What it is
Kumquat lemon juice (金桔檸檬) is lemon juice mixed with the juice of a small citrus, sweetened and served cold. Despite the English name, the fruit drink shops use is usually calamondin (四季桔), a round citrus that turns from green to golden orange as it ripens. Yilan growers now sell the oval true kumquat as 金柑 to keep the two apart.
Where it came from
Calamondin is grown in Taiwan for pot plants and gardens as well as for its fruit. In 2000 the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station reported that calamondin tea and kumquat lemon tea had become popular enough across Taiwan to raise demand for the fresh fruit. Pingtung County then had about 50 hectares of trees, mostly in Changzhi, Linluo, Yanpu and Neipu townships, some planted between rows of betel palms.
How it is made
Lemons and calamondins are squeezed and strained, then mixed with water and sugar or syrup. A home recipe from the Kaohsiung District Agricultural Research and Extension Station uses one lemon, ten calamondins and four sour plums to a litre of water, sweetened with sugar. Shops set their own balance of sweet and sour, and some boil their own syrup.
How to eat it
It is served cold. Drink shops usually let customers choose the sweetness and the amount of ice, so ask for less sugar if you like it sharp. Some old family stalls sell nothing else.
Around Taiwan
- Kaohsiung
- Yun Family Lemon King (雲家檸檬大王) is run by the third generation of its family. A 2018 profile of its market stall described fruit scrubbed and seeded by hand, lemons from Jiuru in Pingtung, home-boiled syrup and a single kumquat lemon drink made the same way all year.
- South
- Pingtung County grows calamondins commercially, picked mainly from July to January. The Kaohsiung and Pingtung area is also Taiwan's main lemon-growing region, and the main variety is Eureka.
