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Calamansi Juice – the lemonade of the Philippines

Food/Drink / by

Do you like lemonade? Well, on a hot day there aren’t too many things that will cool you down quite as much as a nice refreshing glass of lemonade. OK, ok… a lot of people would prefer a beer, but generally I don’t drink, so maybe my take is different! But, lemons are not too common in the Philippines. They can be purchased, but are expensive, due to the fact that they are not so common.

Don’t fret, though, they have something in the Philippines that, in my opinion is even better than the lemon! It’s called the “calamansi” – and is sort of a combination between a lemon and a lime, although it is more tart then either! Just a small amount of the juice of a calamansi fruit goes a long way! A very popular drink here in the Philippines is called “Calamansi Juice.” Calamansi juice is not just the squeezed juice of the calamansi fruit, that would be too strong to drink. Actually, you squeeze the juice of a few pieces of calamansi fruit and mix it with water, then you have a calamansi juice drink. And, what a drink it is!

Calamansi juice tastes similar to lemonade, but it’s a little more tart. In addition to water and squeezed calamansi fruit, generally you would put a little sugar in it for sweetness. I am diabetic, so I use Splenda or some other artificial sweetener instead of sugar. It’s still just as good, though. If it’s a hot day, and you are sweating a lot, calamansi juice will cool you right down and refresh you!

Oh, another thing about calamansi juice is that a lot of people also drink it hot! When you drink it hot it will also be very beneficial if you have a cold or some other ailment. If you have a sore throat or your voice is not good (like laryngitis or such) calamansi juice will do wonders for you!

Next time you are in the Philippines, try Calamansi juice and see what you think! I recommend it highly.

Calamansi has many other uses too! It can be used as a cleaning agent, many people also use it in their “sawsawan” or sauce that they dip their food in.

What do you use calamansi for? Also, what do you prefer, lemon or calamansi?

Hmm… I almost forgot! I love to squeeze a calamansi fruit into my glass of diet coke!

Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Bob, i will have to try that bob, and interesting to know that you are diabetic. i too am diabetic and was wondering if splenda was available in the area, as my date to arrive nears. so i guess you answered that for me thanks ! 😎

  2. Hi Tommy – Splenda is not always easy to find here, but they do have it. Basically, when it is in stock, I suggest that you stock up, because when it goes out of stock it may be a few weeks before you see it again. 😯

  3. Hi Ron LaFleur – Thanks for the tip on the artificial sweetener. That happens here with sweetener about once every two years or so. Regarding your other comment that you mentioned, I edited it out of your comment – that discussion we had was not for public consumption. Sorry, but I have to live here, and there are certain things you don’t talk about when you live here. That is one of them.

    Hi Gary – Yeah, traveling internationally with fresh fruits is not allowed, you would have some problems at customs.

    Hi Louis – Is Dalandan the same as lime? I didn’t think it was. Dalandan is orange on the inside, or at least I thought it was!

    Hi Anthony – Ha ha… I bet your wife was like a kid in the candy shop!

    Hi Teng – Yes, I have also heard Calamansi called Lemonsito before. Whatever they call it, I love the refreshing flavor! 😀

  5. Bob, This morning I read that Phillipine authorities have confiscated an illegal sweetner that causes cancer. Apparently its a serious health hazard and they discovered a large amount at the same time acknowledging that its a consistent problem. I am not an expert but my advise would be to be careful as to where you buy your sweetners. The article stated that it is most commonly used by makers of fruit juices that you find on the street and in the malls. Ron

  6. I went back to read the article and the sweetner is called sodium cyclamate. Its less expensive for juice makers, ice cream makers, candy etc to use than other sweetners. Ron

  7. I love calamansi and prefer it over lemons or limes. I squeeze it into most of my drinks like diet coke, SML and even my ice tea. I just returned home from 7 weeks in the islands and wanted to bring some home with me but my friends talked me out of it. Something about bringing fruit into the country. 😆

  8. I love Calamansi juice. Lemons are expensive and I generally don't see them that often, I will see limes though, what they call Dalandan. I haven't had a nice tall glass of calamansi in awhile.

