I ended up with about 30 extra lemons after my last produce co-op pickup and I needed to figure out what to do with them. I decided to make Lemon Extract.

You start by zesting a bunch of lemons, making sure you don’t get any of the white pith membrane. If you do, it will make your extract bitter.

Put the zest in a jar, cover with vodka (the cheap kind works great), and shake well.

Keep your jar in a dark place and shake once a week for a couple of months (or maybe a little more depending on how strong you want it).

When done, strain through cheesecloth into smaller jar(s) for storage. Dark amber bottles are better for storing extracts. Here’s a link to some nice 2 oz. amber jars that would work well.