Limoncello. The Liqueur Three Italian Towns Still Argue Over
Ask three towns on the Amalfi Coast who invented limoncello and you will get three very confident answers. Capri says it was theirs. Sorrento says the same thing. Amalfi is not backing down either. Nobody has ever settled it.
The method is the same in all three. Lemon peel, alcohol, sugar and water.
Three Towns and One Very Old Argument
The Capri version centres on a woman who grew lemons at a small guesthouse in the early 1900s and poured a homemade liqueur for her visitors. The family held onto the recipe, and a descendant turned it into a registered business much later in the century.
Sorrento tells it differently. There the claim is that families along the peninsula had been making lemon liqueur in their own kitchens for generations, long before anyone thought to sell it.
Amalfi has its own account, with fishermen and farmers taking a small glass against the cold before heading out for the day.
All three may be true. Homemade lemon liqueur was common across southern Italy long before anyone sold it. Labelled, commercial limoncello came in the twentieth century.
It Is All in the Peel
There is no lemon juice in limoncello. None at all.
The flavour comes entirely from the zest. The peel is stripped from the fruit, carefully, leaving the bitter white pith behind, then left to sit in neutral alcohol for days or weeks. The alcohol draws the fragrant oil out of the skin and turns a deep yellow. Only then does the sugar syrup go in. Nothing is ever cooked.
So the lemons matter. The varieties grown around Sorrento and along the Amalfi Coast have thick, heavily perfumed, oily skins. Several of them carry protected regional status in Europe.
It also explains the cloudiness. Lemon oil dissolves happily in strong alcohol but not in a sweeter, weaker mixture, so the moment that syrup goes in the oil breaks into a fine haze. It is the same trick that turns pastis milky when you add water. A cloudy bottle means there is real peel oil in it.
How to Drink It
- From the freezer. At this strength it will not freeze solid. It goes thick, cold and faintly syrupy.
- Small pours. About 30 to 50ml in a little glass, after dinner. Limoncello is a digestivo, served to close a heavy meal.
- No ice. A cold bottle needs nothing else. Ice waters it down and flattens the perfume.
- Spritz. Limoncello, prosecco and a splash of soda over ice with a slice of lemon.
- Sgroppino. Lemon sorbet whipped with prosecco and a little limoncello until frothy. It is Venetian, and it is dessert and drink at once.
- Over gelato. Straight over vanilla, the way an affogato uses espresso.
- In baking. Brushed over a warm lemon or ricotta cake to soak in.
What We Have on the Shelf
The limoncello we carry. The Luxardo comes in two sizes.
Luxardo Limoncello
Italy · 27% · 50ml or 500ml
Luxardo have been making liqueurs since 1821 and work out of the Veneto today. Both are made from the peels of Femminello lemons, the Sorrento variety.
The 50ml is their standard limoncello. The 500ml Master Reserve pictured here is cold macerated to keep more of the aromatics.
Straight from the freezer in a small glass, after a long dinner.
Mamma Mia Limoncello
700ml, 24% · $55.34
The lowest in alcohol of the three, at 24%.
In a spritz with prosecco and soda.
Sold out, ask us
Woods Limoncello Italian Liqueur
North Vancouver · 750ml, 30% · $59.44
Made by The Woods Spirit Co. in North Vancouver. They hand peel fresh organic lemons, then add vacuum distilled peppercorn, citrus and chili pepper. The highest in alcohol of the three.
Over vanilla gelato.
Sold out, ask usMalfy Gin con Limone is a gin infused with Amalfi lemons, at 41%. It is dry, for mixing.
