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Well those of you that have ever tried dehydrating a Lime, will know it's virtually impossible to keep the skin Green. They always go a brown colour. It's to do with the pigmentation in the Fruits Skin. (For ease, I just refer to it as a Lime's DNA.) There's no middle ground for dehydrating a Lime. If you stop while they're still Green, the fruit is still soft. And if you keep going until its properly Dried, it'll turn Brown.
This can be rather annoying for us Bartenders.
After all, the Lime is probably our all-star Fruit. Out of all of the fruits we want to be perfect, it's this one. It's probably the most universal Garnish in our tool kit.
Now if you have done your research, you may well know there are actually Green Lemons. It is a real thing. And being up front, this is what I understood our Green Lemons were. More on this in a minute. Green Lemons are a newish fruit in the grand scheme of things. I think I'm correct in saying, developed in Asia in the 00s. Even when ripe, the skin remains Green. A famous variety that does the rounds is the Verdello Lemon grown in Sicily. There is a local vermouth brand to me (Vault Aperitvo) that actually uses these Verdello Lemons as a Botanical. While it's vivid Green, it tastes beautifully Sour like a Lemon. Not bitter like a Lime.
Now as I said, until my recent trip to Turkey to the Frona Orchards, I was under the impression the Frona Green Lemons, were actually Green Lemons. And while that is technically correct, it's also not 100% factual. Visiting the Frona Citrus Orchards in southern Turkey was incredible. Lemons, Limes, Oranges and Grapefruits as far as the eye could see. And not forgetting probably even more Pomegranates.
Eren and Murat (Frona's joint owners) explained they are actually growing 4 different varieties of Lemons and 2 different varieties of Limes. This is to give them slightly varying harvest times. But none of them are "Green Lemons". What they are actually doing is harvesting their Lemons about 1-2 weeks early, while they are still Vivid Green, before the change to Yellow in a matter of Days. This means they are in perfect condition to Dehydrate to create a "Green Lemon" which as a Bartender, is ideal for garnishing our Margarita's and Daiquiris...and much more!
So apologies for referring to them in the past as actual Green Lemons. But while i was factually wrong, I was also kinda correct too. Because they are definitely Green Lemon, not Limes!
Here at Drinkstuff, we have well over 20 different Fruits to Garnish your Cocktails