Bar specialties syrup
Lime Cordial
Fresh lime zest and juice, sugar and a little citric acid, no cooking. Sweet, sharp and made for the Gimlet.
- 45 min total
- 1½ cups360 ml
- Keeps 3 weeks
Quick answer
Lime cordial is a sweet-tart lime concentrate made from lime zest, fresh lime juice, sugar and citric acid. Rub the zest of 4 limes into 1 cup sugar, rest 30 minutes, shake in ¾ cup lime juice, ¼ cup water and 1½ tsp citric acid until dissolved, strain, and use ¾ oz with 2 oz gin for a Gimlet.
A Gimlet is just gin and lime cordial, and for decades that meant a bottle of Rose's. Modern bartenders make their own: real zest for perfume, fresh juice for flavor and a little citric acid for the sharp, clean finish that sets a cordial apart from lime syrup.
There's no cooking. The zest sits in the sugar for half an hour to release its oils, then everything is shaken until the sugar dissolves and strained. Because it's sweet and sour in one bottle, a cordial is the only mixer a Gimlet or a lime soda needs.
Tasteszesty limetartbright
The recipe
Lime Cordial
Ingredients for 1½ cups360 ml
You’ll need: zester, Y-peeler, citrus press, citric acid, fine-mesh strainer, swing-top bottlezester, Y-peeler, citrus press, citric acid, fine-mesh strainer, swing-top bottle
Method
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Zest
Finely grate the green zest of 4 limes straight into a bowl or wide jar with the sugar, avoiding the bitter white pith. Rub the zest into the sugar with your fingertips until it looks like damp, fragrant green sand.
4 limes1 cup200 g granulated sugar¾ cup180 ml fresh lime juice
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Rest
Cover and leave for 30 minutes so the sugar draws the oils out of the zest. Juice the limes while you wait.
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Dissolve
Add the lime juice, water, citric acid and salt, if using. Stir, or seal the jar and shake, until every crystal has dissolved, 2–3 minutes. A blender does it in 30 seconds.
¼ cup60 ml water1½ tsp7 g citric acid
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Strain and bottle
Strain through a fine-mesh strainer lined with damp cheesecloth, pressing the zest lightly. Funnel into a clean bottle and refrigerate. It's ready to use right away.
Storage. Keeps about 3 weeks sealed in the fridge and tastes brightest in the first 2. The citric acid and sugar keep it far longer than plain lime juice, but the zest aroma slowly fades and the color dulls. Freeze extra in ice-cube trays for up to 3 months.
Per 1 tbsp (15 ml): about 32 kcal, 8.3 g sugar (estimate).
How to use it
Gimlet
2 oz (60 ml) gin and ¾ oz (22 ml) lime cordial, or up to 1 oz (30 ml) if you like it softer. Shake or stir with ice and strain into a chilled coupe.
Full recipe and historyVodka Gimlet
2 oz (60 ml) vodka and ¾ oz (22 ml) cordial, stirred over ice in a rocks glass with a lime wheel.
Lime soda
1 oz (30 ml) cordial in 5 oz (150 ml) chilled sparkling water over ice. A sharp, grown-up limeade.
Gin and tonic
Add ¼ oz (7 ml) to a G&T for an extra hit of lime without watering it down.
Lager and lime
The British pub classic: ½ oz (15 ml) cordial in a pint of cold lager.
Classic drinks with Lime Cordial syrup
Gear for this recipe
Microplane Classic Zester/Grater
Lifts just the fragrant zest, not the bitter pith, for brighter citrus syrups. Also grates fresh ginger and nutmeg.
Best for Citrus and ginger syrups
Zulay Kitchen 2-in-1 Metal Lemon & Lime Squeezer
Best for Fresh citrus for sours and lemonade
Otis Classic 16 oz Swing-Top Glass Bottles (6-pack)
Best for Storing and gifting any syrup
Cuisinart Fine Mesh Stainless Strainers (set of 3)
Best for Every infused or fruit syrup
More gear for this recipe (2)
Kuhn Rikon Swiss Y-Peeler (set of 3)
Best for Citrus peels for oleo saccharum
Food-Grade Citric Acid Powder (1 lb)
Best for Cordials, elderflower and fruit syrups
Tips for the best batch
- Zest before you juice. It's almost impossible to zest a squeezed lime.
- Use a light hand on the grater: the green skin is all flavor, the white pith underneath is bitter. Prefer a Y-peeler? Take wide strips instead and give them 1 hour in the sugar.
- Weigh the citric acid if you can. It's very sour and 7 g (1½ tsp) is plenty. Taste the finished cordial and add a pinch more only if you want it sharper.
- Room-temperature limes give more juice. Roll them firmly on the counter before cutting.
- Homemade cordial is pale greenish-yellow and slightly hazy. Bright green bottled cordials are colored.
Variations
No citric acid
Replace the citric acid and water with 60 ml extra lime juice. It tastes fresher but less sharp, and keeps only about 1 week.
Makrut lime leaf
Tear 4 makrut lime leaves into the sugar along with the zest and strain them out at the end. Aromatic and Southeast Asian, lovely with gin and soda.
Ginger lime
Grate 20 g fresh ginger into the sugar with the zest for a spicy cordial that's great with vodka or soda water.
Lemon cordial
Use lemons instead of limes for a classic lemon cordial. Dilute 1:5 with cold still or sparkling water.
Questions people ask
What is lime cordial?
A sweetened, sharpened lime concentrate. Lime syrup is just sweet; a cordial is sweet and sour at once, so it can be the only mixer in a drink. Citric acid gives it that clean bite.
Can I use lime juice instead of lime cordial in a Gimlet?
Not one-for-one, because juice has no sugar. Use ¾ oz (22 ml) fresh lime juice plus ¾ oz (22 ml) simple syrup with 2 oz (60 ml) gin.
Can I use this instead of Rose's lime juice?
Yes, ounce for ounce. It's a little less sweet and tastes of fresh lime rather than flavorings, so start with the same amount and adjust to taste.
Where do I buy citric acid, and can I skip it?
Look in the canning aisle, at bulk stores or online. You can skip it by using extra lime juice (see variations), but the cordial won't be as sharp and keeps only about a week.
How long does homemade lime cordial last?
About 3 weeks in the fridge, at its best in the first 2. Freeze it in ice-cube trays for up to 3 months.