I am responding to some of the questions about limoncello, as far as color and aging time. I have traveled to Italy every year since childhood to visit family and friends and I have been experamenting with limoncello for quite a few years, both on my own and with advice from my Italian relatives. The color of your homemade limoncello is largely dependent on the type of lemon you are using. Lemons grown in Italy, particulary in Southern Italy are a much brighter yellow in color than lemons we are likely to buy at our local grocery store or farm market here in the States. Any of you who have ever been to Italy will surely agree that the Italian lemons from the Napoli region, where limoncello became famous, are not only brighter in color than most lemon varieties but are also two to three times the size of an average lemon. Keep in mind also that many of the off the shelf brands we buy here in the US or even some in Italy, surely some food coloring has been added to enhance the color a bit. In regards to aging, I was always a believer that once the lemon zest lost its color, it was ready to proceed to the next step. However, my aunt in Italy said the paleness of the zest only affects the color, and it is the oils in the zest that affect the flavor. My aunt leaves the zest in the alcohol for approximatelt one month, she then strains the zest out of the alcohol and adds the sugar/water mixture and then lets it rest again together for about ten days, she then bottles and puts in the freezer. I have gotten various tips from many other relatives in Italy and what I have come to realize is that there is no set way to make limoncello, you have the basic principles and you then experament from there until you achieve an end product that is to your liking. On a final note I would however say that authentic limoncello is made with grain alcohol and not with vodka, not that I am against using vodka, but in the tradition of keeping limoncello pure to its roots I always recommend that people use the grain alcohol, the vodka is a bit unbalanced, where the grain alcohol gives you the slight tartness of the lemon, the sweetnees of the sugar add mixture and the kick of the alcohol. Hopefully i was a bit helpful!

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I have syrup refrigerated. How do I use it on second fig preserves making? My Mother always used it but I have forgotten if she added more sugar soaked or what she did. HELP

Not sure i've ever had the same twice. Seems different year to year, batch to batch. I usually get mine from smaller production sellers or neighbors. Must be a hundred different flavor profiles but i've never had more than just a few at a time. Not enough to really do a taste test. I do have a grade A amber dark right now that is rather pale and just has a hint of vanilla. Not very interesting so i prefer the darker maple B flavors. I like the smokey caramel. I built an outdoor evaporator probably ten years ago but put it in the worst spot. Under 10 ft of snow now, maybe more. It gathers wind drift snow. When it is time to tap, this year maybe march 1st, we'll have easy access to the trees up the hill but the wood fired evaporator is way down by the garden and is the last area to thaw. And no way to dig it out. Pre-heating on the barn wood stove way uphill. Dumb planning. We'll figure something out. I only have 10 taps and my pan in tiny. About 2x3 ft. I'm just hoping for a gallon, 1/2 would even be super. Any more will be gifted. As long as we have fun, i'm game.