Tag: limoncello

  • Which Liqueurs Crystallize When Dehydrated?

    SolidLiquidsProjectSquareLogoIn the Solid Liquids Project I've experimented with various methods to dehydrate liqueurs into solids. I've found that not every liqueur does crystallize through conventional heating methods to boil off the alcohol and water. Ones that do not crystallize usually leave a thick, sticky, gummy glob at the bottom of their container.

    I have not figured out why some liqueurs don't crystallize, though I've had some theories.

    First Eleven oven_tn

    Here is my list of liqueurs I've tried to crystallize (most of them in silicone cupcake cups in the oven) and whether or not it worked.

    Liqueur Crystallization 

    Liqueur Crystallizes? Notes
    Campari Yes  
    Midori Yes  
    Amaretto Yes  
    Luxardo Maraschino Yes  
    Green Chartreuse Yes  
    Rhum Clement Creole Shrub Yes  
    Emmett's Irish Cream Yes Dairy
    Aperol Yes  
    Tuaca Yes  
    Hiram Walker Triple Sec Yes  
    Licor 43 Yes  
    Creme de Violette Yes  
    DeKuyper Peppermint Schnapps Yes  
    Pallini Limoncello Yes Beet sugar
    Disaronno Yes  
    Luxardo Bitter Yes  
    Cointreau Yes Beet Sugar
    Mandarin Napoleon Yes  
    The King's Ginger Yes  
    Wild Turkey American Honey No Honey
    X-Rated Fusion Liqueur No Fruit Juice
    Hypnotiq No Fruit Juice
    Irish Mist No Honey
    Courvoisier Rose No Fruit Juice
    Velvet Falernum No- Squishy, thick  
    Hiram Walker Gingerbread Liqueur No- Mostly Solid  
    Combier Roi Rene Rouge No- Mostly Solid Cherry Juice?
    Firelit No- Hard puck  
    Potters Creme de Cacao No-Thick, Squishy  
    Hiram Walker Blueberry Schnapps No- Soft Squishy  
    Patron Citronge No-Soft, squishy  
    Barenjager No- Crusty top gel beneath Honey
    Drambuie No- Crusty top gel beneath Honey
    St.Germain No- Crusty top gel beneath  
    Cynar No- Crusty top gel beneath  
    Solerno No- Gel  
    J. Witty Chamomile No- Crusty top thick gel beneath Agave?
    Benedictine No- Crusty top gel beneath Honey
    Cherry Heering No- Dense Gel  
    Root No- Solid Puck  
    Kahlua No- Full volume gel  
    Domaine de Canton No- Gel  
    VEEV No- Crisp, glassy puck  
    Ancho Reyes No- Crisp, glassy puck  
    Creme Yvette No- soft gel puck  
    Bols Yogurt No- brown, crisp  
    Allspice Dram No- thick gel  
    Rothman & Winter Apricot brittle clump  
    Drambuie 15 No- Crisp, sticky clear candy  
    Pimm's No- glassy shattering candy  

    It is possible that your results may differ for some of these, or that you have tried other liqueurs with successes and failures to share. If so, please let me know in the comments. 

    Dehydrated frangelico_tn

     

    The Solid Liquids Project index is at this link.

     

  • A Trip to Italy with Pallini Limoncello

    I am one lucky son-of-a-gun. This September I visited Rome and the Amalfi Coast with Pallini LimoncelloThough we began the trip in Rome and went to the Amalfi Coast later, I'll explain the process of making limoncello in the proper order. 

    The Lemons of the Amalfi Coast

    The lemons for Pallini are sfusato ("elongated") lemons, so-named for their tapered shape. They are also sometimes called feminine lemons because each side looks like a nipple. These are slightly different from Sorrento lemons that are more football-shaped. 

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    These lemons are low in acid; very sweet. In fact we had an unsweetened lemonade made with them. It was tart, but still drinkable. Even the pith isn't that bitter- we had a 'salad' made with these lemons soaked in balsamic vinegar and salt – and you could eat the whole thing – fruit, pith, and rind. 

    Lemon vinager salad amalfi coast lemon tour_tn

    But for limoncello purposes, they're interested in the skin of the lemons only. The skins of sfusato lemons are highly aromatic and rich in essential oils. 

