Which Super Juice is Best? Tasting 3 Recipes vs Fresh Lime Juice

[@makeanddrink]

Help me out with your RUM recommendations: forms.gle/gMEMp5gcwr95iABy7

[@StevetheBartender_]

Great comparison! Pseudo juice for the WIN!! 🎉😂 …on a serious note, as you say, people just need to try them all for themselves and pick what works for them. None of us are here to tell people what is “right” or “best” despite our titles and thumbnails 💪

[@makeanddrink]

I’d been kicking around a “taste test” for awhile but your thumbnail was the instant inspiration for my thumbnail. And I agree completely. Cheers!

[@criticaljohnson]

I love the videos with Arminder. Always a pleasure to see him on the channel. As someone who has been making Kevin Kos's super juice recipe for the last few years, I am excited to try something new after hearing your conclusions!

[@HyperspaceCowboy]

Thank you for another great episode! THIS is exactly what makes your channel so great - Superjuice has been making the rounds for a while now but nobody has really been addressing the central question. You go straight to the core and say “let’s compare”! Big fan!! Also - Arminder and you are the Dynamic Duo of rum. You rock 🤘🏼

[@makeanddrink]

Thank you!

[@bschottler]

I'd really love to add a daiquiri made with a regal shake (shaking with a bit of peel) as it adds the oil from the peel to a fresh lime daiquiri. I regal shake any time I can as I love the oil from most any citrus fruit. We have done this same test without the art of drink recipe and choose the lime support also.

[@ApothecaryAlyth]

Amazing thumbnail. I'm 2.5 minutes in and already laughed out loud twice. And seeing Arminder showing up from scrubbing ahead has me excited too. Can't wait to watch the rest!

[@patricklaarhoven143]

Great episode. Love these comparisons. Good to see there is always room for improvement. A shame that you didn't try the original Nickle Morris Super Juice recipe but only tried Kevin Kos' adaptation of it. Nickle Morris uses a much more realistic acid profile. With a lot less of the harsh malic acid. He uses about 4.3% citric and 0.7% malic. Kevin Kos' recipe uses 2% malic. Which might cause the harshness. Guess I should try using the blender again. Tried it before and I felt it gave an odd taste to the end result. I simply do the oleo sacrum for an hour, then add the water and let that sit till the next day. I'm not in a hurry. Also I like zesting better than peeling to prevent the pith getting in the Super juice. Doesn't take that much longer I feel, but also since I don't blender, I think it helps with the extraction too.

[@pizzazombie5209]

16:14 Didn’t know this was an Arminder hit piece, but. Here for it. 😆

[@Lance-im6tw]

My experience was similar to Arminder's. I did a blind test with Lime Support, Kevin Kos Super Juice and fresh lime (didn't do Art of Drink) and whilst I preferred fresh lime juice on its own, Lime Support won in a Daiquiri over fresh, with KK's Super Juice third in both fresh and the Daiquiri. p.s. Thanks for introducing me to Arminder and his channel 👍

[@Ron_the_Cook]

Many of the bar tenders I've worked with that hate super juice also have no problem using bottled juice which is essentially super juice. I've sugar adjusted my super juice so that it has a touch more balance and I've experimented with using essential oils

[@onevideo4005]

I've tried a large variety of lime super juice recipes over the past year and without fail during the blind test, I always opt for the fresh juice daiquiri -- something about the additional lime flavor of super juices tweaks the balance on what I'd consider to be a perfect cocktail and it's always easy to spot if you know you're looking for it. In something like a margarita, however, I find the boost of lime flavor to be a welcome addition and even prefer super juice to fresh. I consider the "Lime Support" version to be the most versatile and closest to fresh lime juice, though strangely despite the absence of any actual fruit juice, I've found after about four days in the fridge it takes on a particularly strong acidic note and comes across like RealLemon supermarket lime juice. It's still worth it to turn one lime into three or four tiki cocktails (especially with limes costing a buck a piece where I live) but I might have to look into Kevin Kos' new method using ascorbic acid to lengthen preservation.

[@markhatley-k6s]

Even the bad ones, like spiced rums! No snobbery there 😜. Hilarious, but so true! Great episode. Happy New Year guys.

[@maitaioneon]

Thanks to both of you for doing this

[@_allcap]

I prefer the Brian Tasch version with the sugar cut back 30%. A Daiquiri does sound good... brb

[@seniorcogactual]

Our experience has been that what's best is very cocktail dependent. The Lime Support worked well for Daiquiris but using in the Penultimate Mai Tai was a definite downgrade for that drink

[@HighKingTurgon]

It's the shelf stability that makes super juice so compelling for me. Also from Kevin Kos, you can even clarify the super juice and make really beautiful cocktails. Clarified lemon super and stirring make a jewel-perfect Aviation, for instance.

