I love a good limoncello and after making it the first few times I started experimenting with other citruses. Here is a play-by-play of one experiment that emerged to be one of my favorites: Grapefruit & Rosemary Cello. It's simple, easy to make, and very refreshing. 

You will need: 
a peeler
a paring knife
a sauce pan
1 liter bottle of vodka 
5 grapefruits
5 rosemary sprigs
5 cups of sugar
5 cups of water
a large vessel with a lid, preferably glass or ceramic, that can hold at least 2 liters of liquid. 
(I usually use a large pickle jar; in the photos I'm making a larger batch and using a giant plastic tub). 
a funnel
1 coffee filters (preferably unbleached)

Harvesting the Zest
Peel the grapefruits with a peeler. I use about 5 grapefruits per liter of vodka, but you can use more. Save only the peels and discard the fruit (I, of course, eat the fruit right away!).

Sometimes the peels have a a thick strip of the white pith attached to the back. This imparts a very bitter flavor to the final product. If you like bitter flavors, then leave them as is. I don't enjoy that bite, so I fillet the pith from the zesty skin with a small paring knife. 

Making Flavored Simple Syrup
Then I make simple syrup by boiling equal amounts of water & sugar together in a saucepan. I add some rosemary to the pot (2 springs per 5 cups of sugar) to give the final product a very rosemary-intense aroma. But, we will be infusing the cello with rosemary later, so adding the rosemary to the simple syrup is optional if you want to keep it simple (no pun intended). When the liquid turns clear (usually this happens just as it reaches a boil), remove the pot from heat and let it cool with the rosemary still in the pot. When cool, strain out the rosemary and discard the spent herbs.  

Mixing It Together
Once you have all of this ready, find a large clean vessel with a lid- preferably glass or ceramic- and toss in the peels, the fresh rosemary sprigs, 1 liter of vodka and 1 liter of rosemary infused simple syrup.  Save the empty vodka bottle so you can decant the finished product back into the bottle when the infusion is complete. Keep in mind that because of the simple syrup addition you will have about 2 liters of final product to decant back into bottles, so while the cello is infusing try to find another empty vodka bottle in addition to the one you have saved. 

Infusing
Now it is a waiting game. Cover the vessel with a lid, label and date the infusion, put it in a cool, dark place, and forget about it for a while. It will be infused in about 7-10 days, but it can continue to infuse for up to 40 days (and some would argue even longer). 

I find that citrus peel vodka infusions are good and ready when the vodka itself changes color. You will notice this after about 12-14 days-- the once clear vodka will take on a dark hue of the color of whatever citrus peel you have used. 

Filtering

Some purists are against filtration (and I feel this way about most wines), however, I do like to filter my vodka infusions. I don't think they look appetizing when they are cloudy or have debris floating in them. Also, if you don't filter, "stuff" accumulates at the bottom and at the meniscus when you store it, and it is a visual turn-off. 

I filter these through a good, old-fashioned coffee filter that lines a funnel. I put the funnel into the vodka bottle opening, line it with a coffee filter, and pour away. 

Storage
Some people believe that cellos should be stored in the freezer and served ice cold. In order for the cello not to freeze in the freezer after the simple syrup dilution the vodka used must be 100+ proof.  If you will be storing the product in the freezer, definitely seek out a vodka with a high proof. 

I don't think storing these in the freezer is necessary, so I don't do it.  I also don't like intense alcohol heat of high proof vodkas, so I don't use a vodka with a super high proof-- I'm going for a more balanced taste. The one I've been using recently is 42 proof, and I keep the final product in the fridge. Some die-hard limoncello drinkers argue that it is "traditional" to store it in the freezer, but limoncello most likely has origins in hot citrus growing climate of Italy, and freezers didn't become a regular household product in Italy until after WWII so storing it in the freezer can't be a very longstanding tradition. 

Serving 
Once you finish you can enjoy this on its own as an aperitif or an after dinner drink. Sometimes I decant them into small bottles and give them as gifts. 

It also works great in cocktails. I've mixed it with soda to make a grapefruit rosemary vodka soda. I've added grapefruit juice and made an herbaceous Salty Dog. I've also mixed it with bitter amaro (so many to choose from!) and citrus juice and served it up. The possibilities are endless! 

Citrus infusions are great ways to re-use waste, which is one reason I began to make them in the first place. I was juicing lots of citrus and began to think of ways to use the spent citrus shells. Now I make marmalade, infusions such as this one, and I compost the rest. 

Manhattan has some of the world's greatest rooftops, and there is nothing better than to be high above it all drinking awesome wine with friends. 

Nothing like a little Batard-Montrachet in plastic cups. (no glass allowed up here!). Sorry Riedel. 

Domaine Dujac "Monts Luisants" 1er cru 2008 (Morey Saint-Denis) 


Here is some beautiful Morey St.-Denis, so young & tight, its whole life ahead of it. Can't wait to try this one again in a decade or so. 

Ramonet "Batard-Montrachet" Grand Cru 2004 (Chassagne-Montrachet)

Gorgeous Batard - this one was just starting to come into its own. 

A double rainbow emerged over Manhattan- from this perspective only partially visible. Check out more photos of the phenomenon here & here. 

Here was a fun Chateaneuf du Pape from 1990. 

Vega-Sicilia "Unico" 1994 (Ribera del Duero, Spain)

This old Vega was pretty incredible-- so meaty and tense. It was like drinking charcouterie. 

