Lime Cordial
Lime cordial is lime juice kept with sugar instead of alcohol, a method Lauchlan Rose patented in 1867, by the Oxford Companion’s account. It carries no alcohol, and in our Gimlet and Vodka Gimlet it supplies all the sugar and all the citrus, 22.5ml against 60ml of spirit. Our house version mixes fresh lime juice with its own weight of sugar, steeped with zest, and we keep it a week chilled.
Quick Facts
Rose's: we keep it sealed in a cool, dry place. Home-made: refrigerated from the day it is made.
Contains: sulphites. Rose's ingredients on Coca-Cola’s GB site list sodium metabisulphite, a sulphite; home-made cordial has none. Recipes change: check the bottle.
About Lime Cordial
Flavour Profile
Primary Flavours
Tasting Notes
Cooked lime and sugar with a marmalade edge: rounder and deeper than fresh juice, sharper than any plain syrup.
Lime cordial began as a way to keep lime juice at sea
In 1867 Lauchlan Rose patented a way to keep lime juice sweetened with sugar rather than laced with alcohol; until then, Difford’s Guide says, the juice was preserved by adding 15% rum. The timing suited him. The Merchant Shipping Act of the same year made British ships carry lime juice for their crews, and Coca-Cola’s GB site says Rose’s was established that year as the world’s first concentrated fruit drink.
Rose's today is a squash; the house cordial is fresh
The Rose's sold in Britain is a concentrated cordial meant for diluting. Coca-Cola’s GB site lists lime juice from concentrate, sugar, citric acid, flavourings, a sulphite preservative and colours; we finish an opened bottle within three to four weeks. The house version is equal weights of caster sugar and fresh lime juice, with the zest rubbed into the sugar first and a little citric acid, made without heat. It tastes of the peel as much as the juice, and we keep it one week in the fridge.
Lime cordial against fresh lime and syrup (keeping times are ours)
Rose's (UK)
- Made from
- Lime juice from concentrate, flavourings
- Sweetened with
- Sugar
- Keeps once open
- Three to four weeks
- In a Gimlet
- The classic: soft and sweet
House lime cordial
- Made from
- Fresh lime juice and zest
- Sweetened with
- Caster sugar, 1:1 by weight
- Keeps once open
- One week, refrigerated
- In a Gimlet
- Sharper, with peel perfume
Fresh lime juice and simple syrup
- Made from
- Juice squeezed the same day
- Sweetened with
- 1:1 simple syrup
- Keeps once open
- The same day
- In a Gimlet
- A different, sourer drink
| Option | Made from | Sweetened with | Keeps once open | In a Gimlet |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rose's (UK) | Lime juice from concentrate, flavourings | Sugar | Three to four weeks | The classic: soft and sweet |
| House lime cordial | Fresh lime juice and zest | Caster sugar, 1:1 by weight | One week, refrigerated | Sharper, with peel perfume |
| Fresh lime juice and simple syrup | Juice squeezed the same day | 1:1 simple syrup | The same day | A different, sourer drink |
The Gimlet is built on it
The Savoy Cocktail Book of 1930 made the Gimlet half gin and half lime cordial, and Raymond Chandler's The Long Goodbye repeated the rule in 1953 with Rose's by name. Cigar Aficionado prefers the Gimlet in the proportions of a modern Martini, two to four parts gin. Ours pours 22.5ml of cordial into 60ml of gin, and the Vodka Gimlet makes the same drink with vodka. In both the cordial is the only citrus and the only sugar, so a tired bottle shows at once.
Fresh lime makes a different drink
Fresh lime juice and syrup can stand in, but the drink changes: sharper, thinner and closer to a Daiquiri made with gin, without the rounded, peel-scented lime that cordial gives. Neither is wrong. If a guest asks for a Gimlet, it is worth asking which one they expect.
Using Lime Cordial
Usage
Poured neat at 22.5ml into 60ml of gin for our Gimlet, or vodka for the Vodka Gimlet, and stirred with no other citrus or sugar. Beyond those two it makes a soft drink, diluted with water or soda as the bottle directs.
