Hi, Friends of Cocktails! I’ve never done 10 cocktails at once before, but today we’ll change that with 10 recipes using homemade Limoncello, Orangecello, and Limecello. So if you followed the post where we made these DIY Italian liqueurs, or if you have a bottle of Limoncello on the shelf gathering dust, today’s publication is for you.
While Limoncello can be great when served after dinner as a digestif - preferably chilled - for more variation this Summer, we’ll start with Limoncello cocktails, but as with the rest of our recipes today you’ll be able to switch to Limecello or Orancello too. So let’s begin with a simple one, the Limoncello Highball. It’s Cocktail Time!
Limoncello Highball
● 60mL · 2oz Limoncello
● 120g Chilled Soda Water
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Lemon Peel
This cocktail, suggested by Kendo2377, starts by pouring soda water over a tempered ice spear in a highball glass. I’m using a scale so we don’t have to pour it into a jigger and lose the bubbles, then pouring the Limoncello in. Because of the sugars it’s heavier than soda water, so it will already mix into the drink better than if we added this first. Finally add the saline solution, and we’ll gently turn and lift the cocktail to get it fully mixed.
A spray of lemon essential oils from a lemon peel - or a Lemon Spray if you’ve seen my part 2 of Cocktail Hacks - and that’s it. Citrusy, bubbly, and fresh but next up we’re making a shaken, equal parts sour cocktail with Limoncello. Naming the cocktails is not one of my strong suits, so I’ll just name this Limoncello Cocktail No. 2, but I’m taking suggestions in the comments of the episode.
Limoncello Cocktail No. 2
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Limoncello
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz London Dry Gin
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Yellow Chartreuse
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Lemon Juice
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Egg White
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Lemon Peel
This time let’s start with a shaker. I like to chill the big tin first, then add the ingredients to the small tin, ending with the egg white. I’ll give the egg white a quick blitz with a milk frother to make it easier to measure out, and instead of a dry shake with the possibility of your shakers flying apart, the milk frother does a great job of emulsifying the egg white and frothing up the cocktail too. Now I’ll drain the ice of excess water, add it to the cocktail and give it a good shake to chill and dilute the cocktail.
Serve in a chilled Nick&Nora glass and double strain the cocktail. Finish it off with essential oils from a lemon peel, but don’t place it on the cocktail. This one’s citrusy, herbal, and rich, but next we’re going with a creamier cocktail, reminiscent of a Brandy Alexander.
Pisco Alessandro
● 45mL · 1.5oz Pisco
● 30mL · 1oz Limoncello
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Heavy Cream
● 1-2 barspoons Gum Syrup
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Grated Lemon Peel
With heavy cream this will of course be a shaken cocktail as well, and in case you don’t want to make your own Gum Syrup, a great option is Liber&Co! Their Gum Syrup is great and has amazing texture, making for an extra decadent Alessandro. Now add your ice, seal the shaker and give it a good, hard shake. We’ll double strain this the same way as the last one, into a chilled Nick&Nora glass. Grate a little lemon peel from a frozen lemon husk and call it a day.
It’s rich, creamy and fruity with a citrusy undertone. Maybe orancello might be a better option for this one, but we’re not done with Limoncello cocktails just yet. Let’s say uno más, because this one will be made with tequila, and it will be perfect for the summer. We’re making a Sgroppino Elevado… an elevated sgroppino.
Sgroppino Elevado
● 90g Lemon Sorbet
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Mijenta Blanco Tequila
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Limoncello
● 90g FIOL Prosecco
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Thyme Sprig
I’ll mix this in a mixing glass, so pour the ingredients in and gently mix to combine. Then pour into a chilled coupe glass, and garnish with a single thyme sprig, or alternatively a lemon peel. This is a fresh, bubbly, elevated lemon ice cream. Bellissimo.
Now we’re on to the orancello cocktails, or as it was pointed out, Arancello actually makes more sense if it’s the orange version of Limoncello but I think both options are fine. The first one will be an Old Fashioned variation, so… Orancello Fashioned?
Orancello Fashioned
● 45mL · 1.5oz Bourbon
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Orancello
● 2 dashes Angostura Bitters
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Maraschino Cherry
You could make this in a mixing glass as well, but I’ll build it straight in this chilled rocks glass over a tempered ice cube. So add the ingredients, stir well to mix and chill the cocktail. Give it a quick taste test, and once it’s properly diluted add a maraschino cherry and that’s the Orancello Fashioned. It’s spirit forward, dry, and... orangy.