[@jaspervangheluwe7531]

My god, first I discover your overproof comparison video with Arminder, just after trying the Nuclear Daiquiri, now you post this video the day before I want to make Super Juice. Your timing is scary! ❤

[@therumrevival]

16:13 Dosage Daddy

[@makeanddrink]

you say it the French way, oui?

[@therumrevival]

@@makeanddrinkis there any other way? (Yes I know there is)

[@erickhines4121]

Im a simple man as well. Reach and pick fruit. Press. Enjoy 🥂

[@markcalhoun8219]

I like super juice for a lot of things, just not a daquiri or margarita. It tastes more like fruit loops than juice which can be super good in a lot of places.

[@urouroniwa]

The big thing you are missing is that the lime support has salt in it. Even that tiny amount of salt makes a huge difference. Kevin Kos *always* adds salt to his cocktails, which is why I think he prefers his own version. My recipe is *very* different than others (because I want lime flavor): 10:1 Water to peel ratio, 5.4% acid, no sugar, salt in the cocktail. I also don't add malic acid *at all*. It's all citric acid. This makes a massive difference in the balance. Acid in citrus fruits are incredibly variable. Some limes have less than 1% malic acid in them. The citric to malic acid ratio comes from Liquid Intelligence's acidified fruit juice recipes and *not* from the typical breakdown of acids in limes. Some people like mixing Persian limes, which often have over 50% malic acid in them, with normal limes in a cocktail. Some people hate it. It really depends on what you want. Finally, the reason for the no sugar is to allow you to balance the sweetness in the cocktail. It's just easier to reason when you don't have to remember how much sugar you added to the juice. I think that the beauty of "Super Juice" is the ability to make mixing juices that appeal to your taste. The vast majority of people ignore this aspect of it, preferring to blindly follow a recipe rather than to vote with their taste buds. Even when I say that, the amount of sugar you add to the super juice is another really good example of that. If you are making a Daiquiri and the balance is off, then the next time you make it, you should add more or less sugar. For some reason, nobody seems to be willing to do that. They want a recipe that's measured in 1 oz increments (or binary order of 2 fractions of 1oz). Or, they absolutely need to make their simple syrup exactly 1:1, rather than adjusting it to their taste. Ha ha... Going on a bit of a rant as usual. Thanks for the thought provoking video!

[@makeanddrink]

I do not believe salt is a big or contributing factor to these recipes and I can't imagine anyone would prefer one of these recipes over the other just because of the salt. Salt will bring out more lime flavor, which IMO is not what you want. Sugar is the big thing. It's 1/2 tsp of extra sugar per cocktail and when adding to a small drink like the Daiquiri that is significant.

[@MrHavy09]

Hey Derek great vid. Random question, have you tried the Giffard Mango Liqueur? I have the Chinola Mango Liqueur but was interested see the difference

[@introvertswag6494]

I love the concept of super juice, to use all of the lime instead of wasting the lime flesh and skin. However, as someone who doesn't drink very often I don't really feel the need to make it myself. When I want my occasional Saturday night cocktail, it's just more convenient for me to juice a lime or lemon and make the drink. Still, I can't deny the usefulness it provides in saving time and resources for businesses. Great comparison video as always, Derek!

[@makeanddrink]

Absolutely. While it makes much more sense for a bar, I still make it occasionally if I know I'll have people over, need to make a punch, slushie or whatever and need a sizable volume. That way I don't need to juice anything in the moment.

[@introvertswag6494]

@makeanddrink Having some for a group would definitely make it easier. Unfortunately, not many people I know care for cocktails so it would just end up as more for me haha

[@wesleywamsley443]

I make it because I can keep it for nearly a month in the fridge without it tasting bad like lime juice does Obviously you can keep the limes whole and they last awhile too, but I'll usually make a bottle of juice before people come over, and I used to waste a lot of lime juice. Now with like 2-4 limes I can make a 3 weeks to a month of cocktails

[@patricklaarhoven143]

@@introvertswag6494 You can also use it for a soda. I add a bit of super juice and simple syrup to carbonated water for a refreshing sprite like drink.

[@none_remaining]

@@introvertswag6494 it also freezes great! 1cup deli containers or even ice cubes work well for distributing that up-front time sink into nearly instant on-demand juice when you need it.

[@gillbertflenderson3733]

Best super juice in my opinion is from Very Good Drinks. Uses Salt and sugar to round it out.

[@digirira]

I haven't tried Brian Tasch's, but I also preferred Very Good Drinks' to Kevin Kos'. I feel like it's a good medium between the other three tested on this video.

