The Shelf Life (and Death) of Freshly Squeezed Limes

Any cocktail aficionado knows a cocktail worth its salt (or juice...) is only as good as the quality of the ingredients that make it. A truly balanced cocktail can’t hide artificial juice behind a premium spirit. The delicious tangy sweetness of lime juice is truly the face that launched a thousand...juicers. The labor that goes into fresh squeezed juice is all in service of that delicious and unbeatable flavor. But how long does this hard-wrought juice truly last?

While there’s no hard and fast rule, most bartenders will agree that once squeezed, lime juice will stay good for only 24 hours. Research from citrus thought-leader Donny Clutterbuck suggests that lime juice peaks in flavor at around 6 hours, and then deteriorates for the next 18 hours. Some argue that lime juice is no longer usable after 18 hours, while others believe the shelf life extends to 24 hours at most. After that, the juice tends to become bitter. When lime juice is exposed to oxygen, the flavor and color are both changed- to the detriment of your cocktail. That’s why bars serving the highest quality cocktails only do so with lime juice squeezed day-of, on premise. But squeezing juice can be time consuming, and after 24 hours all of that hard work ends up sloshing around the bottom of the trash bin.

So how can bartenders and at-home cocktail connoisseurs produce the best tasting cocktails without wasting gallons of laboriously produced lime juice? Our 100% Persian Lime Cold Pressed Juice provides an alternative to the daily squeeze. By extracting the juice through cold pressing and preserving it with high pressure processing (instead of heat pasteurizing it), the shelf life is extended far past 24 hours. High pressure processing preserves juice without utilizing preservatives, chemicals, or heat while maintaining a stable pH and flavor for four days longer than lime juice squeezed on premise. 

When comparing the shelf life of lime juice squeezed on premise with cold-pressed Twisted Alchemy 100% Persian Lime Cold Pressed Juice, Donny Clutterbuck found that our Persian lime juice lasted five days, compared to the ticking 24 clock of traditional lime juice. As Donny puts it, “The benefits of these juices are, I’m sure, different for each bar, but there’s no debating their superior longevity.” We’ll drink to that.