Next, to really show that these 3 citrus liqueurs we made can often work in place of each other, let’s make an Orancello Spritz. Limoncello Spritz is better known, but I have faith in its orange counterpart as well.
Orancello Spritz
● 75mL · 2.5oz FIOL Prosecco
● 45mL · 1.5oz Orancello
● 30mL · 1oz Soda Water
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Bay Leaf
We’ll start by filling a wine glass with ice, then we go in with FIOL Prosecco. Its delicate bubbles will hold up better if we add this first, because the sweeter Orancello will mix through the prosecco, instead of sitting at the bottom. The third part of the spritz is of course soda water, followed by the saline solution. Now gently mix the ingredients by turning with a bar spoon, and as a finishing touch, garnish with a bay leaf. Crack the leaf to release the aromas and place it on top of the glass.
Fresh, bubbly, and with plenty of orangy sweetness, but for the third orancello cocktail, before we move on to limecello, a Negroni twist. Arangroni? Instead of swapping out one of the three classic Negroni ingredients, I’ll just be adding the orange notes and a little sweetness with our Orancello.
Arangroni - Orancello Negroni
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Gin
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Campari
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Sweet Vermouth
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Orancello
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Orange Twist
I’ll be keeping the equal parts ratio, so once the mixing glass is nicely chilled let’s add the ingredients in. Now add plenty of ice and give the cocktail a good stir to mix, chill, and dilute the ingredients. I’ll serve our Orancello Negroni into a low tumbler glass over a clear ice sphere. For garnish a round coin surely wouldn’t sit on this, so let’s opt for a twist or orange peel, with the essential oils expressed over the cocktail. Beautiful!
Bitter, sweet, orangy, delicious! Everything you’d want from the Arangroni. We’re now 7 down, 3 to go, and they’ll be made with Limecello. First one will be a twist on the Gin Basil Smash, making for a wonderful green combo. I’m calling it the Hulk Smash.
Hulk Smash
● 45mL · 1.5oz Gin
● 30mL · 1oz Limecello
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Lime Super Juice
● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Gum Syrup
● 8-10 Basil Leaves
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
You could say this is the third version of the basil smash on the channel, besides the classic and the clarified versions. Like Joerg Meyer, I’m starting by adding the basil leaves and giving them a good muddle, for the best flavor and color extraction possible. Next, the rest of the ingredients, followed by plenty of ice, then shake well to chill and dilute, and to beat up the basil even more. We’ll of course double strain this, to keep the basil parts out, and I’ll do it into a tumbler glass over a clear ice sphere.
Before enjoying garnish with a leaf of basil, and that’s the Hulk Smash - herbal, limey and fresh. We’re almost there, two more to go. This one will be a simple Limecello Tonic, with a herbal boost. Let’s make the Green Tonic.
Green Tonic
● 120mL · 4oz Tonic Water
● 45mL · 1.5oz Limecello
● 7.5mL · 0.25oz Green Chartreuse
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Parsley
We’ll build this in the glass as well, so over a clear ice spear first pour the Limecello, Green Chartreuse and Saline Solution. Then top it up with Tonic Water, and you can also use a scale to measure this to make sure it’s as carbonated as possible. Mix the ingredients by lifting everything with a barspoon and garnish with a leaf of parsley, to link the herbal theme. And that’s the Green Tonic!
This is a bubbly, fresh, herbal and lime-y. And now, at the end of the gauntlet, cocktail number 10, a Limecello twist on a modern classic, the Final Ward. So let’s name it the Final Limecello Cocktail.
Final Limecello
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Rittenhouse Rye
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Limecello
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Lime Super Juice
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Maraschino Liqueur
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
● Green Chartreuse Spray
Again a shaken cocktail, but you know the drill by now, so let’s start with our ingredients, again equal parts. Now add ice, seal well and shake hard as always. Double strain into a chilled coupe glass, then garnish with a maraschino cherry, and to tie it back to its inspiration, a spray of green chartreuse, for the herbal aroma. Fresh, nutty, limey, and complex - a perfect finish.
With that we’ve made it to the end of the gauntlet, and while I didn’t reach the Bottom of The Glass of all 10 cocktails, I did of course try them all. They’re all good, and worth making, but my favorite one was the Hulk Smash with Limecello. Now go ahead and make at least one of these 10 cocktails and I’ll see you next week, Friends of Cocktails!
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