[@jeffdonegan2062]

Agreed!

[@johnolmos8670]

Super juice has saved me a TON of money when I work catering gigs. Drinks taste just as good for the normals as well

[@Tikikingen]

Nice, love experiments!

[@digirira]

How would you compare the super juices to the supermarket shelf-stable lime juice concentrates? I remember you did an episode on those. (Personally, I preferred super juice over pasteurized) Thank you for the amazing videos. Learning so much from your research and insights. 🥂

[@makeanddrink]

I think they're very different. The shelf stable juices have a quintessential "juice" quality to them even when being bad. Where super juice does not have the off, metallic, "old" flavor and has a more intense lime oil flavor. But in my limited experience all of the little shelf stable concentrates were very different from eachother. I greatly prefer SJ to the "from concentrate" lime juice

[@jhcarrothers]

Great!

[@Grazfather]

"I don't see colour, so I didn't notice" lmao

[@kingjory28]

I've made two versions so far, Tasch and Koss. I like Tasch much better but next time I'm going to go with half the sugar and see the outcome.

[@makeanddrink]

If you run the numbers the peel to water ratio is identical. So it really comes down to sugar and acid levels. That's also where it gets tricky because they work together to balance things out.

[@kingjory28]

@makeanddrink I'm hoping to find a balance, I also couldn't figure out the shelf life on koss version and I know tasch is about a month

[@patricklaarhoven143]

Yeah I was wondering if a combination of the recipes would work best. Art Of Drink adds 10g of sugar instead of 30g and uses the same amount of peels. Art Of Drink's acid ratio looks more realistic too. On the other hand I'm not convinced adding the lime oils and terpenes makes sense. I wonder if that makes it remind of those green lime bottle as was mentioned in the video. Plus perhaps not adding back the lime juice like in Pseudo Lime could help the Art Of Drink recipe. Would also help with the shelf life. Or the other way around. Start with the Pseudo Lime recipe and reduce the sugar and malic acid.

[@BlankBlankerton]

What happens if you neutralize the acid with baking soda or some such thing, would the juice test at 0 brix?

[@makeanddrink]

I don't know what that would do to the solids dissolved in a solution

[@benandrovich112]

Derek, I have a question. I’m making Oleosaccharum right now. I know the peels are laden with sugar but could I use those for super juice? Or do I want to chuck those since they’ll be used up?

[@makeanddrink]

You don't want to use them because you've already extracted a lot of the oil out of them, which is what you need to make the SJ.

[@benandrovich112]

Thanks Derek! That makes a lot of sense! I have a load of homegrown citrus so I’m going to make a batch of super juice this weekend. Then drink it….

[@DirtMcKgirt]

Arminder!!!!!!!!

[@none_remaining]

Seeing the face Arminder makes at @15:50 for "Well let me take another sip and I'll tell you" makes me so upset to consider imagine him not returning from his couch break. Incredible mugging. Y'all are both priceless, even if you keep referring to Kos's recipe as the original after presenting Morris's actual origination. Given your comments about intensity, I do wonder if you'd like Darcy's best if you left out the terpene and just knocked the peel back a bit.

[@none_remaining]

To clarify, did you not add any juice back in to the three super recipes here?

[@makeanddrink]

Juice was added to the Super Juice recipe. All the recipes were followed exactly as each person has shared them. I consider the one from Nickel Morris to be the “original” and Kevin closely follows that. I choose to make Kevin’s exact spec as that is by far the most popular recipe and the one most people make. I choose throughout the video to label it “Super Juice” and call it original since I knew chances were good it might be least favorite and didn’t want to shit in anyone by calling them out. But let’s be clear, except for the AoD version these are all the same and are all Super Juice. More or less sugar / acid is just an adjustment. And yes, might like certain versions better if they were adjusted to my preferences, but ultimately wanted to showcase these specific recipes.

[@none_remaining]

@@makeanddrink Thank you for spelling out the juice-or-not inclusion for me! And I meant no quibble with your choice of recipes to compare; your analysis and presentation makes for a great showcase IMO. I'm just being a bear about the "original" label because I prefer Morris's acid balance and higher 10:1 peel ratio to Kos's 16:1. (Credit to Darcy and Bryan's salts too, they make a nice difference for my taste.) Wondering aloud about your preference was just that -- not a "why don't you make it so you like it" prompt -- simply thinking about how to better understand your palate vis a vis these recipes.

