Homemade Lime Liqueur

Anyone who has a drink with me will soon learn that I love lime. I love lime anything really, limes, lime juice, key lime pie, lime candy and any drinks that go well with lime in them. When I was looking through some various recipes for Liqueur, I saw the word lime and knew exactly what I was making next.

I proceeded to browse through the various recipes Gunther Anderson has collected and I found a nice one. I reformatted the recipe so it is a bit easier to read and added in my own directions below.

Homemade Lime Liqueur (Andrew Gnoza) recipe

• 6, Limes (i used persian limes)
• 2, Whole Cloves
• 1/8 tsp, Ground Cinnamon
• 7 oz, Clover Honey
• 12 oz, 100 proof vodka

1. Clean and scrub limes then cut them into quarters and place into a glass container for steeping.

2. Add in the rest of the ingredients, pouring the vodka in last.

3. Shake well to mix.

4. Keep in refrigerator for about 2 weeks, stirring or shaking every 3 days.

5. Strain and Filter. Age for 1 to 2 weeks. The tartness will die down a little.

*note: after straining and filtering I added in 3/4 Cup sugar syrup because it was a little too bitter for my taste.

She put the lime in the coconut..

After a week or so I got this song out of my head and then went in for a close examination.

Visual:

At first the Lime Liqueur is very cloudy, seemingly due to the cinnamon which adds a brownish  hue and the honey which adds a golden color. After aging for about two weeks the cloudiness settles and color is much better. It is definitely a dark lime green (the picture above is before aging), though with a hint of gold\brown due to the other ingredients. The color is more pleasing than the food color ultra-lime greens you would see at the store.

Presenting this liqueur on the rocks only makes it look better.

Nose:

You get a primary honey with a secondary citrus tart that is distinctly lime. There is a bit of spice aroma but it is not a standout.

Home made Lime Liqueur

Taste:

Honestly this is the first homemade Liqueur coming out of my kitchen that I could deem worthy of sipping on after dinner. The mouth feel is just right, not too viscous, not too runny. Honey is surprisingly dominant in this Liqueur, Tart and acid hits you before the bitter rolls in. Normally bitter would give me a sad face but it is somehow welcome in this party of flavors. The cinnamon and clove add a nice spice at the end to round things out.

Final:

I really like this one, but I can still be picky. The lime flavor itself could stand to be more intense, maybe a tad less bitter and more spice. Overall I like it how it is! (it probably would have been great even without the 3/4 cup sugar syrup I added in) The recipe came out pretty good if just a bit bitter. In doing more research on fruit extracts I discovered the bitterness might be due to leaving on the peels and not removing the pith. Next time I will include the only the zest, meat and juice, leaving out the pith.