Elbar Grease

What is Elbar Grease?

In exile on Elba[i], on Friday nights my Island friends insist I accompany them to a watering hole called the “Elbar Room” which serves up a wonderful sour drink called “Elbar Grease” (I am serious)—it is like drinking straight lemon which for some reason I‘ve always liked (GW says I may be missing a gene). [It’s alternately called “Elba Grease”.]

Everyone has their own recipe for the Grease drink (a basic recipe with no frills is below);  the tough part is preparing, steeping and aging the lemon and liquor for as much as a month—much too labor intensive for me.  I think a week or even less actually suffices, especially if you sneak in store bought lemon liqueur.

To make something like ? a quart Elbar Grease:

• 12-16 large lemons pared
• 3 cups of Jack Daniels (most people use vodka)
• 1 cup lemon liqueur
• ~6-10 sacs of Splenda (or real sugar)
  
• Steep peel in a screw-top jar with 2 cups Jack Daniels for some period* after which you remove peel and add remaining JD and Splenda
• Sparkling water or seltzer, and ice, however much seems needed
• A couple of lemons when served

*A week, some say, is the minimum for proper aging of lemon peels. Here’s a typical jar after a couple of days.

I don’t recommend trying this at home, as I am likely to have the measurements wrong.

[i] Why in exile? See about this blog.