How to Make Limoncello at Home- A taste of Italy from your own citrus grove
Jun 28, 2025
If you’ve ever been lucky enough to visit Italy, chances are you’ve encountered limoncello—the vibrant, lemony liqueur traditionally served ice-cold in tiny glasses. Sweet, tart, and bursting with citrus flavour, it hails from Southern Italy where it’s often made with the prized Sorrento or Amalfi lemons. While those varieties aren't available in New Zealand, the Meyer lemon makes a brilliant stand-in—sweeter and less acidic, yet still bold and aromatic.
A Tale of Two Methods
We’ve been making limoncello for years. We started out with store-bought vodka and eventually graduated to distilling our own alcohol. While the vodka method is quicker and simpler, we find homemade alcohol produces a more intense flavour—thanks to the higher alcohol content extracting more citrus oils.
Below you'll find both methods, plus a few helpful hints to ensure your limoncello is smooth, flavorful, and perfect for sipping or gifting.
Hint: Read helpful hints before making your limoncello
Limoncello with Pure Alcohol
Ingredients:
- 10 freshly picked organic lemons
- 750ml pure alcohol
- 3½ cups water
- 2½ cups sugar
- Scrub, rinse, and dry lemons thoroughly.
- Use a vegetable peeler to remove zest—avoiding the bitter white pith.
- Check each peel and trim any remaining pith.
- Combine zest and pure alcohol in a sealable glass jar.
- Let steep in a cool, dark place for 7–28 days, depending on how intense you’d like the flavour.
- Make a simple syrup by heating sugar and water until dissolved (5–10 mins).
- Cool syrup, then blend with the infused alcohol to taste.
- Strain out zest.
- Let the mixture rest for up to one week to mellow before bottling.
- Chill in freezer and enjoy!

Limoncello with Store-Bought Vodka
You don’t need any fancy gear to make limoncello. Just good lemons, a bottle of vodka, and a bit of patience.
Ingredients
- 10 organic lemons (unwaxed, thick-skinned)
- 750ml vodka (minimum 40% ABV, unflavoured)
- 2½ cups (500g) sugar
- 3 cups (700ml) water
- Wash and zest lemons with a peeler, avoiding pith.
- Place zest in a clean glass jar.
- Pour vodka over the zest and seal.
- Infuse for 1–2 weeks, shaking gently each day.
- Strain zest using fine mesh or cheesecloth.
- Make simple syrup, cool it, and mix with infused vodka.
- Adjust strength or sweetness to taste.
- Bottle, seal, and let rest for 7 days before serving.

Helpful Tips
- Organic lemons are best—no wax or chemicals interfering with flavour.
- Use glass containers for infusion—plastic can leach flavours.
- For stronger limoncello, infuse longer or reduce water in syrup.
- Want it alcohol-free? Try steeping zest in sugar syrup and mixing with sparkling water.
- Washing and peeling citrus might sound tedious—but it’s far more enjoyable when done with company. If you're preparing zest for a big batch of limoncello, gather a few friends or family around the table. Many hands make light work, and the process becomes part of the magic.
- Infuse for at least 7 days—though we find 2 to 4 weeks gives the best depth of flavour.
- Don’t over-steep: Leaving the peel in too long can cause bitterness. After your preferred steep time, strain out the zest and discard.
- You can adjust the sugar syrup to suit your taste—less syrup means a stronger alcohol content, while more syrup gives a sweeter, softer finish.
- Once mixed, let your limoncello rest for a few days to a few weeks before chilling. This allows the flavours to mellow and unify.
Photo Above: Buddha's Hand peel in Vodka
How to Serve & Enjoy
Traditionally, limoncello is served:- Straight from the freezer, in chilled shot glasses
- As a digestif after a meal
But it’s just as versatile in the kitchen and at the cocktail bar:
- Drizzled over vanilla ice cream, gelato, or sorbet
- Added to desserts like cakes or citrus trifles—check out our Lemon Tiramisu recipe!
Mixed into cocktails like:
- Limoncello Spritz: Over ice with sparkling water
- Sparkling Limoncello: Prosecco + limoncello for bubbly brilliance

Storing Your Limoncello
- Fridge: Keeps well for up to 3 months (Ours was still perfect after 3 years in the fridge, but it did have an ABV of 40%)
- Freezer: Lasts for 6+ months and stays liquid thanks to alcohol
- Shake gently before serving if separation occurs
Make It a Gift
Bottle your limoncello in pretty jars or bottles, tie a ribbon, and add a handwritten tag. These citrus creations make wonderful homemade gifts—perfect for birthdays, holidays, or housewarmings. You’ll be gifting sunshine in a bottle.
Photo Above: Lisbon Lemon peel in Pure Alcohol
Our Limoncello Journey
We've had a blast experimenting with different citrus varieties—each one brings something unique in flavour and colour.
We’ve made “limoncello” with:
- Yen Ben, Genoa, Lisbon Lemons
- Tarocco, Moro, Sanguinello Blood Oranges
- Cipo Oranges, Buddha’s Hand, Bearss Lime
- Corsica Mandarins
Our favourites so far? Lisbon Lemon and Moro Blood Orange. The Moro batch was so close to Cointreau, we almost renamed it!
Next up: Rangpur Lime, Sublime, Lemonade, and Meyer Lemon. Rangpur Lime with its orange skin and lemon/lime flavour should be a fun one to try.
We’ll keep this blog updated as our citrus adventures continue. If you’re growing something unusual or making a version of your own, we’d love to hear from you.
Final Tip
Don't limit yourself to lemons. If it zests, it rests (in alcohol)! Try mandarins, oranges, limes, and everything in between—your citrus trees have more to offer than you think.