LIME CORDIAL

Lemon Lime and Bitters was always a refreshing summer drink in Perth and Betty's favourite once she stopped drinking alcohol in her 60s. But I can't remember when I first came across fresh limes. We always used Rose's or Bickfords Lime Cordial. But at some point in later years, there has always been a lime sitting in a bowl waiting to be added into a gin and tonic or a rum. 

Once I'd discovered the joys of spiced rum, my habit on finding a new one is to have a shot of rum on ice with a glass of soda and a serve of fresh lime juice to mix in when the mood takes me.

On moving back to Perth las year, I discovered the joys of Belvoir Farm Lime Cordial. Just as good as fresh juice. Surprisingly it's made in the UK but there it was on Coles' shelves so after that initial joyous taste, I bought a few bottles to get through summer. I was only when I was finishing my last bottle a couple of months ago did I discovered that Coles no longer stock it. Neither does Woolworths. And you can't even find it on Amazon. Not to be deterred I wrote to customer service in England and somewhat to my surprise, they replied, explaining that the supermarkets in Australia no longer wanted to stock that particular cordial. Just to demonstrate how addicted I am, I wrote back asking how much it would cost to ship some bottles to Australia and here is the reply from their Senior International Account Manager:

It would be very expensive yes, but what we can do is send you a couple of cases on our next container if your happy to wait slightly longer. We should have this available for you for start of Spring ready for the warmer weather again? 

Not surprisingly, I said yes very quickly. I'm not holding my breath that the boxes will ever arrive. I'm sure my special order will drop off some busy person's to-do list but I loved the fact that they were willing to make an effort.

In the meantime, I've tracked down a recipe for lime cordial and with Susan doing the zesting and me doing the juicing, we've made our own to see us through the rest of summer. 


Here's the recipe in case you are interested:

Wash and scrub limes to remove coatings

Zest 10-15 fresh limes using a microplane grater

Cut and juice the limes into a bowl or measuring cup

Add an equal amount of sugar (by weight) and combine with lime juice

Add lime zest to juice/sugar & stir under the sugar is mostly dissolved

Cover and let the cordial rest for 24 hours at room temperature to all the flavours to develop

Strain the zest out of the cordial using a fine mesh strainer

Transfer into bottles and store in the fridge (where it will keep for up to a month) or the freezer (up to 6 months) 

Thanks to https://www.loveandoliveoil.com/2023/07/homemade-lime-cordial.html

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