Kalamansi / Calamondin Juice
I was at the market yesterday and there was kalamansi up the wazoo… 
In other words, it’s about the height of the season for kalamansi and it is as cheap as it gets… about PHP20-25 per kilo for nice big juicy kalamansi. The rest of the vegetable and fruit pickings were dismal, amongst the worst I have experienced this year at the markets. Apparently prices from the sources in the Mountain Province have shot up (up 10-15% from what I can tell on the retail side) and there is a dearth of produce due to the rains, etc. My overall bill for the morning was up noticeably and there were certain things that were downright exhorbitant… I noticed later that I paid PHP70 a kilo for ampalaya, for example! Our main hope at this time is produce sourced from Mindanao and flown up or brought up by ferry or boat…Earlier this year, I posted an entry on kalamansi, so please check it out if you want more details about the fruit itself.
Meanwhile, what to do with the bounty? First of all, JUICE!!! 
Squeeze and strain the juice of several kalamansi, add cold water and some sugar or honey. A superb source of vitamin C, a great battler of the rainy season colds and flu, kalamansi juice has to be one of everyone’s local favorites. The bracing acidity combined with as much or little sugar as you like makes for a truly thirst quenching drink – our local equivalent of the western lemonade. The flavor of kalamansi is unique and something foreign companies are starting to take note off. The essence of kalamansi is a flavor sold by some of the bigger food companies and the last time I was in Paris I even noticed kalamansi sorbet at some of the finest ice cream shops under the category “exotic”…go figure. At any rate, if you want to take your kalamansi juice up a notch, make concentrated kalamansi juice and freeze it into ice cubes. That way, when you serve the juice, you can use the kalamansi ice cubes and the juice won’t get diluted as the ice melts, in fact, it gets more intense. I also like the flavor honey (instead of sugar) imparts to the juice but I find that it’s a pain in the neck to mix it in properly. Isn’t this second photo kind of cool? My 9 year old daughter took it…
Calamansi trees/plants can often be found in DC at garden centers and at Whole Foods. I’ve never sampled the quality of the fruit but I’m tempted to give the experiment a try. I miss fresh Kalamansi - i usually just buy the bottled extract. good idea abou the ice cubes!
October 3rd, 2005Make Calamansi pie! Looks like you have a budding artist in your hands. Great photo! Good balance and proportion.
October 3rd, 2005a couple of calamnsi squeezed to a cold glass of 7-up, or sprite, with a shot of vodka… mmm….good…..
October 3rd, 2005That first photo made me think of doing something with kalamansi as a xmas decor with some red berries. Maybe a wreath, a ala Martha. Or a citrus bower full of oranges, grapefruit and calamansi.
October 3rd, 2005Mila, look up my dalandan topiary from last Christmas as www.marketmanila.com/archives/dalandan-topiary for some ideas. I did one with roses too last December. Acidboy, kalamansi and vodka sounds good… Hchie, I did a dayap pie a few weeks ago that was really quite good… Skunkeye, thanks for the tip re: kalamansi in the U.S. - so many readers have asked me where they can buy this there… some have even asked me to ship them some bushes!
October 3rd, 2005Most Filipino stores in the U.S. have fresh Kalamansi that they most likely received from local Kalamansi trees or imported them from Florida/California. You can find them either near the vegetables or in the fridges in little plastic bags. Some groceries with turo-turos also carry them to squeeze on top of the food they sell.
October 4th, 2005Great photo indeed! Very intimate shot…
October 4th, 2005I’ve gone to a Pinoy store here in Southern California and they sell fresh calamansi juice in little packs that are just like the packs they put condiments in at the fast food stores. No preservatives so it tasted better than those things you can buy that are like Realemon.
I tried to grow a calamansi tree, but it died in the pot. Maybe in the ground would be better. My tree (really, just a 1′ tall bush) had teensy weensy little things that were taken up by the normal-sized seeds. I saw one tree at Home Depot that had a fruit that was the size of a golf ball though.
October 6th, 2005Here in Massachusetts, the closest I can get to Calamansi juice is the canned Calamansi drink, It’s pretty good actually, tastes fresh and not too sweet. The brand name is ‘Gina’, they also have Mango juice which is also good. (I hope I won’t get charged for this advert. LOL I swear I don’t work for the manufacturer.)
October 8th, 2005I’ve bought the small Calamansi packets while in California. It’s in my freezer and I just microwave it for a couple of seconds when I need Calamansi juice with patis for my Nilagang Baka. Calamansi definitely tastes better than Lemon.
Phisch and Barb, thanks for those tips on where to get kalamansi in the U.S., lots of readers have been wondering…even on an earlier post on the fruit itself I got a lot of enquiries…
October 9th, 2005when I cook kalamansi juice at hight temperature,its flavor has a great chang and it was terrible.
November 28th, 2005Marie Anne Legaspi’s Calamansi Mojito:
1 oz Vodka
1/2 oz Triple Sec
mint leaves
Sugar
Can Calamansi Juice
Sparkling water or club soda
Crushed Ice
Crush mint leaves and sugar together. In shaker add Vodka, Triple Sec and Calamsi Juice and crushed ice. Shake and Strain into highball glass, fill with club soda, and garnish with mint leaves.
Marie Anne Legaspi’s Calamansi Martini
2 oz Vodka
1 Can Calamansi juice
Cane sugar
raw brown sugar
1 small rock sugar
small sliver of fresh ginger or candied ginger
Cranberry juice
Sprig of mint.
In a shaker add vodka, Calamansi juice, sugar and crushed ginger, add ice and shake . dip rim of martini glass in water and dip in the raw brown sugar. Strain into a martini, add a splash of cranberry juice and add the intact rock sugar as garnish along with a sprig of mint.
May 28th, 2007i’m trying to make a bottled kalamansi juice for my feasibility study…help me!..don’t know were to start.
January 14th, 2008Try Candoy’s Calamansi Juice concentrate! I buy my stash from their stall at the Karl Edwards Bazaar (NBC Tent, Fort)
The seller’s numbers (02) 8332319 / +639175200805. I’m not sure if she’s also the one who makes it. I usually get the “Diet” version (Splenda is used to sweeten)
February 25th, 2008Hi to all.
Just dropping by
We are currently marketing our product here in manilaTHE SOUTHVALLEY KALAMANSI CONCENTRATE. it’s available in 1 liter bottle at 150 pesos a bottle…
You can view our ad at sulit.com.ph
just type KALAMANSI CONCENTRATE in the search criteria…
It’s all natural…made in South Cotabato..:)
thanks..:)
May 22nd, 2008how can you sure that your calamansi is good there?
June 11th, 2008