Lemon Rosemary Vodka

What's the expression, make lemonade out of lemons? Well I say make Rosemary Lemon Vodka out of lemons.  

My fine friends at Food Forward blessed me with a ton of lemons after our last canning class. They arrived at my house armed three huge cases of delicate and fragrant meyer lemons which we promptly transformed into 36 quarts of preserved lemons.  I have been power canning all week trying to finish the case before the mold set in. I preserved them, curded them, marmaladed them and just when I thought I couldn't can another thing I realized I had a  case of vodka in the garage. Lemon Vodka sounded just right and even better it didn't require firing up the stove.

I recommend experimenting, try two kinds, or invent one to suit your own tastes and then have a tasting with lots of mixers so everyone can make their own cocktail. I would like to try a  grapefruit rosemary combo.
Please post your results in the comments section and let me know how it came out.


NOTES:

•  Purists will probably shoot me, but I did not sterilize the jars. I washed them in HOT water and figured the vodka would kill anything in there. I used Ball 1/2 gallon jars.
•  I highly recommend filtering through coffee filters; this is sure to remove any solids and give you a clearer product.
• You can easily substitute another lemon variety.
• Feel free to leave out the rosemary or perhaps try another herb.
• This recipe has two tablespoons of sugar. I find that this small amount doesn't quite sweeten the vodka, but it does somehow round out the flavor. You could omit the sugar or you could increase it if you like a sweeter product.

MEYER LEMON VODKA

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 MEYER LEMONS
• 2 TABLESPOONS SUGAR
• 1 LARGE OR 2 SMALL SPRIGS ROSEMARY
• 8 CUPS GOOD QUALITY VODKA

METHOD:

1. With a paring knife or a vegetable peeler carefully,remove the peel from the lemons. Try to remove only the yellow zest, avoiding as much of the white pith as possible. Save the lemon for another use.
2.  Put lemon peel, sugar and rosemary into clean ½ gallon jars (I used Ball).
3.  Cover with vodka and seal jars
4.  Store in a cool dark place for one to two weeks weeks
5.  Filter, discarding solids. Keep refrigerated