The Lime Juice Debate: When Fresh, Bottled, and Sour Mix (Yep) Are Best

In an ideal world, every cocktail would be made with freshly squeezed juice. But in the real world of busy service, tight margins, and varying guest expectations, it’s not always that simple. While fresh lime juice may be the gold standard, it’s not always the most practical solution for every bar program. But how do the other options stack up?

A recent article in VinePair put eight versions of lime juice and lime juice alternatives to the test in a classic Daiquiri and rated them based on taste, smell, and appearance. And while lime juice squeezed to order unsurprisingly makes the most attractive, delicious cocktail, the other options certainly have their merits. 

Full Book spoke with beverage consultant James Lombardino about which options work best based on labor, cost, volume, and guest expectations. Read on to learn which might be the right choice for your bar program.

(As told to Joanna Sciarrino.)

There’s no denying that cocktails made with freshly squeezed juice are delicious. But as far as businesses go, there are a lot of other factors to be considered besides is this the absolute best thing I can use? First and foremost is money. Juicing takes labor, it takes someone to actually make it happen, whether that's on the spot or that's the morning of or the afternoon of. And that costs money. 

Over the past year and a half I’ve been able to use prepackaged juice, and I’ve been really impressed with the quality of what’s out there. For bigger, higher volume bars or events where you’re just flying through drinks, juicing the amount needed — like 20 quarts — isn’t realistic. Prepackaged higher quality options, like Natalie’s (not ReaLime), have been really successful for those types of projects, where you still want to keep the quality high, but save on the time and labor of actually doing it in-house. 

It’s widely agreed upon that fresh-squeezed lime juice is best. But juicing à la minute is somewhat unrealistic in a modern busy bar. I think one of the only places that still really does it is Attaboy — they're only allowed to juice maybe a cup or so ahead of time, everything else is to order — which is great, but painstakingly slow. Plus, I've had plenty of experiences where day-old lime juice is great. 

Advocating for Rose’s Lime is a little difficult for most, but if you go back and look at the history of a drink like the Gimlet, it was made with lime cordial and there was a certain bitterness that was expected with that cocktail for a long time. I wouldn't say Rose’s is a good substitute for lime juice today, but could be an ingredient on its own, in addition to fresh lime juice, if you’re after that particular flavor.

Sweet and sour mix is the number one thing I replace the most, the thing that I end up saying, “OK, this is what we have to move away from.” If a place is making certain drinks with sweet and sour mix, we work on a recipe for the same drink but with fresh juice and some simple syrup to balance it.

That said, there are some places in certain markets that have things like green tea shots, or red tea shots, that have a very specific flavor that uses sweet and sour mix. And when you try it with fresh lemon juice and simple syrup instead, it's just not the same thing. Rather than subvert the expectation of the guest, the bar still uses sour mix for those applications, but should also serve a Daiquiri or Margarita made with fresh lime juice.

More advanced options, like Lime Acid or Super Juice, are great ideas, but they don’t necessarily work for every business model. Super Juice is great because it lasts a little bit longer and it’s pretty good quality, but it requires even more labor. You still have to juice, but now you’re also peeling, and it requires citric and malic acid, so you have to measure things and be exact, and then you’re blending batch after batch. So you're expecting a certain level of expertise or skilled labor, or there’s additional training for someone with this option. It could be viable for a smaller cocktail bar, but if you're doing any sort of volume, the amount of work it requires might not be worth it — or enough, really — if that’s the bulk of your business.  

At smaller mom-and-pop places where most people are ordering beers or one-and-ones like Gin and Tonics, depending on how well you know your clients, it could be a good idea to have some fresh citrus on hand for the small percentage of people who come in looking for a Margarita or a Paloma. Even if you’re just hand-juicing eight ounces for a squeeze bottle and that’s all you have for the night, having the option to do it can be a huge benefit for the guests who come in looking for those drinks, and a reason why they fall for your bar or come back again and again.