Lime 101

[Badfellow]

First it was Palmy with tamarind, and now Mrs. McG has me transfixed with the lime. What better friend to the cocktail? What better compliment to your favorite gin? Sweeter with ripeness, bright with citrus, equal though unique and oft standing in the shadow of the lemon, oh lime how you make my mixed drinks shine.

That's that shit. Anyways, I'm curious... what's your lime technique? Sugar and muddling? Twist and throw? Or are you sometimes compelled to cut a swath of zest from the skin and let it float delicately in a massive bath of chilled vodka?

And specifically you Mrs. McG, what if you care to devulge is your recipe for limeade?

Lime lab in progress. Please discuss. Thank you and drink up.

[rune]

Mash and squish. Repeat as needed.

[Martini Time]

Limes make everything better. Maybe not as good as bitters, but better nonetheless.

[Badfellow]

Limes make everything better. Maybe not as good as bitters, but better nonetheless.

I would spend the remainder of my days searching the corners of the globe for bitters recipes, and I weep for all those lost to the ages. Bitters are deserving of their own thread, if not their own Forum.

(I just ashed in the jelly bean bowl; it's too early for this shit. I will require bacon and an Amber Alt)

Here's my lime contribution, a variation on a shot you're all no doubt familiar with...

Lime Flame

3 oz. Chilled Vodka*
1 Slice O' Lime
1 Splash Bacardi 151
or
1 Splash 190 Weigel Juice
Sugar

(*)Concerning the vodka, not all vodkas are made equal. However, at your best consult, you shouldn't feel required to throw down upon a super premium brand, which is to say that there are less expensive and far more slutty vodkas, certainly more prone to put out at the end of the date. Moscovskaya, Luksosowa, even the Stoli, these are vodkas with dignity that don't leave your stomach feeling like South Phillie during a post nuclear holiday the next morning. Granted, the Goose is pretty freakin' good, as is Belvedere and every other one on that shelf. And I may even suggest this recipe with Shakers Rye. But, just drink the good drink and get drunk with it.

A Technique For Preparing the Drink, Followed Abruptly by Consumption of Said Drink and Achievement of the Desired Effect Thereof:

Set yourself up with a decent capacity shot glass, one that will accommodate at its rim the width of your lime slice. Fill it with chilled vodka, apply lime slice. Now take a bit of sugar and sprinkle over top, then a splash of uber high octane. And then the fun part, light that sumbitch and let the sugar carmelize for five or ten seconds. Blow it out (quite important, that part) take your shot, bite the lime. Repeat, repeat, repeat and repeat. Void where prohibited. Battaries not included.

[Bootleggery]

I'm a big fan of lime. It serves as a gatorate when drinking. I can gain those electrolytes as fast as I'm losing them... I think.

[Blackneto]

I'm a big fan of lime. It serves as a gatorate when drinking. I can gain those electrolytes as fast as I'm losing them... I think.

this theory deserves extensive research and development.

[Chip00]

Limes are great things.

Somewhere I got hooked on them.

Apperently limes were growing in the Americas and lemons in the rest of the world when Columbus hit the shores.
Thus recipies calling for lemon originated in Europe or other than in the Americas when indigenious peoples were using limes. Recipies calling for limes originated in the Americas and limes are a big factor in "Southwestern" and Mexican cooking.

And I love their color.

Gotta run, it is cocktail time.

[Gin McGuinness]

And specifically you Mrs. McG, what if you care to devulge is your recipe for limeade?

These are usually out in front of everyone's house in my neighborhood. They are Chinese ornamental NY trees. Don't let the color fool ya, they are limes not tangerines like everyone thinks.

These are the best:
These little babies come as a condiment to almost every meal and make a lovely thick lime juice. We can buy this already premade in plastic jugs.

It doesn't matter which one you use but you'll need about 10 little babies, an industrial blender, water and as much sugar as you see fit to sweeten (I use a palm size to 10 limes). Bend skin and all with a little water, strain, mix a small quanity of hot water with sugar, once disloved, mix that into your lime juice. And poof.... you've got lovely stuff. It won't keep for more than a day without tasting "off" but I usually have a good supply from the neighbors (and my own plant) that I can make this daily if needed.

[Barca]

MT said it well, limes are God's bitters. I marinate all meats in lime, hate drinking water without lime, and believe lime embiggens all cocktails.

A friend of mine who has a PhD in Botany grows limes the size of grapefruit with the most incredible flavor. They've basically spoiled me for all others. At the same time, the worst lime I've ever had was still delcious.

To really enjoy the flavor of a lime, try my drink, one I've been laughed at for both ordering and drinking.

Bourbon, twist of lime.

Just that simple. Lemon's common, but apparently people don't use lime in Bourbon. 'Tis delicious.

One of the worst things ever to happen to drinking is Rose's lime juice.

[anotherbeer]

I used to not care for the margerita -- too sweet. Then, I tried mixing tequila with fresh squeezed lime juice -- no other ingredients.

That sure doesn't suck.

[maltlicker11]

1 Splash 190 Weigel Juice

I would quibble that this is Weigel Sauce not Juice.

slutty vodkas

Mmm "slutty vodka"...I love it!
bye

[Badfellow]

Lime worshippers unite! Thanks MrsMcG for the lesson on Singapore Lime 101.
*
*
*

Tonight's libation (I am about to presently set out and obtain provisions) will be a nod to ol' Papa Hemmingway and the glory days of Havana. This shall prove a true Daiquiri, not to be confused with the bastardized crap you might be served at Don Retardo's El Restarante #1451 in the strip mall off I-80.

A true Daiquiri, my friends. I'll let you know how it turns out.

Here's Wayne Curtis' apt interpretation of the recipe from his recent book And a Bottle of Rum: A History of the New World in Ten Cocktails.

Mix two ounces of LIGHT RUM with the juice of one-half LIME and one to two teaspoons of SUGAR or sugar syrup, to taste. Shake in cocktail shaker with half cubed ice, half crushed ice, with no la-dee-da, until the shaker is too icy to hold. Strain into chilled cocktail glass.

[thirsty4beer]

the above drink will be sampled as soon as possible and repaeated as 'necessary'

[GradeALiquorWhore]

I used to not care for the margerita -- too sweet. Then, I tried mixing tequila with fresh squeezed lime juice -- no other ingredients.

That sure doesn't suck.

I ply my chef with these frequently. He prefers one part freshly squeezed lime juice (yes, my bar sadly has a juicer. but no espresso machine and no blender. so there are trade offs) to two parts tequila, a dash of triple sec for sweetness and half salt on the rim.

I put up with this because he has a ton of insider information about this place and I am the fucking new guy. I enjoy gleaning information about the local politics through drunken honesty.

[daphne]

I've always used the 1 2 3 part concoction for a real margarita

1 part real lime fresh squeezed juice
2 parts triple sec or contreau
3 parts tequila, decent stuff

What's nice about real any type of fruit juice is that it reminds you that we're living in a pre-packaged world; the real flavors are so amazing you sit around and say, "holy shit, can you believe this stuff?" Then we remember this is what the pre-packaged stuff is trying to replicate.

Long live fresh-squeezed juices.