Hi, Friends of Cocktails! They say “Necessity is the mother of invention” and that’s how I came up with a delicious Limoncello using your typical 40% ABV vodka. So no everclear or high-proof grain alcohol? No problem. To make it a little extra special, I’ll also add in another Mediterranean staple: fig leaves - but this is optional. It will however make a delicious and refreshing summer sipper that will make you feel like you’re on the beach.
The story behind this recipe comes from a guestshift I was hosting at the beautiful Greek island of Rhodes. My regular Limoncello recipe uses 96% alcohol as it’s a great way to extract flavors, but I couldn’t find any before the guestshift, so I figured that to achieve a similar level of extraction I’d need to use a combination of three other techniques, together with 40% ABV vodka. Those three are oleo saccharum, blending, and using higher temperatures.
Sugar will pull out essential oils from the peels, blending will increase the surface area of the peels to make the extraction more efficient, and a higher temperature with the sous vide technique will make the infusion of alcohol the best possible. I used this technique to create a Limoncello worthy of celebrating cocktails created with local ingredients, which is why I also added the fig leaves - but feel free to use this recipe for the classic limon-, lime, or arancello recipes, without the leaves.
So let’s start by making some oleo saccharum, and whether you´re making this recipe during the summer, or any other time, you’ll know it’s Cocktail Time!
Limoncello
● 500mL · 16.66oz 40% ABV Vodka
● 150g Lemon Peels
● 150g Sugar
● 165g Water
● 10g Fig Leaves
● 1.8g Ascorbic Acid
Begin by peeling the lemons, and placing the peels into a sous vide bag alongside the sugar. A thin peeler is a great tool to use here as you don’t want the pith, the bitter white part of the peel. Now close the bag and after 24 hours the sugar has melted and pulled out the incredible lemon essential oils. Next transfer the contents of the bag to a blender with the water, but make sure to keep the bag for later, we’ll re-use it for the sous vide.
We’ll pulse our mixture a few times to break apart the peels, without completely pulverizing them before pouring this back into the sous vide bag with the rest of the ingredients. If you are using fig leaves too, don’t forget to cut out the stem part, then roughly chop up the leaves to increase the surface area for extraction of flavors. All that’s left is to double seal the bag and place it in the sous vide with the cooker set to 55°C or 130°F.
We’ll let this cook for 3 hours. During that time give the bag a shake once or twice, to make sure everyone is getting along in there. Once it’s done, leave it to cool slightly, then cut open the bag and strain out the solids with a cloth filter. To get the best yield, help it along with a potato ricer at the end and you should end up with a bit over 750mL. More than enough to give this delicious liqueur a try, cheers!
As always with liqueurs, the flavor will develop and mellow out through the next few days, but it already has refreshing Mediterranean notes of lemon, with a rich and full flavor. The fig leaves bring in hints of coconut and vanilla, which blend beautifully with lemon. Perfect for a cocktail, and today’s will be a simple one, perfect for a relaxing day by the sea.
Mediterranean Limoncello & Tonic
● 60mL · 2oz Limoncello
● 1 dash 20% Saline Solution
● 100g Tonic Water
● Fig Leaf Coin
Grab a chilled highball glass with a tempered ice spear and pour in the Mediterranean Limoncello. To really make the flavors pop, and give it that Oceanic note, I’ll add 1 whole dash of saline solution before topping the cocktail with tonic. Use a scale, if you want to be precise, or eyeball half of the bottle, if it’s 200mL. Gently mix the ingredients with a lift of a barspoon and garnish with a circle cut out from a fig leaf. Crack it first, then place it on the cocktail. Panemorfi - that’s Greek for beautiful.
Just like limoncello itself, this cocktail has a touch of Mediterranean charm and freshness. With subtle bitterness it's a perfect summer cocktail that is simple to make and is low in alcohol, and with thatwe’ve made it to the Bottom of The Glass. Since today’s episode wouldn’t happen without my trip to Greece, I’ll leave you with these two interesting facts: Greece has over 5,000 islands, with about 200 of them that are populated. And interestingly, of all the popular holiday spots in Greece, the city of Rhodes is reported to be the most popular one. From my experience, just like with limoncello, I’d say it’s popular for a reason. Until next time, cheers, Friends of Cocktails!