Batch #3

     Well, it's been a little over a month and my Limoncello is ready to be mixed with the simple syrup.  Once a week, over the last five weeks, I've pulled the aging liquid out of its hiding place to give it a couple of turns.  This helps by agitating the zest to extract even more flavor out of those little strips.  It's amazing how something so small can create such powerful flavor.  I never open it though.  You definitely want to keep it in a nice and sealed environment to let the alcohol do its job.

     All I did in the picture above was mix equal parts sugar and water and created a simple syrup.  You want to make sure that your pot is nice and sterilized before you begin though.  Once you melt the sugar down in the water, simmer for a few minutes to ensure no crystals are left.  It's important that you do not let the mixture boil or reduce.  This will change both the color and consistency of your simple syrup and remember, we don't want to mask that beautiful lemon flavor.  Once finished, let the syrup cool completely.
     Before I add the cooled simple syrup to the jar, I strained out the lemon zest.  Again, make sure that you sterilize what you strain the liquid into so that when you return it to the initial jar, there's no issue of contaminating the liquid.  Honestly, if some bacteria gets into your Limoncello, the alcohol will most definitely take care of it.  The downside to not sterilizing everything will be a cloudy and slightly unpleasant end product.  It's just better to take the time.
     To finish, mix the alcohol and simple syrup back into the aging jar and seal it tightly.  Remember to clean any possible sugar from the outside of the jar since you will need to return it to the cool, dark place where it was before.  No one wants to worry about bugs in their closet right? 

     All that's left from here is to bottle your Limoncello.  I like to let it sit with the sugar for another month since it seems to develop a more sophisticated structure.  You can use any kind of bottle that you wish but I prefer the one's you see below.  Play around with the basic idea of this beverage and let me know what you think.

Jumping into the world of tea

     Are you a fan of tea?  It's a complex world with various types and even more flavors.  White, Green, Black, Oolong, Rooibos, Herbal, and Mate are some of the various types to choose from.  I guess you can say that it mainly depends on what you're looking to get from your tea.  When you want a little caffeine, but not the same kick you receive from coffee, all of these are great ideas except for the herbal tea.  While tea doesn't have the same effect as coffee, it at one time contained more caffeine than it's equal weight in coffee.
     Most teas in fact have more caffeine per concentration in it's raw state than coffee beans.  What happens is that when coffee is brewed, some caffeine is lost but not at the rate that tea looses it's caffeine concentration.  Some believe this is why tea is more beneficial at night before trying to sleep over coffee.  Just that little bit of caffeine you receive from tea can actually help stabilize your system to calm it down.  That seems a little backwards to me and I was skeptical so I did a little research.
     For the coffee drinkers of the world, researchers have found that if you maintain the same level of coffee consumption per day, it will stabilize your blood pressure.  That doesn't necessarily mean at good levels but that's another topic.  For individuals that are addicted to caffeine, and you know who you are, if you miss your caffeine intake, do you feel slow?  Do you start to get a headache?  Do you feel like you have some weight pulling you down?  It's because your body is now dependant on that caffeine. 
     Why tea is seen as a nice substitute at night is that if you begin to crash from your caffeine intake, your body starts to react in a way that inhibits you from feeling comfortable and able to get a good nights sleep.  This is why I typically drink green tea almost every night.  It helps me calm my mind before trying to get some sleep.  Green tea has also been shown to help with weight management, which as a chef, that can always help.
      Or maybe it's all just the effects of a placebo, who knows.