    About the Cyclomates, my mother was a part of the group that studied the effects of that sweetener. She swore up and down that the whole study was thrown in the favor of Saccarin(sp?) which she said was found to be more carcinogenic but the info was hushed up. I wouldn't worry about it too much. Splenda seems to be the best alternative as it's sweet and has no aftertaste. I don't drink soda too often but my wife loves pop cola which is the worst thing you can drink as it has Phenalketenurics (nutrasweet) in it… that compund is just dangerous but the fact is once again hushed up.

  9. Just down the road from where I live, here in Australia, there is a townhouse complex which has 2 calamansi trees out front which are there purely for decorative purpose. When the fruit is on the trees no-one picks it so my wife asked if she could take some of the fruit to which the manager said "take all you want" The smile on my wifes face when she arrived home with a bag of calamansi was priceless. I havent tried the calamansi juice drink before but thanks for another good idea.

  10. Hi Bob,

    It is also known as 'Lemonsito' in Mindanao and Visayan region. But the word is originally Spanish which means literally, 'small lemon'. Ummm, just thinking about it….makes me salivate.

  11. Hello! Yes, it is, also drinking warm calamansi juice first thing in the morning is good for lossing weigh, but only if you stay at home otherwise you'll have problem 🙂
    Here in Belgium, never can do that because must work everyday if you are independent like us and besides not easy to find calamansi here. I like calamansi best than lemon, typical for filipina I guess, like you said to make sawsawan out of it ( lammi )
    Have A Nice Day!

  12. Splenda is always available at Park & Shop.

    I prefer Splenda to sweet and low and that other thing. (I am also diabetic) My mom and dad are supposed to buy me that plant based sweetener when they get home from US.

    I prefer Lemonade to Calamansi Juice. Passion Fruit Juice is even better (Ok so it's OT)

    But for sawsawan I prefer Calamansi…

    I also don't like lemon butter sauce, I would prefer Calamansi butter sauce, hehehe 😆

    And in case you are wondering Bob, we also do not have electricity now, we are on a generator.

    I wonder when electricity will be back, no electricity since this morening, been like 8 hours or so now. Whole Davao and Tagum has no electricity, bummer.

  13. Hi Cheryll Ann – We got electricity about 30 minutes ago! Ah… the aircon is running full blast!

    Thanks for the tip on Splenda at Park & Shop! I'll tell Feyma to get it there from now on! 😀

  14. WAHHHH no fair! I have already bought like 3k worth of "krudo" for generator. At least I have had a/c since this AM hehehe.

    I could not connect to the net until anhour or so ago though, kept getting error message.And NO CABLE!

    I have had no electricity since 8am. generator has been running since 8am. And I can Annie my dad's secretary call and we were told some parts of city may not have electricity till tomorrow. So far SM admin is only running at 50% and it seems NCCs has closed it's supermarket for today.

  16. Hi Cheryll Ann – We still have power, but we have no cable, and also no water since this morning! Ah, the conveniences! ❓ ❗ ❓

  17. Hi Bob – I prefer calamansi to lemon but it's difficult to get them here in the UK. So for alternatives, I buy Maggi Toyomansi Sauce for sawsawan and Fresh-C Calamansi (powder) Drink Mix to make juice.

    In the Philippines, we add calamansi to marinade the meat for barbecues and we also serve tea with calamansi.

  18. Hi Marilou – In the states we never had any kind of Calamansi flavored drink mixes! Calamansi is virtually unknown there. I do like Calamansi in my tea too!

