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Limoncello is one of the most famous digestivi, or after-dinner drinks, in Italy. And for good reason. It’s light, sweet and tart at the same time – and it’s delicious. (Another famous Italian after-dinner liquor is sambuca. But after drinking a whole bottle of the anise-flavored drink in high school, you’ll never see a recipe for it here. Even the smell brings on flashbacks.)

Used to sooth the stomach at the end of a meal, post-dinner cocktails (or what we call digestifs) date back to the ancient Romans. Hippocrates, for example, indulged in bitter post-dinner drinks as a way to assist his digestion. In the Middle Ages, monks devised some which they thought could prevent diseases — hence a phrase still applied to many labels: anti-colerici, meaning the drink can prevent cholera.

Well, I don’t know if limoncello can cure what ails you, but this tangy, refreshing drink can help ward off that food coma. It’s also great sipping while on the deck or patio on any a lazy afternoon.

The recipe for limoncello is quite simple. You just need some fresh lemon zest, grain alcohol, simple syrup and time… lots and lots and lots of time.

The basic recipe is steeping the zest in the alcohol until the oil is released. That usually takes more than a month. The resulting yellow liquid is then mixed with sugar water (simple syrup).

Now, I have made limoncello this way before. Is it worth the wait? Of course. But I’m an impatient person. Waiting more than a 30 days for anything so wonderful just isn’t in my nature.

Enter my handy-dandy electric pressure cooker.

I’ve found that in about 40 minutes, you can get that beautiful sunshine in a bottle with your electric pressure cooker.

Now a bit of a warning before we begin: some say you shouldn’t pressure cook alcohol, as the alcoholic vapor can possibly be ignited by a random spark in your house. I have not found this the case (obviously). But if this worries you, I recommend using the sous vide method (which takes about 3 hours) or the traditional method (even longer). I have included both recipe options in this post as well.

No matter what what you do it, you need to start with the lemons. Do get organic lemons. After all, you don’t want chemicals and coatings on your lemon peels, right?

Peel the lemons, but be sure to only take the yellow parts. The white pith is the bitter stuff and will make your limoncello bitter as well.  If you happen to get some as you zest you lemons, simply scrape it off with a knife. 

Fill five half-pint mason jars equally with your lemon peels.

Then fill the jars with grain alcohol, almost to the top of each jar. Some people use vodka, but I prefer 120 proof Everclear. It really does a great job of pulling out the lemony-goodness. The higher the proof the better extraction. The other reason to go for higher alcohol content is the amount of sugar you can add. You can a lot more simple syrup to higher proof grain alcohol than we can to 40 proof vodka, meaning you will have more limoncello with the higher proof.  

Simply screw on the lids and choose your extraction method:

• Instant Pot
• Sous Vide
• Traditional

Once extracted, filter the lemony-alcohol and mix with simple syrup. 

Find some pretty bottles or use large mason jars, and chill. The traditional Italian method is to keep in the freezer, which I prefer.

An interesting note:

Sometimes your batch limoncello (like mine) looks more cloudy than clear. There’s nothing wrong with that! Using a high proof alcohol causes the ouzo effect. It’s when the lemon oil infused alcohol is mixed with the simple syrup; the emulsification of the water and lemon oil turns the liquid opaque. It means your limoncello high lemon oil content, which is exactly what you want. 

You can also see the ouzo effect in ouzo, raki or absinthe. (But you know I won’t touch those! They all are anise liquors.)

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"Instant" Limoncello

Tangy, refreshing limoncello in as little as 30 minutes. Three options, including the traditional, sous vide and instant pot methods. 

Prep Time20 mins

Cook Time40 mins

Total Time1 hr

Course: Drinks

Cuisine: Italian

Keyword: cocktails, drinks, instant pot, lemons, limoncello, sous vide

Ingredients

• 20 lemons organic
• 750 ml grain alcohol everclear, vodka, etc
• 4 cups white sugar
• 4 cup water

Instructions

The Start

• Use a vegetable peeler to remove the peel in strips. Just get the yellow part of the peel, the zest. The white part will make the limoncello bitter. If your peels have some white on them, you can simply scrap it off with a knife. 
• Put the peels equally in 5, half-pint jars. Press them down, if needed.
• Add the alcohol to each jar, leaving a 3/4 inch space at the top.
• Screw on the lids, tight, but not too tight. 

Instant Pot Method

• Put one cup of water in your Instant Pot and add the trivet.
• Add 3 of the filled jars onto the trivet.
• Close and seal the lid. Set the pressure to manual for 30 minutes.
  
  Note: Make sure there are no open flames or sources of heat near your Instant Pot as there may be a small amount of alcohol vapor that escapes as it is cooking. I actually processed mine with an open window near it.
• Once the cooking time is done, allow for NPR (natural pressure release). 
• Take the lid off and allow the jars to cool a bit before removing. They will be hot!  

  Note: Use the best jars possible for this as these jars get super hot and could shatter if of poor quality.  I recommend Ball or Kerr jars.
• Repeat the pressure cooking method with remaining jars.
• Allow the jars to cool completely outside the Instant Pot. 

  Note: During this process, you may see some bubbling inside the jars. That's normal.

Sous Vide Method

• Put the canning jars in the sous vide unit. 
• Add water to come up to the lid of the jar. 

  Note: Don’t submerge the jar, or it will float around. If there is floating, add some weight to the top of the jars, or remove some water. 
•  Sous vide at 135°F/57°C for 3 hours. 
• Remove from water bath and repeat with any remaining jars, if needed.

Traditional Method

• Store the jars in a dark area, such as a cabinet or closet, for 30 days. Every few days, give the jars a shake and put back in their darker storage.

The Finale

• Make the simple syrup by putting the water and sugar in a microwaveable bowl.  Stir. Microwave for 1 minute. Remove and stir again until sugar dissolves. Let the simple syrup cool.

  Note: You can also put the water in a large pot over high heat, and bring to a boil. Stir in the sugar, and keep stirring until the sugar dissolves. Remove the pot from the heat and let it rest.
• Strain the alcohol from the peels using a fine mesh strainer. Then strain it again through a paper coffee filter to remove all the lemon zest from the alcohol.

  Note: Wet the coffee filter first so you don't loose too much alcohol.
• Mix the alcohol and simple syrup, then divide into jars or bottles and store in the freezer. You can drink it right away. 

  Note: You will find it mellows with time. And it lasts for about one year.

Notes

Some say you shouldn’t pressure cook alcohol, as the alcoholic vapor can possibly be ignited by a random spark in your house. I have not found this the case (obviously). But if this worries you, I recommend using the sous vide method (which takes a bit longer) or the traditional method (even longer). 

Hold on!  What about all those peeled lemons?

What do you do with all those lemons? Here’s an idea.