    These lemons grow along the Amalfi Coast in a most improbable way. Actually, the whole coast doesn't make much sense – it is all incredibly steep and rocky, with sharp inclines from the mountains down to the ocean. Picture the drive along Highway 1 in California if people had build houses all the way down to the ocean. 

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    Carved into the cliffs are terraced gardens on which they grow lemons, along with eggplants, grapes, tomatoes, olives, and everything else you can think of. It's a surprisingly productive area given that the base is just rocks. 

    Terraced lemon grove amalfi coast lemon tour_tn

    But the cliff-side growing arrangement means lots and lots of sunshine for these plants. The lemons grow so big and so productively that if these were just normal trees growing on their own, the branches would almost surely snap beneath the weight of the fruit.

    Amalfi coast lemon tour lemon bunch_tn

    Thus the farmers have developed a system to support the lemon tree branches, a pergola made of chestnut wood. This forms a lemon tree umbrella of sorts, with hundreds of huge lemons dangling from above. 

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    Amalfi coast lemon tour lemon trees3_tn
    (Bonus cat picture!)

    Amalfi coast lemon tour monastary lemon view_tn

    The terraced lemon groves present some difficulties in harvesting, as you'd imagine. The lemons are all picked by hand as they ripen, then must be carried uphill to the next road that can be pretty far when you've got a heavy crate of lemons on your back. 

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    Carrying lemons amalfi coast lemon tour8_tn

    Processing Lemons

    After the lemons are harvested, they're transported by truck along the windy (and terrifying to those of us scared of heights) road to the processing center. We visited the one Pallini uses: Castier Agrumi De Riso

    Castier agrumi de riso washing lemons2_tn

    When the lemons come in to the factory, they are first washed and then sorted. The very best lemons are sold in crates to stores and restaurants. The rest are peeled to make limoncello. 

    Castier agrumi de riso sorting2_tn
    Castier agrumi de riso peeling machine2_tn

    To do this, they use a machine that peels two lemons at a time. It is hand-loaded and seems to frequently jam – no wonder with sticky, oily peels involved. In this video, you can see the machine working. 

    The peels that come out are then vacuum-sealed into bags and sent to Pallini to use. 

    Making Limoncello

    Pallini's distillery (it's not actually a distillery as they don't distill there but a rectification plant; still I'll call it a distillery for the sake of clarity) is where they make limoncello from the lemon peels.

    Pallini distillery1_tn

    Though once there were 30 distilleries in Rome, Pallini is the only one left. Originally, the distillery was located a few hundred yards from the Pantheon in central Rome but now it is in an industrial park-type area a good 30-40 minutes drive from the city center. 

    To make the limoncello, first they soak the peels in high-proof alcohol (I think around 96%) to extract their flavor. Though they didn't tell us the exact time, I inferred the extraction takes less than a couple of days. 

    Lemon peels pallini distillery_tn

    Adding lemon peels pallini distillery_tn

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    Then they blend this concentrated lemon alcohol with more neutral alcohol (that is distilled from Italian sugar beet molasses), water, and a sugar syrup (made from crystallized sugar beet sugar). To make the flavor pop, they also add essential oils from the same lemons.

    Limoncello tasting pallini distillery2_tn

    Somewhere in the process, they homogenize the ingredients so they retain a fresh flavor and do not separate or oxidize. We tasted several other brands of limoncello and most had a slightly musty flavor of oxidation compared to Pallini

    Bottle line pallini distillery2_tn

    Other Products

    Pallini also makes a Raspicello (useful as a Chambord substitute, or perhaps in a Bramble?) and a Peachcello (for the Bellini). These are actually made by distilling the berries and peaches, and adding fruit juice or fresh berries back in at bottling time. The production seemed pretty interesting but we didn't go into it in detail.

    Pallini makes around 150 products, which you'd never guess given the size of the distillery. The most famous one, however, is Sambuca Romana. They created this brand but sold it to Diageo in the 1980s. They still produce it for Diageo though. It's actually a pretty interesting product on its own; a blend of distillates from three kinds of anise, elderflower, angelica, and other herbs and spices. 

    Anyway, that's it for my Pallini trip. Limoncello is an incredibly straight-forward liqueur made from very special lemons grown in an absolutely stunning place. 

    Camper lemons3_tn