Lemonade Lake – Spiritus Rex Amalfi Cello
Besides distilling excellent eau de vies, Matthias Sievert also produces high-quality liqueurs. In this case, I had the great pleasure of trying and mixing with his Null Serie Amalfi Cello. In this range Matthias markets very limited releases which most of the time do not even make it into his regular online-shop. As the name already suggests, this Limoncello variation is based on lemons from Italy’s Amalfi Coast. Check out this article, for an “improved” Limoncello Tonic variation.
Talking about limited releases when it comes to Spiritus Rex, is a bit too simplistic. All of Matthias’ products are limited. However, the Null Serie is even rarer. Therefore, I also have not much information to give you about the liqueur. What I can tell you is that Matthias also makes a great Amalfi lemon eau de vie. I guess in this case he steeps the Amalfi lemon peels in alcohol. Additionally, with Limoncellos usually sugar and water are added to make it a liqueur. As usual with Matthias’ products, the Amalfi Cello is not filtered before bottling at 30 % ABV. My bottle has the number 12 and the vintage 2021.
Transferred to the Amalfi Coast
What I can tell you is how the Amalfi Cello tastes like: If you take the first whiff of the aroma, you are instantly transferred to Italy! You sense a lot of lemon oil notes, accompanied by some hints of bitter oranges. Besides a strong lemon flavour, the Limoncello also reminds me of mandarins and lemon blossoms. In addition, you get the slightest hint of vanilla. As you might imagine, the Amalfi Cello is as good as it gets when it comes to Limoncello!
Triple L
Of course, I could have just mixed up an Amalfi Cello Tonic, but I decided to combine it with even more lemon notes. In this case, I went for a Fizz style drink using lemon juice and also Sicilian lemon syrup from d’Arbo. To be honest, for the sparkling component of the drink, I used tonic water again. The good carbonation and medium sweetness of the Fentimans Tonic just seemed like a perfect fit.
3 cl Lemon Juice
1,5 cl d’Arbo Lemon Syrup
Shake first three ingredients over ice – fill Highball glass with ice cubes and half the tonic water – strain the drink – top off with the rest of the tonic water; Garnish:
Song: Jungle – Lemonade Lake;
The “Lemonade Lake” combines both advantages of a Limoncello Tonic and a Fizz. The bitter notes of the tonic water go very well with all the lemon notes. At the same time, the sweet and sour mix of the Fizz gives the drink more freshness. The distinct lemon oil notes of the Amalfi Cello still shine through beautifully. This might just be my favourite drink for the summer 2021!
*The fact that I received a product reviewed in this article for free, did not – in any way – influence the rating of said product. The eua de vie was provided by Spiritus Rex.