House Recipe
Ingredients
- Zest of 4 limes, without the pith
- 200g caster sugar
- 200g fresh lime juice (about 200ml, from 7 or 8 limes)
- About 2g citric acid
Method
- Rub the zest into the sugar and leave it for an hour, so the sugar draws out the oils.
- Stir in the lime juice and citric acid until the sugar dissolves; no heat is needed.
- Cover and refrigerate overnight, then strain out the zest.
- Bottle, label with the date and keep it in the fridge.
Food safety
Fresh juice and nothing cooked: refrigerate it from the day it is made, and discard it if it fizzes, clouds or grows mould.
Pro Tip
A Gimlet made from a bottle opened last summer tastes of sugar and little else. Buy the smallest bottle or make a week's worth, because the cordial is the drink's only citrus and its freshness decides the glass.
Top Tips
- Taste the bottle before you pour. Rose's UK cordial is sold as a squash for diluting, so neat it is sweeter and less sour than fresh lime juice.
- Rub the zest into the sugar an hour before the juice goes in; the sugar draws out the peel oils, and that perfume is what a home-made cordial has over a bottle.
- Date a home-made batch; we finish ours within the week. Fresh juice made without heat does not keep longer for being sweet.
- If a Gimlet tastes flat, check how long the bottle has been open: we give Rose's three to four weeks.
Possible Substitutions
- Fresh Lime Juice: Plus simple syrup: brighter and sourer, a modern Gimlet rather than the classic one
Production Method
Commercial: lime juice from concentrate with sugar, citric acid, flavourings and a sulphite preservative, sold to be diluted (Rose's UK). Home-made: lime zest rubbed into sugar, then fresh lime juice and citric acid stirred in without heat, and strained the next day.
History & Context
The sources differ on who Lauchlan Rose was. The Oxford Companion calls him Lauchlan Rose of Edinburgh, Difford’s Guide the owner of a shipyard in Leith, and the Leith Local History Society a Leith shipbuilder’s son who set up in business provisioning ships, adding that lime juice was among what he supplied in 1863. The Companion and Difford’s date his patent for preserving lime juice with sugar rather than alcohol to 1867, and both say the Merchant Shipping Act 1867 made British merchant ships carry lime juice for their crews. Coca-Cola’s GB site says Rose’s was established in 1867 as the world’s first concentrated fruit drink.
More to explore
Common Questions
What is lime cordial?
Should a Gimlet use lime cordial or fresh lime juice?
How much lime cordial goes in a Gimlet?
Is Rose's lime cordial the same in the UK and the US?
How long does lime cordial last once opened?
How do I make lime cordial at home?
Why are British sailors called limeys?
Where does the name Gimlet come from?
Sources.
Checked between 17 October and 19 October 2026.
- The Oxford Companion to Spirits and Cocktails (Paul Clarke), “A Gimlet” (secondary source: the Merchant Shipping Act of 1867 and Lauchlan Rose of Edinburgh’s alcohol-free process the same year; the name and Rose’s in Harry’s ABC of Cocktails, 1922).
- Difford’s Guide, “Gimlet (Difford’s Recipe)” (secondary source: lime juice preserved with 15% rum; Lauchlin Rose, owner of a shipyard in Leith; the Merchant Shipping Act 1867; Limeys; the gimlet tool and Sir Thomas Gimlette).
- Cigar Aficionado (Jack Bettridge), “The Gimlet” (named-author drinks writer: the Gimlet in the proportions of a modern Martini, two to four parts gin).
- Coca-Cola Great Britain, “Rose’s Lime Cordial”.
- Leith Local History Society, “Roses Lime Juice” (local history society (a registered Scottish charity): Lachlan Rose, a Leith shipbuilder’s son, provisioning ships; lime juice in 1863; sweetened and bottled).
From the Guides
Made with Lime Cordial
Featured In These Cocktails
Often Used With
Updated 19 October 2026