Homemade Limoncello / Grapefruit Cello?

[Devil Doc]

For the record, Paul drank the limoncello like he was going to the electric chair. He basically took over the distribution of that liquor. I had 5 bottles...my son Anthony & his buddies drank half a bottle. Paul grabbed three bottles (he asked permission each time and I folded like a cheap tent) and he shared them with a good number of people...he was the Pied Piper of this one. The last bottle was stolen by Kris (@Light this!)...he finally fessed up to the crime late Saturday night.


I ran the peach & apple pie moonshine distribution the night before. All in all...we went through 3 1/2 gallons of 120-130 proof booze via Dixie cups & other creative methods. Paul & I made a lot of friends this weekend.

You two make a hell of a pair. Kind of like Mutt and Jeff.
Oh, how 'bout them Red Sox?
Doc

 

[bfreebern]

I need to make one of these HERFs, sounds like a great time!

 

[Tall Paul]

Hell of a weekend! Thanks for sharing as always Gary.

 

[ironpeddler]

I need to make one of these HERFs, sounds like a great time!

You get to the East Coast...all of us will take over from there. We'll always have plenty of room for you.

Hell of a weekend! Thanks for sharing as always Gary.

Another successful QSH in the books Paul...and you see, no one died of alcohol poisoning. Although some of us came close...

It's always my pleasure bro...so much fun it should be illegal!

 

[ironpeddler]

Batch #2...started Aug. 18th

I couldn’t find the big lemons and had to peel a ton of small ones.


After 5+ weeks it was ready. Strained twice prior to sweetening...


Bottled & ready to freeze.



Next up is the grapefruit version...thanks for the motivation Hank!

 

[Devil Doc]

I think I've created a monster.

Doc

 

[ironpeddler]

I think I've created a monster.

Doc

Albeit, a good monster.

 

[Johnny B]

Umm.... so yeah.... I'm gonna have to try to make some of that.

 

[Tall Paul]

A damn good monster!!! Gary you have my addy... lol

 

[ironpeddler]

A damn good monster!!! Gary you have my addy... lol

You got it Paul...come on down and get all you want!

From juicing all the lemons from this last batch with a hand squeezer, I think I did ligament damage to my hand. I swear, it's still sore at the base of my thumb almost two months later.

Hopefully this will alleviate this issue the few times a year I make it. This was just added to the citrus-cello arsenal yesterday....



I'm also kicking around the idea of making Arancello (Orangecello)....

 

[ironpeddler]

We’re officially on to the grapefruit version. I gave up trying to peel the rind perfectly off the fruit. I did it in two steps...first the peel, then I cut the pith off using a 6” chef’s knife....

Before....


After....



It took more time, but the results were worth the effort. This is just a small amount of pith taken off with the blade...



The end result....



And now we wait.....



This was the rind off of 7 softball sized South African pink grapefruits.



Oh...and the cheapie juicer worked perfectly!

 

[ironpeddler]

This batch is coming along very nicely, it’s already taking on a golden appearance only a week later.

 

[Greggj77]

Looking good. I am still enjoying my initial batch of lemon. The Grapefruit is gone, that was a crowd pleaser. My wife mixed it with a little soda water and made an excellent summer cocktail.

I may whip up another batch soon although, I have plans to make some George Washington Egg Nog this weekend or next.

 

[ironpeddler]

I finally got to finish up the grapefruitcello right before Christmas, the extra time did it well on two counts. The first being, I had the peels soaking for over six weeks and it tastes much better.

Every bit of of the flavor was extracted from the rind...they snapped like a potato chip after I strained them and they sat for a while.

Then I added the juice back in after straining it three times....



I sweetened this batch with simple syrup to the tune of four cups of distilled water and six cups of sugar. Then I bottled it. The second thing I did was not drink it right away....the longer it sits, the better it tastes!



This was a great batch....

 

[cabaiguan juan]

I’m throwing my hat in the ring.

 

[cabaiguan juan]

He we go.

 

[cabaiguan juan]

Today was the day. Filtered twice through a strainer and then added 24oz of honey. Then added 2 1/2 cup of distilled water. I’ll taste it later tonight to see how awesome it turned out. The testing sips were hot!

 

[ironpeddler]

Today was the day. Filtered twice through a strainer and then added 24oz of honey. Then added 2 1/2 cup of distilled water. I’ll taste it later tonight to see how awesome it turned out. The testing sips were hot!

That looks awesome! Cool process, huh? Did you add any additional sugar? Sometimes the honey can only sweeten it so far...the better the extraction of the fruit peel, the more sweetener you need to make it smooth enough to drink. I did the simple sugar thing as Doc does, but on the Grapefruit-cello...we drank a bottle yesterday at a herf and it was really good. Also, it does get better over time.

 

[cabaiguan juan]

It’s good. I’ll be shopping for an Acorn Stairlift soon.

 

[cabaiguan juan]

That looks awesome! Cool process, huh? Did you add any additional sugar? Sometimes the honey can only sweeten it so far...the better the extraction of the fruit peel, the more sweetener you need to make it smooth enough to drink. I did the simple sugar thing as Doc does, but on the Grapefruit-cello...we drank a bottle yesterday at a herf and it was really good. Also, it does get better over time.

I only added honey. My next one will be Grapefruit with the juice squeezed out into the mix.