Pour the Everclear and vodka into the clean gallon glass jar.
Thoroughly clean the lemons or oranges. Use a peeler to peel just the top layer of skin; scrape off any white pith from the peels, because pith will make your liquor bitter.
Add the peels to the alcohol and stir gently.
Cover tightly and store in a cool, dark place.
AFTER 1, 3, & 5 WEEKS
Gently stir the peels and reseal tightly.
AFTER 7 WEEKS
Gently stir the peels. Remove one and test its flexibility; if it snaps cleanly, it's ready to begin filtering. If not, wait another week and test again.
Combine water in sugar in a large pot and bring to a boil. Simmer until sugar is completely dissolved and set aside to cool.
Remove the peels with a slotted spoon and discard. All the oils from the peels have now infused into the alcohol.
Slowly strain liquor through #4 coffee filters. This is a very slow process and you will go through many filters.
Strain liquor through the #4 filters a second time and return to the gallon glass jar.
Add cooled syrup to the liquor and stir. Cover tightly and return to cool, dark place.
AFTER 13 WEEKS
Repeat the filtering process twice more using the #2 coffee filters, for a total of four filtrations.
The liquor is ready for bottling. Make sure to seal as tightly as possible.
STORAGE
Let the bottles rest in a cool, dark place for at least four weeks and longer if possible. The longer they rest, the more the alcohol will mellow and the smoother the liquor will be.
Notes
Pick lemons or oranges that are thick-skinned without surface flaws.