Minty Raspberry Limoncello

It's starting to be a tad bit sweltering out, so it's time to make cooler and more refreshing recipes for this here blog! What's more refreshing than a liquored up citrus drink? A liquored up citrus drink with mint! I'm a genius. Also I've been wanting to use mint in more things, and this was the first thing that came to mind. I have future plans of turning this into a semifreddo. I can already taste it, and damn it's good.

There's no real story of how this drink came to be. Mostly just that I love Limoncello, I wanted to use it in a mixed drink with mint, and I happened to have a bottle of Raspberry Lemonade in the fridge. And so this delightful, lush drink of summertime refreshment was invented! 

You can easily substitute the Raspberry Lemonade with any other juice type drink you may have, for example I think a grapefruit juice would be an acceptable substitution.

The Limoncello, however, should not be substituted simply because I adore it. Go ahead, buy a bottle. You'll need it once you try this golden elixir. I use it mostly when I'm making fruit ice creams, and it's glorious. I usually simmer frozen berries in a little bit of Limoncello and sugar and then mix it into the custard to become the main flavor. I will be posting those recipes eventually, but on my main website and not the blog. No worries, I'll give you a link to it.

And yes, the bottle is almost empty. Time to get some more!

What is Limoncello? I'll just tell you how wiki describes it: 

Limoncello (or lemoncello) is an Italian lemon liqueur mainly produced in Southern Italy.  Traditionally, it is made from the Sorrento lemon, though most lemons will produce satisfactory limoncello. Limoncello is traditionally served chilled as an after dinner digestivo. Along the Amalfi Coast, it is usually served in small ceramic glasses themselves often chilled, the Amalfi coast being a center of both ceramic and limoncello production. This tradition has been carried into other parts of Italy.

Sound good? Yeah it does. It's tasty all on it's own, but sometimes it's fun to have brightly colored mixed drinks in the afternoon and not get completely wasted.

The nice thing about Limoncello, besides the color and usefulness, is the flavor. When you drink it, it's very clearly alcoholic but much smoother than vodka. When I have vodka in a mixed drink, no matter how much or little, it's the overpowering flavor. In this drink, you can taste the lemony goodness, but it's a subtle note that pleases your taste buds without feeling like you were just punched in the mouth. 

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Ingredients:

Mint tea (enough for 2 glasses):

5 mint leaves, torn

1/2 cup hot water

Ice

Per glass:

1 shot or 1.5 oz Limoncello

3/4 cup Raspberry Lemonade

1/4 cup mint tea

Ice

Tear mint leaves and place in a tea ball (or tea bag filter). Steep in hot water for 5 minutes. Remove ball, add 1 ice cube to cool down.

In a glass, add Limoncello, Raspberry Lemonade, and 1/4 cup mint tea. Stir. Fill the rest of the cup with ice.