Limoncello with tequila and lime

I was getting ready to make another batch of limoncello, and my mind drifted towards other citrus namely lime. But then once fixed on lime my mind drifted to other liquor, namely tequila.

And suddenly it occurred to me, why not make a margarita liqueur?

Here’s my plan:

Take a 750ml bottle of tequila, and remove about a cup.

Add the zest of 15 {very clean} limes, to the bottle, then top it up with the reserved tequila until the bottle is just about full. I just happen to have a 1L bottle of tequila with about 750ml still in it that I forgot about, so I plan to add the zest straight into that.

Cap, shake, and let rest for a week. Giving it a shake once a day.

Strain the liquid to remove the lime peals then add the liquid back into the bottle, noting the final volume.

Now, traditionally an equal amount of simple syrup gets added to dilute/sweeten the 40% vodka down to about 20%. The challenge here is that I want to get a final product similar to a margarita. So I’m thinking about adding about a 1 3/4 cup of simple syrup, and a cup of triple sec (orange liqueur at 15%). I also happen to have left over bottle of triple sec with about a cup left in it.

Add the simple syrup and triple sec to the tequila, then let this mellow in the fridge for a few days before trying.

I can’t quite decide if I want to just make the lime-tequila-cello without the triple sec, or throw in a few strips of orange zest. Or make an orange-y simple syrup.

Any thoughts?

I like the idea of an orange flavored simple syrup.

My girlfriend and I are due to make another batch of limoncello this week. I might suggest this instead.

What kind of tequila and limes will you use? I think I’d ideally like to use Key limes, but they seem like they’d be a real pain in the ass to zest. And silver tequila. And since we throw grain alcohol into our limoncello, we might do that as well.

Keep us posted on how it turns out!

Ooh I love doing this kind of thing. My biggest success so far: a very, very good dry Sake infused with Thai basil. Just, wow.

I’ve got Jose Cuervo gold, but I’m worried what the final colour will be. I tend to go for large organic limes, easier to peal, and less crap to wash off.

I’m also toying with the idea of infusing white rum with lime and mint.

This whole post is obviously a lie by a troll. :wink:

How does one forget a bottle of tequila? :confused:

Seriously, though, it sounds like you are on to something magnificent.

What do you do with the limes/lemons/juice?

So far we’ve made lemonade and sorbet, but I’m always looking for different things to do with them.
Sake infused with basil sounds fantastic. My husband is about to brew a batch of sake, maybe I can get him to reserve a portion for me to play around with.

For the lemoncello my wife made, we simply took the juice, and used that as the liquid for the simple syrup (added water to get the right amount as well).

Made it a bit more lemony, and tangy, and particularly good IMO.

I’ve always worried that this makes the liqueur more perishable, since you now have fresh lemon juice that will eventually spoil.

It’s a nice idea though.

One issue I have with using the lime juice is that I’d like to avoid the acidity, which is my main annoyance with margaritas.

Well, first it has to LAST long enough to spoil! :cool: But, even so, it’s been boiled, cooled, then added to 80 proof alcohol, and kept sealed. I’m not all that worried about spoilage. It’s very good though.