This is my first time posting on a forum, so please forgive if I don't understand/know protocols. Here's my question: I wish to locate a place to purchase the type of lemon tree that is used in Italy along the Amalfi Coast specifically grown to make limoncello. I live in San Diego, CA. Any ideas out there? Thanks!

C. limon Femminello Siracusano
C. limon Sfusato Amaltifano
C. limon Ovale Di Sorrento

Amalfi Coast Lemons:
link

In CA, the only ones I know that are available are:

Femminello Siracusano 2KR
Femminello St Teresa

http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/femminello_siracusano.html

http://www.citrusvariety.ucr.edu/citrus/santa_teresa.html

Welcome, katfr! I'm from your neck of the woods For us, the only Italian lemon you're going to find in our area will be the St. Teresa. This tree is grown by Willits & Newcomb, and is supplied to our local Costcos. You'll see it show up usually around February or March. Ask your local Costco to please order it in their Spring citrus order. Or, you can make a trip up to Bakersfield and pick one up. Also, another possible option would be to check with Walter Andersen Nursery or Armstrong Nursery. Both will carry a decent selection of citrus trees, and especially Walter Andersen, who tend to carry more than just the usual common citrus varieties. Both nurseries may also be able to order a St. Teresa Femminello lemon tree for you as well. We make Limoncello here (we are both of Italian decent), and I use my Meyer lemons, which makes outstanding Limencello. I also plan to use my St. Teresa Femminello lemon, once it starts to bear for me, as well as my Bergamot sour orange.

Thanks so much hoosierquilt. I'll check those resources.

I've tried making limoncello with regular lemons and myers lemons, but no such experiment yet has hit the same level of taste as that which I've had in Italy. So this is a quest to find the perfect formula......starting with growing the right lemons.

I'll have you test my Limoncello. Much, MUCH better than anything you've had from Italy, I guarantee it. We have a very special recipe and spend very large number of hours specially preparing our peel. Meyer lemons make exceptionally good tasting Limoncello if you know how to do it right We have taste tested with all our Italian friends and relatives, and we are very picky ourselves. It's exceptional.

Sounds great. Here's my email: katfranklin1@gmail.com. I also have some fair limoncello....perhaps you can critique it?

Ah, but our recipe is secret I would be have to pour you an ice cold cup though, if you're up in N. County, lol! I should amend my previous statement to read, "...better than any commercially produced Limoncello in Italy." There are plenty of private Limoncellos in Italy that are certainly as good as ours. Just haven't had a commercially produced Limoncello that matches ours. Too bitter, or too syrupy. I've probably had maybe about 8 to 10 different commercial varieties, and based on what we've tasted, it has helped us to develop our Limoncello. Let me know if you're up my way, and I'd be happy to let you taste ours! And, I'll give you a little tour of my citrus orchard.

I'm always surprised to hear that meyer lemons can make a good limoncello. I really dislike the scent of the peel of the meyer lemons I grow, it's completely different from regular lemons.

Last week I bought another meyer lemon tree from a totally different source (of Portugese origin, the other one is probably of Italian origin). The new tree carries one big meyer lemon, with the same scent as the fruits on my other tree.

The idea was that the bad scent of my home grown meyer lemons was caused by the citrus unfriendly climate I live in. But the lemon on the new plant must have grown in Portugal, which is a citrus growing country...

Well, I don't think the scent of my Meyer lemon peel is remarably different than my other lemons. Yes, I can detect what I would describe as a "piney" scent both in the peel (oils), as well as in the juice. I think that can become more pronounced if the fruit is left to over ripen on the tree. I find if I pick my Meyer lemons just as they are turning yellow, and not when they are yellow-orange, that scent is not nearly as strong. Just my observation, and I don't find it unappealing or unpleasant, but maybe just different. I know not everyone feels that way, and many are not so much a fan of the Meyer, but I like it a lot, and I love the lemonade it makes. For me, it is not nearly as acidic. Sometimes, if I drink too much regular lemonade, it can upset my stomach. Not so with my lemonade made from my Meyer lemons.

"Piney" may indeed be what I mean. I haven't noticed that in the juice though, which I do like. I left the meyer lemons on the tree until they started to turn orange/yellow. Maybe that's why the scent became unpleasant...

I like meyers especially because they are easy to grow in my climate!

Me too, Marc. They grow like a weed out in my area. I have so many lemons on the tree I can't keep up with it.

Funny, I don't really like Meyer lemons. Every year I have hundreds of them. My wife usually stuffs chicken & turkey with them, it keeps the meat moist.

Doesn't the chicken taste like meyer lemons then?

It has a light citrus taste but not much.