more than 35000 Friends of cocktails that get weekly issues of the Cocktail Times delivered to their inbox every Saturday, and let’s make some Šato!
Lemon Winter Cloud
● 60mL · 2oz Limoncello
● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Lemon Juice
● 70g Water
● 30mL · 1oz Honey Syrup
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● 1mL Sichuan Peppercorn Tincture
● 1 egg
Compared to the classic recipe, the main ingredient we’re replacing is wine. And with that we need to compensate for acidity, and the citrus, floral, mineral notes that we got from our white wine. Limoncello certainly brings a few of those notes, but I’ll still add a small amount of lemon juice, and some water, to compensate for the higher ABV.
Another option you can use here instead of Limoncello and lemon juice is to use Super Limoncello. Made using the leftover peels from making Super Juice, this ingredient has an added acidity that will save you having to juice the lemons. But to make it easier for you to try this recipe using storebought Limoncello, I’ll go with the classic recipe we made using high-proof neutral grain spirit.
We’ll now bring in some of those floral notes with honey plus some added sweetness. Then, to add your own secret touch to it you can go with something like a few drops of Sichuan Pepper Tincture. Saline solution of course will be added as always to boost the flavors. With the main flavor profiles covered we have a base recipe that we can write down and test to see if it needs corrections.
With that, start by making the cocktail in a small saucepan instead of a shaker or a mixing glass. Have your cup or glass ready as well as you’ll want to enjoy this before it loses its fluffiness. So start by adding the ingredients to the saucepan, and make sure you’re using Honey Syrup instead of just honey to get the correct amount of sweetness.
Honey Syrup is something we’ve covered in the essential syrups episode, and it’s made with roughly 3 parts honey and 2 parts water by weight. You could flavor this syrup beforehand, like we did in the flavored syrups episode, but I’ll just add 1mL of our Sichuan pepper tincture now, but this is of course optional.
Once everything is added to a saucepan, place it on medium-low heat and whisk constantly as you heat it up slowly. I’m again using an old school wooden tool, called "šprudlja", and it’s basically the same as my grandma used. But feel free to use a swizzle stick, whisk or an electric mixer–it might be easier and faster.
Either way, working with smaller quantities in a small pot might be a little messy, and we don’t want this to stick so really make sure you keep working on it. Once you see it fluff up nicely and there’s steam coming out, it should be at the right consistently, so turn off the heat and pour it quickly into a cup or a double-walled glass. Start enjoying it as soon as possible, while it’s still rich & fluffy. Cheers!
Šato is made with the whole egg, not just egg yolk, as is the case with Sabayon and Zabaglione, so it’s more in the flip category of cocktails, making for a rich drink that’s perfect for the cold weather. This creamy cocktail also has plenty of lemon zestiness with just the right amount of spiciness, and a subtly dry finish. I feel like this could be an Italian Nona’s answer to a hot toddy!
With that we’ve made it to the Bottom of The Glass. Today I’ll teach you a hack so that you can make this cocktail without having to worry about serving it and drinking it right away. So use an iSi Siphon that’s made for hot foams to batch your Šato! Just make sure you charge it with a nitrous oxide cartridge before placing it in hot water to get the perfect temperature for the Winter.
That way you have the cocktail ready when you want to serve it, but you can even add it just as a hot foam on top of another cocktail. I’ll have an episode with an ice cold cocktail topped with hot foam coming to the channel in the next few weeks so make sure you tune back in for that. Until then, cheers, Friends of Cocktails!