In a recent trip to my local grocery store I was pleasantly surprised to find something OTHER than the basic Rose’s Lime Juice in the mixers isle. All thoughts stopped as I was drawn to find not only a natural sweetened lime juice but also a “real” grenadine as well. I decided it would be worth a side by side tasting and comparison of the basic standard of Rose’s with this new item on the shelf by “Powell & Mahoney.” I’ve based this review off of 5 main criteria: Recipe/Ingredients, Color, Aroma, Taste, and Overall.

To begin Rose’s Sweetened Lime Juice is based on Corn Syrup as it’s main sweetener and is colored artificially to give a strange green chartreuse color. The P&M’s color however is a refreshing amber color that already seems better by comparison. It’s ingredients are also 100% natural so instead of corn syrup, food coloring, and concentrated lime juice as the core components, you’re looking at filtered water, and cane sugar in addition to the same lime juice concentrate.

Rose’s Lime has a sweet and limey aroma that lends itself to something of a lime peel. The P&M lime juice smells less sweet and a bit more like apple juice (which is strange as it doesn’t contain any).

The taste of the Rose’s Lime should be familar to any mixologist. It’s very sour with some sweet undertones as the juice crosses your palette and settles down. The Powell & Mahoney Clarified Lime Juice however, has a far superior taste in my opinion. It’s less sour and has a wonderfully juicy taste like you just bit into a sugared lime wedge.

So between the two of them I’ll highly recommend some Powell & Mahoney Clarified Lime Juice (over Rose’s) for most drinks. While Rose’s is a nice color component and heavy on the sour which could be great for a modern cocktail, the P&M gives a classic taste to any drink. I imagine it would go great in a Gin or Rum based drink especially a Gimlet or a Daiquiri Variation. If you have some in your area, I recommend picking some up!