The Ready-made Spirit

Deep in otherwise-unremarkable closets, cabinets and pantries all around the city, jugs of homemade booze—from Kahlúa-style coffee liqueur to cherry brandy to triple sec—are hidden in the cool darkness, waiting to be cracked. No, they don’t represent the return of neo-Prohibition bathtub gin and moonshine, but rather a continuation of the ever-growing DIY/Slow Food movement.

While it’s possible to make literally dozens of spirits at home, one of the easiest and most popular is limoncello. A specialty of southern Italy, limoncello can evoke breezy summer nights on the Amalfi coast. Such is the case for massage therapist Nell Waters, who has dabbled in limoncello-making for years. Her first taste of the liqueur in its native land was during a visit to Sorrento. “Tasting it, even during winter in San Francisco, takes me back to those nights in Italy,” she says.

Though every maker has her own recipe and technique, the ingredients of limoncello are basic: lemon peel, sugar and alcohol. The tradition is to use only the peel (some people choose to remove it with a Microplane grater, which is the easiest way to avoid the bitter pith) and steep it for weeks in a high-proof, neutral spirit. Some recipes call just for vodka, but some use grain alcohol as well.

That’s what freelance writer Elizabeth Crane uses, giving the peel of lemons from a friend’s hyperproductive tree 40 days in Everclear before adding sugar syrup and then vodka. The result is bright and golden yellow and has a high-pitched flavor of lemon zest. “It lives in the freezer,” she says, until she takes it out for a small post-dinner sip. For something with twice the strength of vodka, the taste has little bite—or so it seems at first. “You have to be careful with it,” she warns. “Even a thimbleful can do some damage.”

Using a different method, Waters makes hers using Meyer lemons, incorporating both the much thinner peel and a few whole lemons. Her limoncello is a pale, clear liquid with just a hint of yellow and the fragrant aroma Meyers are famous for.

Waters’ version is not as sweet as Crane’s, but it finishes with a slight, even pleasing, tartness. Waters also makes coffee liqueur, and she is contemplating a gin. Her growing hobby parallels the path taken by Josey Packard, a bartender at the Alembic, whose delicious limoncello served as a starting point to what’s turned into a panoply of infusions, including her own triple sec (called “con-treaux”), cherry brandy and rarer and more interesting drams such, as Vin de Pamplemousse (grapefruit, vodka and Sauvignon Blanc), Kummel (flavored with caraway) and Crème de Prunelle (prunes).

“My house is littered with mason jars of various liquids,” Packard says.

“I just don’t seem to be able to stop.”

--

LIMONCELLO

Simple syrup is made by heating 4 cups sugar and 5 cups water until the sugar dissolves; cool before using. Makes 3 quarts.

16 lemons
1 quart (4 cups) Everclear grain alcohol (151 proof)
1 quart (4 cups) good quality vodka
1 quart (4 cups) simple syrup

With a peeler, zest lemons, being careful to avoid the bitter white pith. Combine zest and grain alcohol in an airtight 3-quart jar and set in a dark place for 40 days. Stir in vodka and simple syrup, and let sit for another 40 days. Line a strainer with cheesecloth and pour limoncello through into clean bottles. Place bottles in freezer. Serve ice cold.