Every holiday season, making this Lemon Liqueur recipe is one of our favorite traditions. We bottle it up and give it as Christmas gifts, and it never fails to make people happy. Sometimes we make lemon, sometimes orange, sometimes tangerine — whatever citrus looks best. We use grain alcohol for the most authentic result, but vodka is a perfectly solid choice if you want something a little less potent. The process takes patience — the peels need at least 14 days to infuse — but the actual hands-on time is minimal, which makes it one of the most rewarding things you can make during the holidays.
What Is This Lemon Liqueur Recipe?
This Lemon Liqueur recipe is a homemade Portuguese citrus liqueur in the tradition of the liqueurs Maria’s mother kept on hand throughout the Christmas season — tangerine, lemon, pineapple, and milk liqueurs offered to every visitor who came through the door. On a visit to São Miguel, Maria’s cousin John Manuel served a homemade tangerine liqueur after a late dinner, and the memory of it stayed with her. This recipe follows the same simple method: lemon peels infused in alcohol, combined with a cooled sugar syrup, then bottled. Organic lemons are essential — the alcohol extracts everything from the peel, including any chemicals, so you want fruit that is as clean as possible.
How to Make This Lemon Liqueur Recipe
The key to this Lemon Liqueur recipe is in the peeling. Use a vegetable peeler and take only the yellow part of the skin — the white pith underneath is bitter and will ruin the liqueur if it gets into the infusion. Submerge the peels completely in the grain alcohol or vodka in a sealed container and let them soak for a minimum of 14 days. When the infusion is ready, strain out the peels through a fine strainer or coffee filter, then combine with a cooled simple syrup made from water and sugar. Mix, bottle, and you are done. One batch fills one large wine bottle and about six smaller ones — plenty for gifting.
Tips for the Best Lemon Liqueur Recipe
- Peel thinly and avoid the white pith. This is the most important step — bitterness from the pith cannot be fixed after the fact.
- Use organic lemons. The alcohol extracts everything from the peel, so you want fruit with no pesticide residue or wax coating.
- Grain alcohol gives the most intense citrus extraction and the most authentic result. Vodka works well and produces a milder, less alcoholic liqueur.
- Let the syrup cool completely before combining with the alcohol. Adding hot syrup to the infused alcohol can dull the citrus aroma.
- Use a coffee filter if the strained liquid is still cloudy. It takes longer but produces a cleaner, clearer liqueur.
- Try orange or tangerine. The same recipe works with any citrus — just swap the lemons for the same weight of your chosen fruit.
- Store in the freezer. In São Miguel it was served at room temperature, but chilled straight from the freezer is the way to go.
Swing-top glass bottles are the perfect way to store and gift this liqueur — they look beautiful and seal tightly. There are a variety of sizes to choose from if you want to go larger. I use these bottles, and the funny things is I always get them back empty with hopes that I refill them!
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Serving and Storing
This Lemon Liqueur recipe keeps well for months stored in sealed bottles in a cool, dark place — the alcohol acts as a natural preservative. For the best experience, chill the bottles in the freezer before serving and pour into small glasses straight from frozen. It makes a beautiful homemade gift bottled in swing-top glass bottles, especially during the holidays. Give each bottle a hand-written label with the date and fruit variety if you are making multiple batches.
Lemon Liqueur
One of the dinners I shared with my family in Sao Miguel was at my cousin John Manuel’s home with his lovely family.We had the usual late dinner that didn’t start until 8:00 pm, and it was nearing midnight when it was about to end. But we still had one more thing to do: have some homemade liqueur to help settle our stomachs. That is when I had the most delicious tangerine liqueur. John Manuel told me that my mother was very good at making liqueur, and she would often have an assortment of tangerine, lemon, pineapple and milk liqueurs during the Christmas season to offer to all of her visitors. I loved hearing the stories of how my dad would make the wine in the fall, and from the leftover grape skins he made moonshine so my mom could make her liqueurs.
This recipe can be used for different citrus fruits. Since all the fruits were typically picked fresh and in season, it’s best to use organic fruits. The alcohol will extract the color and flavor of the peels, so you want the liqueur to be as pure as possible with no added chemicals. I experimented with lemons and all I can say is it was delicious.
- Category: Liqueur
Ingredients
4 cups grain alcohol
2 lbs organic lemons
6 cups water
4 cups sugar
Instructions
Peel the lemon skins very thinly so that only the yellow part of the skin is peeled. Be careful to avoid the white part of the rind, as it will make the liqueur bitter.
Soak the skins in the alcohol in a plastic container. Make sure the lemon skins are completely submerged. Seal the container with a lid and let it stand for a minimum of 14 days.
After the lemon peels have soaked, strain the lemon peels from the alcohol. If the skins have broken up into very small pieces, use a coffee filter in your strainer to help catch all the loose pieces. Throw away the peels and set the lemon-infused alcohol aside.
In a separate pan, bring the water to a boil. Add the sugar and stir until it has dissolved. Cover the pan and set aside until it has cooled to room temperature (at least a few hours).
Once the sugar-water mixture has reached room temperature, mix in the lemon flavored alcohol.
You are now ready to bottle.
I was able to fill one large wine bottle and 6 smaller ones with this recipe, but how to store and serve the liqueur is up to your preference. In Sao Miguel, it was served at room temperature, but I personally prefer it chilled from the freezer.
I have ordered your book and am waiting for it. This sounds wonderful and so does the idea of tangerine and orange flavor. Not sure what milk flavor is though? Can you make this with items such as strawberries, raspberries, blueberries?
I haven’t made it using those fruits but I can’t see why not. Cheers!!
I tried making one with clementimes and everyone loved it. I also made loquat liqueur with the seeds. I remember my avo making peppermint liqueur for Christmas when I was young too
It’s wonderful how we can make liquor from so many different things. Cheers!!
I make this lemon liquor 2-3 times a year… a must have in the cabinet…