  21. Hi Bob, Just wanted to comment on the sweetener that you are using. Splenda is totally made up of a chemical compound produced by Johnson & Johnson. It has 3 atoms of Chlorine in it and Chlorine is classified as a pesticide, in the US. Pesticides soul purpose is to kill living tissue. Splenda has not had any long term studies yet but they are afraid that the results will not be good. Being a Diabetic also I have done a lot of research on sweeteners. The only one that I have found to be all natural is Steva. Which can be ordered from the Internet if you can't find it there.
    Didn't mean to get off the subject of Calamansi, We have it growing in our back yard here in Georgia, US and it is a very refreshing drink.

  24. Hello Bob – hmmppp misss calamansi juice! & nothing beats calamansi to make a 'sawsawan' with sili & soy sauce… aggghghhhh now am starting to drool..

  26. Marygrace,

    Of course! 😆

    I just gave Anniki, a shot of Fortum 500mg. I need to get to bed (but am afraid I will get" bangungut" as I just ate a huge slice of Mango Float, compliments of Tita Ann – hehehe Macky's gonna be jealous he says anything from his Ninang Ann is good, LOL LOL!)

    OMG Sawsawan of Calamansi and Toyo and Sili halang is soooo goood and add in some onions and green and red tomato – YUMMY YUMMY! 😀

  28. Hi Charlie Smith – Thanks for the info!

    Hi marygrace – sorry if I got your taste buds going there!

    Hi Dee – I haven't heard of Stevia until today. I doubt it is available here, but I'd have to check into it.

  29. I prefer calamansi over lemons or lime. For those traveling who want to take the taste back to the US there are Calamansi-flavored drinks and calamansi extract available in supermarkets. Calamansi is readily available in california and Florida in areas where there's a large Filipino community.

    The debate on artificial sweeteners has been going on for 50 years and probably will still be raising people's ire for 50 more. In my opinion Splenda is the safest, but that's only in my view. It's readily available in SM Hypermarkets. As Bob said, stock up when it's on the shelf because availability of any specialty item is always 'spotty".

  30. Louis,
    I might be very sensitive but to me Splenda leaves as BAD an aftertaste as the rest. Good thing I am not a diabetic, just fat, so I will just continue drinking my REAL COKE> 🙂

  31. Hi Dave Starr – When we lived in the States, one time we were grocery shopping at Safeway, in Vancouver, Washington where we lived. They had some live plants on display for sale, and we were looking at them. Believe it or not, some of them were calamansi trees, which were being sold as ornamental plants! We bought several of them, and being in a cooler climate, we just kept them in pots inside the house, and they produced a ton of calamansi fruit! It was a treat for us, until we went on vacation one time and they died!

  33. Cheryll Ann,

    Yes, you can buy calamansi plants in the US. However, my home sits about 4,000 feet above sea level and I am just a pitching wedge from Canada. We have already had below freezing weather and it is only mid September. I may try what Bob did and keep them in pots inside the house because they sure want survive outdoors. 😆

  34. Yes, Stevia is the healthiest sweetener, but it is not very available in the Philippines. Petraco has a sugar-free cocoa mix that is sweetend with it. I wrote and asked. They would like to sell stevia but don't have permission from the government yet. We found that the one we like best (no yucky flavor) is the one sold by Trader Joe's. Of course, we have to have someone send or bring it. You can get Stevia leaves in Thailand, but I don't think anyone is growing it here.

    Mmmm kalamansi! Pinque marinated in kalamansi and tuyo, then barbcued… kalamansi squeezed over fish steak before baking… kalamasi squeezed over pancit or papaya… Happy sigh! It is also good for removing spots in the laundry! 🙂

  35. Hi Bob,

    I don't enjoy calamansi juice that much because it's what my mom had me drink every time I got sick. I was a sickly child and she would make me drink warm calamansi juice with little or no sugar. 🙁 It brings back those memories. I enjoy it mixed with soy or fish sauce, though.

  36. Hi Bob- Calamansi or lemoncito or kalamansing is truly refreshing. If it's here, it will be a real treat. Those potted ones you found in Vancouver, WA might be grafted and of dwarf variety—they don't usually last long compared to the "wild" type.

