How much alcohol is in limoncello?

Limoncello usually contains between 17 and 31 percent alcohol, with the majority of bottles between 25 and 31 percent.

That range comes from our own selection in Bathmen. The limoncello selection from 15 to 40 percent yields 29 bottles from 22 brands, with alcohol percentages from 17 to 31 percent. The whole liqueur shelf has 786 items; 32 of them have limoncello in the name. A single bottle stays under 20 percent, but most brands keep to the upper part of that range.

Liqueur must contain at least 15 percent alcohol by volume, and limoncello falls under that category of the European regulation on spirit drinks.

Regulation (EU) 2019/787 defines liqueur in Annex I, category 33, as a spirit drink that is sweetened and to which flavourings, agricultural products or foodstuffs have been added. The minimum sweetener content is 100 grams per litre, expressed as invert sugar. For cherry liqueur it is 70 grams per litre, and for liqueur flavoured exclusively with gentian or a similar plant it is 80 grams per litre. A lemon drink that stays below 15 percent by volume does not fall within this category and may therefore not carry the name liqueur.

Every drink with more than 1.2 percent alcohol by volume must show the actual alcoholic strength, so this applies to every bottle of limoncello too.

The obligation is set out in Article 9(1)(k) of Regulation (EU) 1169/2011 on the provision of food information to consumers. Annex XII of the same regulation governs how much the actual content may deviate from the stated figure: 0.3 percent by volume for drinks not separately named, and 1.5 percent by volume for drinks containing macerated fruit or plant parts. A label of 26 percent can therefore in reality come out slightly higher or lower.

From fifteen percent alcohol by volume, limoncello counts as a spirit, and almost all bottles on the shelf are above that limit.

De Alcoholwet noemt sterke drank de drank die bij een temperatuur van twintig graden Celsius voor vijftien of meer volumeprocenten uit alcohol bestaat, met uitzondering van wijn. Alles daaronder heet zwak-alcoholhoudende drank. Een limoncellospritz van 6 procent valt dus buiten die grens; zo’n fles staat ook in het schap, maar is geen likeur in de zin van de verordening en blijft daarom buiten de selectie hieronder. Artikel 20 van de Alcoholwet verbiedt verstrekking aan wie de leeftijd van 18 jaar niet heeft bereikt. NIX18: wij verkopen geen alcohol onder de achttien.

Registered geographical indications exist for lemon liqueur, including Liquore di limone di Sorrento and Liquore di Limone della Costa d’Amalfi.

The product file of Liquore di Limone della Costa d’Amalfi in the European register prescribes at least 25 volume percent alcohol, prepared by maceration of peels of protected lemons with IGP status in ethyl alcohol, with at least 250 grams of whole lemons per litre and a sugar content of 200 to 350 grams per litre. Liquore di limone di Sorrento has been registered as a geographical indication for liqueur since 13 February 2008. A bottle with such a designation is therefore well above the minimum of 15 volume percent.

Homemade limoncello often ends up higher than a bottle from the shop, because the strength of the alcohol used and the amount of syrup together determine the final percentage.

The exact content is hard to determine at home. A producer measures the effective alcoholic strength by volume and, under Regulation (EU) 1169/2011, must put that figure on the label, with a deviation of at most 0.3 percent by volume. With a homemade bottle that measurement is missing, and so is the figure. We do not give instructions for making limoncello yourself with pure alcohol. Anyone who wants to know the percentage of a bottle reads it from the label; with a homemade bottle it remains an estimate.