Will It Cello? How Indaco Charleston Is Reinventing Limoncello

Limoncello is a staple at Italian restaurants, but at Indaco Charleston, the bar team is pushing the tradition far beyond citrus.

Bar and interior photos by Andrew Cebulka

Led by Bar Manager Tyler Moss, Indaco’s beverage program experiments with housemade, seasonal fruit cellos. Moss starts by sourcing fruit at its peak, then infuses it in a high-proof neutral spirit like Everclear or 100-proof vodka for at least a month.

“You never really know what’s going to work until you try it. That’s the fun part,” he says.

We asked Moss what inspired him to take a classic like limoncello and expand it into a broader, more experimental housemade cello program at Indaco.

Limoncello is a staple in Italian restaurants — what inspired you to expand the concept and start experimenting with other types of housemade cellos at Indaco?

Limoncello is such a classic, and we’ll likely always have a version of it on the menu, but it also felt like a natural jumping-off point. Once you understand the base technique, you realize you’re not limited to citrus. At Indaco, we’re already very ingredient-driven on the food side, so extending that behind the bar made sense. It became an opportunity to take something familiar to guests and reinterpret it in a way that feels a little more personal and seasonal to Charleston.

When you’re creating a new cello, how do you decide which fruit to work with? Are you mainly guided by seasonality, flavor pairings, or curiosity?

Mostly curiosity and seasonality. If something looks great or we’re bringing it into the kitchen already, that’s usually where it starts. From there, I think about how the fruit’s natural sugar, acidity, and texture will translate in an infusion. Some fruits lend themselves really easily, while others take more trial and error, but that discovery process is what keeps it interesting.

You mentioned that experimentation is part of the fun — have there been any unexpected ingredients that worked surprisingly well? Any that didn’t work at all?

The fig was definitely a surprise. I didn’t expect it to come together as well as it did, but it created this really rich, almost jammy flavor that still felt balanced once we dialed in the sweetness. 

Walk us through your process for making a cello from scratch. How does the method change when you’re working with fruits like fig or melon instead of lemons?

Lemons are very straightforward because the oils in the peel do most of the work and you get a ton of flavor pretty quickly. With something like fig or melon, you’re relying more on the flesh, so it’s a slower process. We’ll prep the fruit, infuse it in a high-proof neutral spirit, taste it regularly, and then adjust with sugar and water to get the balance right. The biggest difference is patience, and non-citrus fruits usually need more time and a bit more finesse to get the flavor just right. 

What makes high-proof neutral spirits ideal for infusions when developing these cellos?

High-proof neutral spirits give you a really clean base and they pull out the essential oils, sugars, and aromatics from the fruit without adding competing flavors. That control is important because it lets the ingredient itself shine. 

Fig and melon are two of the more unique cellos on the menu right now — what made you want to explore those flavors specifically?

Some of it is just being in the right place at the right time. We had extra figs in-house, so I started playing around with them. Once that worked, it opened the door to trying other fruits that aren’t as traditional. Cantaloupe felt like a fun challenge because it’s so aromatic and summery, and I liked the idea of turning something people don’t normally associate with a liqueur into something a little unexpected. 

How do you approach building cocktails around the cellos once they’re ready? For example, what inspired the spritz-style drinks like One in a Melon and Get Figgy with It?

Once the cello is dialed in, I usually start pretty simply to let it speak for itself. Spritz-style drinks are a natural fit because they’re bright, refreshing, and they highlight the fruit without overcomplicating it. From there, it’s about building balance with things like acidity, bubbles, and a little bitterness if needed. Drinks like One in a Melon and Get Figgy with It came from wanting something approachable that still showcases the uniqueness of the cello.

For home bartenders who might want to try making their own cello, what fruits or ingredients would you recommend starting with beyond lemons?

Oranges are a great place to start because they’re easy to work with, peel, and a little more forgiving than lemons. Grapefruit is another good option if you like something slightly more bitter. 

Are there ingredients you’re excited to experiment with next for future cellos?

We’ve got a watermelon cello coming on the menu, which I’m really excited about. It’s another one that’s a little more delicate, so it’s been fun figuring out how to capture that fresh, juicy flavor without losing it in the process.

How do these housemade cellos help shape the overall identity of Indaco’s beverage program within Charleston’s cocktail scene?

Charleston has so many standout restaurants and bars, so it’s definitely a challenge to do something that feels distinct. The cellos give us a way to carve out our own lane. They tie back to Italian tradition, but they’re also very much driven by what we’re excited about right now. It keeps the program evolving and gives guests something they can’t really get anywhere else, even if the starting point is something familiar.

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