Yuzu Limoncello Cocktails (Recipe)

There are two core steps for making limoncello:

Step One: Zest eight lemons into a bottle of vodka, and let steep for at least 45 days.

Step Two: Strain the zest away, add simple syrup, and let rest for another 45 days.

If a two-step recipe to make a proper limoncello seems daunting, I’ll let you in on a secret: you can already enjoy the liquor after Step One. 

Step Two is not a hard step. But personally, it’s been 5 months in for me and I hadn’t gotten around to it. It’s been a busy few months. That hadn’t stopped me from sampling from the jar, though. I‘d been using the unfiltered limoncello concentrate to make the most refreshing highballs.

I siphoned off the top of the limoncello concentrate and ladled them into glasses together with spoonfuls of yuzu marmalade, then filled them up with ice and soda water. Bits of lemon zest that come along with each ladle is no great deal: they blend into the yuzu peels of the marmalade anyway. 

This cocktail is floral and deceptively light to drink.

Yuzu Limoncello Recipe
Yuzu marmalade is commonly found in Asian/Japanese/Korean marts, and acts as the sweetening component in this cocktail. 

Ingredients
2 tablespoons of yuzu marmalade
A dash of angostura bitters
1 shot (25ml) plain water
1 shot (25ml) of limoncello concentrate (unsugared)
Ice
~120ml Soda water, to top the drink.

Steps
1. Combine the yuzu marmalade with angostura bitters and plain water, stirring well to thin out the marmalade. 

2. Add in the limoncello concentrate and a generous amount of ice. Stir to combine, then top the drink off with soda water.