[@patricklaarhoven143]

@@makeanddrink The ratio's are quite different though. Nickel Morris used very different acids with 43g/l citric and 7 or 8 g/l of malic while Kevin Koss adds 20g/l of malic. That's three times as much. Of a very harsh acid. I also think Kevin Kos uses only 1 lime for 250ml while Nickle Morris using 8 limes for a liter (ie twice as much peel). But then you feel there should be less peels in the three recipes you tried. So maybe half the peel is better. I personally preferred the Nickel Morris spec so far though (although I zest and don't blend). Will try the changes that Pseudo Lime and Art Of Drink made. Art Of Drink also added back the lime juice.

[@sergisamongas]

Super juice is just juice on lime support.

[@ericepperson8409]

I've been finding that I'm less into Kevin Cos as this year has gone on. Especially as he did a bunch of episodes pushing Fiol as an obvious sponsor. I don't think he needed make a response video to Leandro and Steve (the bartender) and it came off to me as somewhat defensive of not wanting to admit that something might be better than what he already considered his 'own'. I played around with mojitos made from Lime Support earlier this year, and found them slightly lacking compared to those made with fresh lime. If I was running a bar, I'd probably go with Brian Tasch's recipe, but seeing as how at home I can get limes for not too much, and making a few cocktails a week at most, I'll continue to use fresh unless I'm preparing for a large party, ala some kind of prebatched punch.

[@makeanddrink]

I enjoyed his response and found it worthy of something to respond to. It seemed to me like everyone was doing these in good fun. I don't think enough people have fully looked into these recipes. If you take the recipe Kevin has shared and make a Daiquiri and then simply add 2grams of additional sugar you'll essentially have the lime support version. And I think the argument that you can just add more sugar to your cocktail is a valid one.

[@StevetheBartender_]

Sponsorships are absolutely crucial to running a KZbin channel otherwise Kevin wouldn’t be able to provide so much high quality and free content (remember, it’s a team of 3 people too). I was fine with featuring in the response video :-)

[@vdevov]

I genuinely do not like the Kevin Kos super juice, my wife and two friends I had over for drinks agreed against that and straight lime juice (from the same batch of limes.) Nickle Morris’ original recipe though has been my go to ever since. To me it tastes closer to real lime juice than anything bought at the store. I’m in the process of giving the Brian Tasch recipe a try. See how it compares in more than just daiquiris.

[@Rynopb]

SJ never comes out well for me. I am a bit of an annoying eliteist, and I think delicate drinks like daiquri, gimlet, white lady NEED fresh. Limes themselves have a lot of variation in taste, so its hard to make a consistent daquiri using fresh, but picking the right limes is an important skill too. Generally, I wouldn't drink a daiquiri that was shaken in a boston shaker or using the wrong type of ice. Delicate drinks usually I find more agreeable in a Japanese 3-piece with nice 1x1 dice ice in the tin. I like a slightly shorter than normal shake but shake the hell out of it to get that air in there. I might even use a coffee frother to incorporate the granulated sugar with the lime (daquiris were traditionally made with sugar) adding more air in the process before adding the spirit. I wish you didn't skip the making of the drinks.

[@makeanddrink]

I used a Boston style shaker with thick glass, some old nugget ice and finest call simple syrup. Turned out great!

[@rignanroach1775]

So use fresh lime juice and a touch more sugar...? Got it. ROFL

[@makeanddrink]

Nah. Use fresh lime juice OR a super juice with some sugar.

[@JamesRyhl]

So what's the takeaway? According to this, the "perfect" super juice has: 1. Less lime peel than the standard recipe. 2: More sugar than the standard recipe, but not as much as lime support. 3: No extra terpines or essential oils. I get that it's rather subjective at this point, but kinda seems like we have all the puzzle pieces for a Make and Drink official recipe? I hope you're not too tired of the subject, cause I'd still like to see YOUR original recipe, rather than taste tests of other people's recipes.

[@makeanddrink]

I am in fact too tired of this topic. I don’t really want to spend more time working on recipes and at the end of the day my conclusion is they are not juice and never will be. So it’s best to go with what you tend to prefer. Do you want super lime forward? Something more mellow? Ideally this addresses the elephant in the room and that elephant is sugar. You can add more sugar to reduce the effect of acids, but you can also just use less acid. You can use less lime to get less lime oil flavor or use more if that’s what you want.

[@JamesRyhl]

@@makeanddrink Haha well, fair enough. Guess I'm a sucker for a neat, conclusive ending. I will go and find my own.

[@JohnKelly2]

Compare the super juice recipes to the back of the bottles of the stuff from the grocery store. They're the same.

[@slimpunk]

That’s…not true at all. Bottled lime juice is usually lime concentrate, water, and preservatives. Super juice is usually lime peel, water, and acid. Like Derek says in the video, it’s essentially lime oil juice.

[@bottomshelfdav]

verygooddrinks literally has the perfect super juice recipe

[@makeanddrink]

And what makes it different?