Non-alcoholic limoncello at Jardin in Madison

June 29, 2023 4:29 PM

What is the non-alcoholic limoncello that a friend would have tasted at the veggie restaurant Jardin in Madison, WI, recently?

I don't recognize any of the cordials or liqueurs on the menu, and they don't remember the name. I would like to help them find some more of it!

posted by wenestvedt to Food & Drink (15 answers total)

I think you've just got to call the restaurant and ask.
posted by potrzebie at 6:21 PM on June 29, 2023 [6 favorites]

Proper limoncello is always alcoholic, it is not a cocktail. Lemondrops can be made with it instead of lemon juice, but I don't see a lemondrop on their NA cocktail menu.

If I wanted to imitate a lemondrop I'd use Sorrento or Amalfi lemon juice or fresh squeezed Meyer lemons, some simple syrup to sweeten it to taste (not too much!), and maybe something to thicken it with a little. Shake with ice and strain into a martini glass. With a little strip of rind on the rim if you like.

Not sure how you'd imitate limoncello itself. It's a lemon liqueur that's a little more viscous than lemon juice.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:24 PM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

Could it be either the Escape Wise non-alcoholic limoncello or the zero proof Pallini Limonzero?
posted by merriment at 6:42 PM on June 29, 2023 [1 favorite]

The first of those appears to have no lemon in it. The second might. You might be able to use the same additives to get the right texture with lemon juice.
posted by snuffleupagus at 6:54 PM on June 29, 2023

Response by poster: I just finished making my first batch of limoncello, and so I also wondered how the chemistry would even work t make this without some kind of solvent! But they are a non-drinker, and quite certain it was N/A.

Looks like I will be calling Wisconsin this weekend. :7)
posted by wenestvedt at 7:01 PM on June 29, 2023 [2 favorites]

I really need to go to Jardin sometime. Hard to find a reason to when you're solo, though.
posted by humbug at 7:16 PM on June 29, 2023 [3 favorites]

Yes please tell us! I want to know too.
posted by potrzebie at 7:46 PM on June 29, 2023

Wouldn’t limoncello with no alcohol be lemonade?
posted by Phanx at 2:22 AM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

My money's on one of the non-alcoholic brands merriment mentions above; a commercially-made product that somehow magically is non-alcoholic.

I've made limoncello as well (it's our go-to house drink for "I've had a very nasty work-related shock"), but making things non-alcoholic seems like the kind of arcane magic that only a commercial brewer/liqueur maker can achieve.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:04 AM on June 30, 2023

Definitely call and ask. I see they have a house-made n/a amaro, so maybe they make a limoncello. Or maybe they were trying out a commercial brand. I've been buying commercial n/a spirits. Even within one brand, some are excellent and some just suck. They use different ingredients and can make them taste (and feel on the tongue) remarkably like alcohol.
posted by BibiRose at 6:30 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

A trick for lemonade I saw in a Cook's Illustrated mumbledy decades ago involved mashing the lemon rind with sugar, to try to pull out some of the zest flavor, before making lemonade with the juice. A process that expanded on that, using the sugar to extract from the zest more thoroughly and toning down the lemon juice, might have less of a lemonade flavor and be more limoncillo-ish. Especially if it used Meyer or other less common lemon varieties.

I've just been using vodka, but I've got a freezer full of vacuum packed zest from February's harvest that now I wanna experiment more with. Maybe use sugar and alcohol and try to boil off the alcohol?
posted by straw at 7:22 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

I also wonder if they're using some kind of oleo saccharum concoction. OS is the oil that is drawn out of the zest when it is mixed with sugar (note: don't include the pith - the spongy, white lining of the rind - or the result will be bitter). The juice from the lemons can mixed into the OS afterwards.

Tangentially connected bonus comment: I always make OS to add to lemonade - much richer flavor. OS-enhanced lemonade with some basil-infused simple syrup = an amazing beverage (with or w/o alcohol). So refreshing, especially in the summertime!
posted by interbeing at 8:04 AM on June 30, 2023 [2 favorites]

mashing the lemon rind with sugar, to try to pull out some of the zest flavor, before making lemonade with the juice

'macerate.'

Using that as a keyword, Kitchn's article on lemonade mentions Cooks Illustrated for the method. And from there, A New Way With Lemonade (archive link).

Spruce eats: Simple Lemon Syrup.

There's also the lemon paste sold for baking; the label on mine (the one linked) says sugar, water, pure lemon extract, and gum tragacanth. Whatever that is. It has some of the same heat as limoncello, but the flavor isn't such that you'd want to dilute it and drink it just like that.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:31 AM on June 30, 2023 [1 favorite]

gum tragacanth

amazon link. Mostly SFW.
posted by snuffleupagus at 8:45 AM on June 30, 2023

Response by poster: Could you make it the usual way and burn the alcohol off, or let it evaporate?
posted by wenestvedt at 4:53 PM on June 30, 2023