Here's my steps for perfect lemoncello after 4-5 attempts through this thread. I thought all of them came out good. Last two IMHO came out great.
1. For simplicity I start with 1 litre of 95% grain alcohol, I don't use vodka or the weaker grain alcohol as you would need to adjust for water content and other oils, flavors in the vodka. I am aiming for consistency, not slamming vodka!
2. I have found that the best method for removing rind without having to get all worried, excited about pulling of the white pith is to use an OXO or equivalent lemon zester, not a knife, or microplane as the zester has a sort of "auto" depth control to it. You can zest quickly and not have to worry much about going too deep. Personal preference for sure but it's been key IMHO
3. Zest from 12 lemons seems best to me. Maybe 14 if they are really small, but not critical.
4. I only extract for 5 days or until the zest turns white - Kevin Krugers upstream conversation holds true for me in practice. I.E. - no need to let the extraction work for any longer than after the zest turns white. I take a kitchen linen, place it over a strainer sitting on top of a bowl, then just dump the zest/alcohol into the linen/strainer, let it run through then pick up the 4 corners of the linen and just twist until the rest of the liquid drops out.
5. I use castor or regular white sugar. I don't use natural/organic as it turns the cello brown which I don't prefer. Regular sugar adds more cloudiness as it has filler to keep sugar from sticking together in the bag. Regular sugar will look clear in the simple sugar when you melt it, but gets cloudier than castor sugar when added to the alcohol. Castor or extra fine does not have that filler that regualr white sugar has. Organic cane sugar is great for flavor but the brownish color and cloudiness I don't like so much so it's a good trade off for me. So you end up with a brighter straight up yellow translucence. I.E. - I prefer castor sugar. Also as I start with a lower amount of sugar thatnin the recipe and "taste up" you can add castor while adjusting at the end and it melts quickly. It's basically an instant sugar used by bartenders and bakers so that drinks don't get cloudy and by bakers as it melts/blends faster than regular sugar.
6. I start with 2Lb simple sugar (sometimes less) with the full amount of water (3pints) in the original recipe up thread when I heat the water and sugar to make the simple syrup.
7. I mix the simple sugar with the flavored/strained alchohol, then taste up adding water first until I get the "bite" to taste with the grain alcohol. Then I add more sugar to taste. This method works perfectly for me and is easily repeatable. Next time I will mark down the adjustments but really this is how to allow for the differences in the strength of the lemon zest you used. By starting with a lower amount of sugar and adding water you allow yourself to balance up at the end hitting your best flavor notes.
So I pour 1 litre of the full strength grain alcohol into a jar, dump in zest from 12-14 lemons depending on size. Wait for a week (5-7 days). Strain into a SS pot. I Make the simple sugar from 2lb castor and 3 pints water, dump them together into the SS pot. Taste, too much grain bite? add water. Then I add sugar to get it just right. I don't like overly sweet cello, and I also don't like the grain to over power everything.
Looking up thread the count of grapefruit rind mentioned is 7-8 if Ruby Reds, 8-9 regular/yellow. See response number #87. If I was going to work with GF or any other fruit I would do the same thing. Back off at least a 1/2 lb of sugar from the start basically. Add more sugar to taste after you get the amount of water to alcohol to the balance that you like. Stay with full 95% grain for consistency, add remaining even more sugar than the recipe to taste as required. For clarity and ease of adjustment/adding sugar later use castor.
I do find that letting it rest for a month does definitely mellow it out, at least to me. It's really hard for me after that month to walk by these bottles in the basement without taking a sip
I have posted a frozen lemoncello desert in the recipe section that is exceptional whether you make your own cello or not. Try it.
I am going to experiment within the next few months or so with a Lemoncello Tiramisu.
There is also a response up thread where someone listed/compile pretty much all of the different types fruit and quantities folks were using for different types/flavors of "cello". Do a thread search and they are easier to get to.
Here's a photo of my last/best batch:
Here's the photo of my last batch
