Calamansi Juice is made of freshly squeezed calamondin juice and simple syrup. This Filipino-style limeade is tangy, refreshing, and a delicious way to keep cool all year long!
It’s Memorial day today and summer has officially arrived with all its fun and sun. What better way to beat the heat than an icy cold pitcher of calamansi juice?
This Filipino-style limeade is a delicious tropical drink you’d want on your beverage list year-round. It’s tart, fragrant, and so refreshing!
Ingredients
Calamondin drink is so easy to make and requires only three parts. Feel free to adjust the recipe to suit your tastes!
- simple syrup- made from equal parts water and sugar
- calamansi juice- freshly squeezed for best flavor
- water- to taste
Helpful tips
- Although sugar can be stirred directly in the calamansi mixture, I like to take the extra effort of making a simple syrup. Sugar doesn’t dissolve well in cold liquids and tends to settle in the bottom. Heating it in equal parts of water until fully dissolved ensures your next glass of juice is perfectly sweetened.
- For a healthier alternative, use honey.
- To add another layer of flavor, infuse the simple syrup with fresh ginger or mint leaves.
- To extract more juice, roll the calamansi on the counter to soften. Use the yellow, more mature fruits as they are just as sour but juicier.
How to serve
- Calamansi juice is best served icy cold. If serving over ice, make it a tad stronger as the melted ice will water down the taste.
- It will keep in the fridge for 5 to 7 days.
- Have a glass or two left over? Pour in ice cube trays, freeze, and blend when you’re in the mood for a slushie!
More beverage recipes
Looking for more refreshing drinks to ward off the heat? Try this cucumber lime smoothie!
Instructions
- In a saucepan, combine sugar and 1 cup of the water. Cook, stirring regularly, until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- Halve the calamansi fruit and extract the juice by hand or a juicer. Using a fine-mesh sieve, strain and discard seeds and skin.
- In a pitcher, combine calamansi juice, simple syrup, and the remaining 3 cups of water. Stir well to combine.
- Chill in the refrigerator for a few hours or serve over ice.
Notes
Nutrition Information
“This website provides approximate nutrition information for convenience and as a courtesy only. Nutrition data is gathered primarily from the USDA Food Composition Database, whenever available, or otherwise other online calculators.”
Joyce McDonald says
How many teaspoons/tablespoons is squeezed from 1 pc Calamansi? I need for converting to Lemon/Lime juice extract… i have no access to Calamansi…. please… thank you.
Harvey says
Thanks for such a great site! Made your Pork Afritada and Pork Asado recipes the other day and the Filipino bf loved them.
We have an entire bottle of calamansi concentrate sitting in the fridge (we got it for ONE summer drink recipe) and don’t know what to do with it. Just realized I could’ve used it for the Asado dish. Any ideas on how to properly use it up without it going to waste? Thanks!
Lalaine says
Hi Harvey
I am glad the BF loves your cooking 🙂
Have you tried making calamansi bars? I think with a little bit of experimenting, the calamansi concentrate will be a good substitute for the calamansi juice.
Laurie says
We are the largest Calamondin/Calamansi grower in the US. We can now ship fresh fruit from Florida either as Calamansi (green-pretty much year roung) or Calamondins (orange, fully ripe Nov-March).
michael brandon says
For those of pinoy here in U.S. where you can’t find kalamansi, you can just use limes (15 limes for $1.00) and 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup warm water. Direction as follows:
1) 5 limes, squeezed/juiced thru a strainer, to remove pulps.
2) Add 1/2 cup sugar dissolved in 1/4 cup water. Add to the lime juice.
3) Whisk for about 15-20 seconds until the sugar is totally or mostly dissolved.
4) Done. Taste like kalamansi (the same sweetness, ph balance, and citric contents of the Philippines kalamansi).
Lalaine says
Thanks, Michael, for sharing. Limes are indeed more accessible here in the U.S. than our calamansi and I do use regularly as a substitute for dishes that call for calamansi. Have to try it still as juice. 🙂
Keith says
Limes don’t taste the same as calamansi and the “concentrated’ calamansi juice in stores never tastes very good. I grow a lot of my own calamansi; I’ve got 14 trees here but I have to bring them inside for the winter and being in containers they never get quite as large or as productive as I’d like. – – Even with 14 trees I still end up needing to find good substitutes.
You can certainly use a lime for many recipes where the flavor of the calamansi isn’t critical however limes (notably the common ‘persian limes’ that are routinely found throughout the US) just don’t taste the same so if you want to get the same flavor I’d suggest combining lime and tangerine juice which comes a lot closer to matching the natural taste of Calamansi.
Also if you can find Kumquats they taste a lot more like calamansi than a lime.
alaehmansi says
I like to try this recipe and make calamansi juice over and over again when i harvest my first batch of calamansi fruits