Lemon spirit

Lemon spirit from hand-peeled Sicilian lemons

For the lemon spirit from the Ehringhausen distillery, 5,000 organic Sicilian lemons were peeled by hand, as only the wafer-thin outer zest is used in the infusion. Citrus-fresh and clear at 40% ABV, without any bitterness.

Lemon spirit is a distillate made from lemon zest, not juice. In Werne, only the outer yellow layer is used, peeled so thinly that no machine could do it. It is infused in mild grain spirit made from local cereal, then distilled. What ends up in the glass is the fruit without its acidity.

Citrusy, zesty, fragrant

As soon as you open the bottle, the lemon fills the room—bright and ethereal, like fresh zest grated over a warm pan.

On the palate, it is clear and dry, without the sweetness of a liqueur and without the acidity of the fruit. The zest coats the tongue with juicy, resinous, floral notes, followed by a cool, almost mineral finish. The aftertaste is short and clean, exactly as a spirit should be.

This has little in common with a Limoncello, even though both rely on lemon peel. Limoncello is a liqueur, sweet and cloudy; here, the spirit is distilled and nothing is sweetened. The same fruit, two very different paths.

The fact that there is no bitterness is no accident, but the result of the peeling process. Beneath the yellow of the lemon lies the white pith, which tastes bitter. Anyone who includes it ruins the entire infusion, which is why the peel must be removed wafer-thin.

Five thousand lemons, peeled by hand

That is precisely where all the effort lies: 5,000 lemons were handled individually for this spirit.

With a great deal of dedication, effort, and hardworking helpers, as Theres and Georg describe, because no machine can make this cut. It either takes too little and leaves aroma on the fruit, or it goes too deep and extracts the bitter substances as well. A knife and a skilled hand can do it; a machine cannot.

The lemons come from Sicily, where they ripen more slowly in the Mediterranean climate and develop more essential oil in the zest. This oil is the actual raw material. The rest of the fruit—the juice and pulp—is irrelevant for the spirit.

The distillation takes place in Werne, where the family has been working since 1962 and where Theres and Georg have been running the business in the third generation since 2012. That a Westphalian grain distillery peels Sicilian lemons might sound like a detour at first. But it is exactly the kind of detour that this house enjoys taking, and the mild grain spirit base still comes from their own fields.

Well chilled, but not ice-cold

The house spirits are recommended at 16 to 20 degrees Celsius, and this one, too, does not tolerate extreme cold.

Served too cold, the zest closes up and only alcohol remains. If you take it out of the refrigerator, give it a few minutes in the glass, and the zest will return.

In a slender grappa glass, it follows a summer meal, grilled fish, or a portion of pasta with lemon. Poured over a lemon sorbet, it is also a delight, and a few drops in an aperitif add a citrus kick that no lemon slice can achieve. It also pairs well with fresh strawberries or in an espresso tonic if you like things summery.

It gets fruitier and warmer with the Orange Spirit, and tarter with the Sloe Spirit. You can find more distillates in our fruit brandy selection.

Five thousand lemons for a few bottles. You can taste what the effort was for.

Organic inspection body DE-ÖKO-005 – EU Agriculture