"When life gives you lemons you must make lemonade," so when Ojai gave us Pixie's; we had to make Ojaicello. Limoncello was created long before Azu was built, but its timeless recipe has been used for centuries."We wanted to keep the classic elements of the Limoncello but put our own fresh and organic Ojai twist on this classic concoction."The Etchart Ranch is a organic haven for fresh citrus and avocados is located on Maricopa Hwy. and is owned by brothers Mike and Mark Etchart. The brothers acquired the property from their grandpa who purchased this amazing orchard in 1942. The Organic orchard is filled with a variety of fresh citrus including; pixie tangerines, ruby red grapefruit, cara cara oranges, tangelo, satsuma tangerines, lemons, golden nugget tangerine, kishu tangerine, bacon and hass avocados. Elizabeth took some fresh fruit from the farm back to Richard at the bar, and he started the creative process. The first two blends that he created are a seasonal choice that gave the Ojaicello a unique flavor. The blend of lemon, grapefruit, and pixie tangerines were soon followed by a similar blend with the infusion of lavender simple syrup fresh from the herb garden on the Etchart Organic Ranch.PixieCelloWith Pixie season in full swing Azu is making as much pixie cello as they can for their signature Drink The Pixie Gin Fizz.The OjaiCello ProcessStep 1: Zest the Organic goodness off of the farm fresh produceStep 2: Let the Zest infuse for 6 weeks in a cool dark placeStep 3: After 6 weeks, add simple syrup, let the mixture infuse forStep 4: After 8 weeks, Strain out the zest, then filter through coffee filter. Dilute to taste with distilled water and add a little more syrup to taste.This process is simple, but ever-changing and is always a learning experience. Elizabeth and Richard are still trying to perfect the recipe and with the fresh organic blends they can come up with there is always room for new flavors.
