Who hasn’t traveled in Italy, sipped a refreshing glass of limoncello and just sighed in delight over the lemony goodness? We have, and I wanted to recreate that goodness with a limoncello recipe with Everclear. We wanted it refreshing, full of lemon zing, and not too sweet.

Perhaps you haven’t actually had limoncello in Italy, but in an Italian restaurant someplace else. No matter. Just one sip of the best limoncello after dinner will send your mind dreaming of long Italian dinners on a bucket-list trip to the Italian peninsula.

Meanwhile, it’s time to make your own limoncello with Everclear! And it’s not difficult at all –except all that zesting just takes a bit of time and patience.

I knew what I wanted in a limoncello -- not too sweet, very Italian, very lemony – so I decided to do a little research myself. And of course, I had all kinds of friends offering me their ideas and recipes. So I took a bunch of suggestions, ideas, other concepts, and created my own limoncello recipe with Everclear. The Everclear is an important part because it is a neutral grain-distilled alcohol with a very high proof (120 to 190 -- keep in mind anything over 150 proof is illegal in many states). You only drink it alone if you want to sizzle your insides, die early, and “feel a wildfire inside,” as the sales clerk told us. Everclear’s mission in life is to be used to create lower-proof alcohols, yes, like limoncello!

Forget any well-meaning friends or online recipes that use vodka. Just won’t do the job and give you a real Italian limoncello. Get ready for dreams of Italian holidays with this limoncello recipe!

How to make the best limoncello with Everclear

Makes two 750-ml bottles

You will wish you had made more so consider doubling or tripling.