The Drinks Girl

Homemade lightly alcoholic liqueurs and lemonade syrups.

I'd like to introduce myself and my Lemonade Girls, Liqueur Girls, Monella, and Roosje. My name is Petra de Koning, and for years I've been making liqueurs—likorettes, the so-called low-alcohol liqueurs—from natural ingredients like licorice powder, ginger, cinnamon, and coffee.

As a young woman, I lived for ten years in Cagliari on the beautiful Italian island of Sardinia. In Sardinia, I was introduced to the wonderful Italian way of life: la dolce vita. The sweet life. During that time, I developed a love for just about everything Italian. And with the sweet life comes a sweet and sunny drink: limoncello.

Many Italians make this drink homemade, containing 96% alcohol, which, incidentally, is readily available in supermarkets for just a few euros. I started doing the same with great love and passion, and you'll find those "ingredients," along with the aforementioned fresh fruit, in my liqueurs, including, of course, the world-famous Limoncello.

I make the Likeurmeisjes drinks with a 37,5% ABV vodka and the two Italian digestifs from Monella with an almost pure alcohol content (96%). Then I bring all the drinks down to 14,9% ABV with a syrup of water and sugar. This way, you can easily have a second drink without feeling guilty.