    Hi AmericanLola-You almost said it all about the usage of calamansi. calamnsi with kinilaw is good although I prefer suwa with kinilaw when suwa is available. Have you tried using suwa ? I don't know if it's native lime. 😆

    Hi CheryllAnn- I forget dreaming of mango float when seeing $.95 a pc of mango at Wal-mart. King Sooper had it at bargain price: A dollar for 2 last week according to my Filipina friend. Big news for us ! 😆 I guess those mangoes are from south america but they're not even closed to the Phil mangoes in terms of color and flavor. Well, it's better than nothing. 🙄

  37. Hi Gary – If you can find calamansi plants to buy, do it! The ones we had held up for over a year, as I recall, and they yielded a LOT of fruit.

    Hi AmericanLola – You've been absent lately! I kind of missed your comments. Interesting about the Stevia!

    Hi Tina – I'm sorry to hear about your bad experience ruining your enjoyment of calamansi. I can understand it, though.

    Hi Jul – I think you are right, those calamansi were of the dwarf variety, maybe 2 feet tall, I'd say, yet mature enough to be bearing fruit regularly.

  38. Bob – I'm going on what my asawa tells me as far as the dalandan. I've had them fresh and the taste is more like a Key lime than a regular lime so who knows?

  42. Yes,Jul, I use suwa any time I want some lime flavor, usually in my Mexican salsa or shrimp cocktail. It is classic in kinilaw!

    Thanks Bob, We have been having internet problems!!!! Ack! John took the title "Bayantel Hell" I am tempted to write one called "Philcom Sitcom.' Right now it happens to be up…

    Another name for kalamansi is agridulci. 🙂

  43. Hi AmericanLola – Ha ha… you should go for that "Philcom Sitcom" it sounds good! John was here when your comment came in and had a real good laugh at that! 😀

  44. Hi AmericanLola- Yes agridulce, I remember that name ! Not really dulce (sweet). Also. you reminded me to remind my cousin to check Philcom. We used to have IDD as part of the original package of Philcom. Then a couple of months ago I was surprised that my cousin called me from CDO using the operator because he couldn't access the IDD. I am curious, are you using dial-up in CDO under Philcom ?

    Hi Bob- I might be off topic here, but I would like to ask some advice regarding the best when having internet connection in the Phils. My sis lives in Don Carlos, Bukidnon. Now we're confused with these terms such as DSL, using Smart, Globe or what ? She has no tel in her house because the landline there is worst than CDO's. Thanks !

  45. Hi Jul – I am not familiar with Don Carlos and the Internet situation there. The most likely decent connection would be using "Smart Bro" which is a wireless Internet Access method which is through Smart Communications ( the Cell company).

  47. Hi Jul, we have Philcom phone service and DSL from them too. It is not supposed to be a dial-up computer connection, but we have used dial-up several times in the last few days (and paid extra for it!). I called them yesterday and they seemed surprised we were having a problem, so maybe it is not system wide. My husband just took out the switcher/filter they installed last time there was a problem, and it seems to be working again! I expect to see a service guy here today. If the problem is local (as in somewhere between the pole and the computer) I will recant on my complaints, and say the service has been pretty good, over all. I'll keep you posted.

  49. Hi Bob
    Was browsing the archives and found this post. Anyway calamansi juice is my favorite drink of all times. I even like the powdered version. Isn't calamansi juice an ingredient in adobo?

  50. Hi Dan Mihaliak: I never heard of calamansi juice being used to make adobo, but there are two things there… firstly, I don't know how to make adobo myself! Secondly, there is not really one standard recipe for adobo, lots of people make it in many different ways!

    Certainly, Calamansi juice is refreshing and delicious to drink, though!

  51. Hi we are based here in Mindanao too, and started a kalamansi juice drink business few months ago, we are planning to expand our business in different places. so far, the market is good.

    • Hi ms. corazon, we have good source of kalamansi, fruit. We are looking for businesses we’re we could supply kalamansi. just email me ma’am.. if you’re interested. thanks