Penfolds "Grange" Bin 95 1989 (Australia)

In the midst of all these big dogs the Grange came out on top. It had that classic Australia fruit, but it had simmered down since 1989 into some really plush and balanced juice. Grange is always so interesting for their winemaking philosophy which revolves around multi-regional blending. Most of the time the wine is predominantly Barossa, but the multi-terroir approach really adds layers of complexity that continue to interplay with one another even after all these years. The only other high-end producers that can do this and still keep their place at top of the market are some of the Champagne producers. I enjoy seeing the diversity of production philosophies in the high end red market. This 1989 came just before the extreme popularity of the 1990 vintage, and it really performed well. I'm working on a post solely about Grange, so stay tuned! 

About two weeks ago I went to an amazing presentation; Chef Lee Anne Wong presented several courses with different Suntory Japanese whisky to crack open some of the possibilities of whisky-food pairings. The event was co-sponsored by Suntory and the Gohan Society. 

We tasted through five whiskies:

Yamazaki 12
Yamazaki 18
Hakushu 12
Hibiki 12
Hakushu 12

<-- Check out the menu to the left.

Hakushu 12
The Hakushu 12 had pear, butter & scotch aromas. Lee Anne paired this with a toffee biscuit, apple slices, ham, and some creamy St. Andre cheese to pull it all together. Delish. I'll take a toffee biscuit every day for breakfast! 

Hibiki 12
Next we tried the Hibiki 12 with scallops, umeboshi, turnips, radishes and almonds. Hibiki translates to "harmony," and in this case refers to the many different parts of this intricate whisky blend that play together like a perfectly in-tune orchestra. And like a good orchestra the comprehensive blend displayed much complexity, in part due to the 35 different whiskies in the blend, the 3 different base grains, and the 5 different types of aging casks. One of the casks used to age a part of the Hibiki 12 were formerly plum wine casks. Lee Anne pulled this plum wine note out of the Hibiki's character and paired a dish that included umeboshi (sometimes called simply "ume"), a traditional Japanese "pickle" made from unripe plums packed in salt. 

*a bit more on the orchestra analogy: One of the whisky makers took the stage and spoke about how he is like a musician who plays his note. The blenders are like conductors who assemble all the separate notes into a great symphony. The analogy went deeper too; when Suntory was founded in 1923 the founder's vision was that the whisky would be akin to fine art, much like music and fine paintings. In keeping with this spirit, Suntory donates 1/3 of their profits to art and culture to ensure the sustainability of art. Their bottles and websites all sing the phrase "The Art of Japanese Whisky." This analogy can be spun another way: different orchestras can impress upon the same score their own interpretation of the music. This happens to whisky too-- once it is in barrel, the seasons (Japanese culture  recognizes 24 distinct seasons), the weather, the humidity-- all these things make an impression on what is in the barrel and it will smell and taste slightly different than any other barrel. This vintage/barrel variation is partly what keeps the wine world interesting from year to year, and the same holds true with artisan spirits. Achieving a harmony between what you can produce and what nature doles out is also a a large part of "music" making-- be it sound or Hibiki 12. Along the same lines, the ancient Greeks had this concept that astronomy dictated music scales and forms-- that planets and stars vibrated in harmony with one another and that those same principles applied to vibrating strings or drum heads. Pretty interesting stuff, and when the Suntory distiller began talking about tasting the impression of the seasons in the barrels, and how the whisky is actually an extension of the moment and place in Japan, it reminded me of Ancient Greece and their "harmony of the spheres" music philosophy. Maybe this is the whisky talking, but after a few sips you start to think about these things! 

Yamazaki 12
Next up we tried the Yamazaki 12 with lamb, anchovy, dried fig vinaigrette, frissee, and tarragon. This whisky had complex aromatics that revolved around fruits: plums, fresh cut apricots, figs-- it was a very pretty nose. To me, this tasted a bit like orange peel and had some tart maltiness to it. There had been some sherry casks used to age this whisky, and Lee Anne poached the lamb in sherry vinegar to enhance this note. The dried fig vinaigrette went great with the fruit aromas and I loved the way the tarragon interacted with the tart orange peel flavor and the sour maltiness. This was a daring pairing, and it was neat to have such a rich gamey meat paired with such pretty whisky. To me, it reminded me of the American classic lamb-mint combination. Having the stone fruit & zesty whisky with the heavy meat seemed to cut the gameiness a bit, like the mint does in traditional American cooking. 

Yamazaki 18
This was the real crowd pleaser- we must have been an audience of sweet tooths! The Yamazaki 18 had butterscotch, compote, marmalade and apple aromas. It tasted tart & caramely with a hint of smokiness. Lee Anne made a crazy awesome bay leaf infused custard. The bay leaf component gave the dessert this very earthy element that made it great for whisky pairing. The dessert also came with fruit compote and candied kamquat. I really wish I had gotten two of these-- it was an awesome dessert and an amazing pairing. 

Hakushu "Sherry Cask" 12 
Suntory surprised us with this special sip of mystery whisky at the end. We tasted it blind at first; it was hot, sweet & smokey, with an almost animalistic aroma. The neat thing about this one: it evaporated literally as soon as it hit the tongue-- such a wild sensation!  Reminded me of this. This whisky came from their Hakushu distillery, opened 50 years after the original Suntory distillery. 

The lucky tasters gathered around this tiny kitchen where Lee Anne cooked and Suntory displayed photos from Japan. 

This was so cool: a hand carved ice sphere, cut to order! 

It's the handiwork of Suntory rep Gardner Dunn who whipped out a knife and carved a huge block of pure ice into the sphere you see on the left. He said his ice spheres are inspired by all of the amazing ice carving that is naturally a part of Japanese bartending. 

Check out my friend Aaron's post about PUBLIC, with some info about cool New Zealand dessert wines at the end!
 
http://hogsheadwine.wordpress.com/2012/05/31/we-return-to-public/