Staibano Limoncello / 70cl

Product Information

Lindsay’s judges satiated their sweet tooth with the next flight: Chocolate. Four Golds were uncovered: “boozy chocolate cake” BouveryCV; “lovely” Mozart Chocolate Cream; “coffee, cacao nib” Mozart Dark Chocolate; and “custard and cinnamon” Mozart Pumpkin Spice. The good news? No matter what type of experience you choose, limoncello is very affordable. You can do your own taste-testing at any producer or just about any bar or shop selling limoncello in the area. Inside many bars and pasticcerie you’ll be offered a sample of the house-made variety. With the variety and wide availability of good-quality, well-made limoncello, you’ll have plenty of options. As a cooking ingredient (although it seems almost sacrilegious to do anything other than drink it!) it’s great in lemon possets and syllabubs What we do know for positive is that, wherever the spirit got here from, it’s to this present day inextricably linked to all these three areas of Italy. Nevertheless, Amalfi is the present torchbearer, on account of its superior lemons. Sfusato lemons, also referred to as Sfusato Amalfitano, had been dropped at the Amalfi coast from the Center East some centuries in the past and they’re good for making limoncello. A liqueur is a hard thing to get right. It can be too sweet and cloying and there’s a risk its flavour is under or overwhelming. But this year our annual competition showed that brands are focusing on balance and complexity.

Today, the lemons of Capri and the Amalfi Coast are considered extra-special. The trees clinging to the cliffsides hang heavy with fruit, sending a heady scent into the air. One of my favorite walks is along the meandering paths of this coastline, lined with lemon trees trained into arbors that provide refuge from the sun. The famous tart-sweet liqueur known as limoncello requires only four ingredients: lemon peels, grain alcohol, sugar, and water. However, like many of Italy’s most important culinary traditions, the simplicity of the recipe can be deceiving. This had body to it,” said Manchester. “It had an extra layer of flavour, some depth to it, which gives a really nice balance.” Sfusato Amalfitano: The word sfusato comes from the Italian word for “spindle,” and is a visual reference to this even more elongated, pointed lemon native to Amalfi. In 1988, a businessman from Capri named Massimo Canale registered the first trademark with the word “limoncello,” using a recipe handed down from his great-great-grandmother and commercializing the drink outside of the region. It was an idea—and a product—that would prove wildly successful, as limoncello has transcended not only the region but all of Italy to be considered an international and world-class tradition. Different Lemons, Different AttributesThe final flight of the day was sampled by Lindsay’s team – Irish Cream. Two Silvers concluded the day’s tastings: one for Aldi’s Ballycastle Irish Country Cream, with its “great viscosity” and “ice cream cone notes”; and the second for Aldi’s Specially Selected Irish Cream Liqueur, with tastes of “chocolate and hazelnut”. To experience a more rugged side of the Greek islands, head to Tinos, which is next to Mykonos and is rivalling that outcrop’s claim to be the “island of the winds” thanks to its gusty summer breezes ( writes Daphne Karnezis). Unlike most Greek islands, the action spreads well beyond the chora (or main town), extending to its 50 or so villages, some of which are literally hanging from the cliffs. Pyrgos, Isternia, Kardiani, Komi and Volax are among the most picturesque. After breakfast at the Exomeria café in Isternia, with sweeping views of the Aegean, head to the relaxed Bianco Beach House bar for a refreshing dip or a surf at Kolibithra before starting your exploration of the villages. The process now involves the maceration of the finest lemon peel in the world: the I.G.P. lemons of Amalfi, in fine grain spirit. The rinds are then removed and the alcohol is blended with milk and sugar. The result: a smooth lemon liqueur which tastes indulgent yet is refreshingly sweet and light with a 17% ABV – it can therefore be enjoyed at any social occasion.

All of us love a romantic story behind our drink and Staibano delivers this in abundance. This liqueur model was based by the great-grandson of considered one of Amalfi’s foremost limoncello distillers, and you may perceive why this recipe has stood the take a look at of time. It’s made utilizing the native lemons and delicately balances bitter, candy and sorbet notes. Learn our full overview of Staibano limoncello. With trends such as low­-abv drinks and the current coffee craze, producers have wasted no time in putting their best foot forward to prove liqueurs can be just as on­-trend as any other spirit category – and with the quality to boot. Next, the peels are soaked in pure, high-quality alcohol that remains unaltered in the freezer. Different producers use different neutral spirits derived from grain, grapes, sugar beets or sugar cane—even wine or vodka. These spirits have as high as ninety-five percent alcohol content and are ideal as a solvent to extract the oils—and therefore the flavor—from the lemon rinds. For at least forty days, the lemon rinds marinate in the alcohol in a dark place. The longer they steep, the richer the color and the more intensely lemony the taste. Don Staibano would only use the freshest ingredients to create his recipes, all from the surrounding areas of Amalfi. Amalfi Smooth, manufactured in small batches, is still made with the same ethos.Don Vincenzo Staibano was born on the Amalfi Coast, a stunning and vibrant stretch of coastline south of Naples, Italy, where he spent his entire life. Surrounded by such outstanding natural beauty and unique architecture, Don Staibano unsurprisingly delighted in the dolce vita of the Amalfi Coast and its unrivalled food and agricultural produce. Much of his life was devoted to tending his lemon groves which, typical of the Amalfi region, produced abundant lemons of the most incredible colour, size, taste and fragrance. In the Own Label heat, a Gold was awarded to Aldi’s “complex” Gingerbread Gin Liqueur, which was “not too sweet, a bit zesty”. A Silver was also given to Aldi’s Bellucci Amaretto Liqueur. Are you a lemon drizzle cake fan? Then make a very adult version using limoncello instead of lemon juice to make the syrup. You’ve just read an article in a favourite Swiss newspaper about cancel culture. It’s written from the perspective of a bemused correspondent based in Chicago who is a sharp critique of this US export. You conclude that this type of commentary would no longer get past most editors in US newsrooms, which makes it all the more intriguing. Do you send it to all of your US friends and colleagues to show them that freedom of thought and expression is alive and well elsewhere? Or leave them be?