Seattle Foodies

Here’s my recipe for a limoncello-based lemon drop martini. It’s tart and sweet, and very lemony. A lot like the old-fashioned candy.

Lemon Head Martini

1. In a shaker, combine:
   • 1.5 oz. fresh lemon juice
   • 1.5 oz. homemade limoncello
   • 1.5 oz. Cointreau
   • 1.5 oz. good vodka (like Pearl, Chopin, Grey Goose, etc.)
   • ice
2. Shake and strain into a chilled, sugar-rimmed martini glass
3. Garnish with lemon zest

For herbal variations, try muddling with a sprig of mint, thyme, or rosemary before shaking with ice.

Enjoy!

Is it the bright sunny color laughing at gray Seattle skies? The unbelievable pure-lemon infusion that explodes on your senses? The dazzling contrast of alcohol heat against the icy sweet viscosity? The thrill seeker’s rush from working with ingredients plastered with red warning labels appropriate to incendiary devices? Or maybe the simple irresistible economics of owning five bottles of exquisiteness at half the cost of one imported bottle of mediocrity?

It doesn’t matter. Homemade limoncello is so easy and delicious it must be done, and here’s an authentic version of the Italian digestivo that warrants a permanent niche in your freezer. Oh, and while the lemon rinds are steeping, hunt down some decorative bottles so you’ll have gorgeous bottled gifts for your friends.

A couple notes:

1. It’s really important to get Everclear (or Clear Springs, or whatever 190 proof grain alcohol you can find). By the time you add the simple syrup, this recipe dillutes down to about 80 proof, and that level of alcohol is essential to get the heat that characterizes this drink. (If you’re lucky enough to live in Washington, you may protest that you can’t buy it here. But a sympathetic soul at one of the state-run liquor stores suggested Portland as a reliable source. Remember the ‘99 WTO protest riots in Seattle that was blamed on the Oregon anarchists? What do you think were in those Molotov cocktails, anyway?)
2. Keep a bottle in your freezer (allow it to chill overnight before serving), and sip it from your favorite aperitif glasses.
3. Simple syrup is easy to make, just combine room temperature water with the sugar and shake until the crystals are dissolved. No need to boil it, but the warmer the water, the faster it dissolves.
4. Before you ask how many cups is 38 ounces of sugar, the problem is that sugar volume varies. I’ve had sugars ranging from 6 to 7.5 ounces per cup. You do have a kitchen scale, don’t you?
5. Yes, experiment with other citrus and beyond. Try eight oranges instead of lemons for arancello. Or a like number of limes for—what? Isn’t lime Italian for lime? So would that be limecello? Somebody help me out here. At Nostrana in Portland, I once enjoyed the last of their terrific bartender’s house-made beetcello. No kidding. Beets infused with caraway. It was wonderful. So free your mind. Anchovicello, anyone?

(Makes about 2.5 liters)

1. Using a vegetable peeler, peel zest only (as little white pith as possible) from:
   • 10-12 lemons (depending on size)
2. Macerate (soak) the zest for two weeks in:
   • 750ml 95% (190 proof) grain alcohol
3. Make a simple syrup using:
   • 38 oz. filtered or bottled water
   • 38 oz. sugar
4. Strain the alcohol into the room-temperature simple syrup and stir
5. Bottle and freeze, serve neat from freezer

So what are you waiting for? Chill a ‘cello! And let us know what you think.

For your next cocktail party, try serving this version of a lemon drop martini: Lemon Head Martini.