Use it before it dries out
What to do with leftover citrus
Bought a bag of limes for one recipe and only used half of it? Here's where the rest goes.
Citrus is the one ingredient almost every cocktail recipe insists has to be fresh, which means it's also the ingredient most likely to sit around going soft after a single recipe only needed half a lime. Rather than let the rest dry out, it's usually worth building a second drink around whatever's left — fresh citrus juice keeps for a day or two at most, so this is a use-it-soon list, not a use-it-eventually one.
Grouped below by which juice each recipe actually needs, so you can jump straight to whichever fruit you're trying to get through.
Leftover lime
52 cocktailsGinger Lime Fizz
Ginger beer, lime and soda over ice with mint — a spicy, fizzy CocktailHQ original.
Bacardí Cocktail
White rum, lime and grenadine, shaken cold — a Daiquiri with a pink, pomegranate-sweetened twist.
Tommy's Margarita
Tequila, lime and agave syrup — no triple sec — a cleaner, more agave-forward take on the Margarita.
Three Dots and a Dash
Dark and gold rum shaken with citrus, falernum and allspice dram — a spiced tiki classic named for its Morse-code cherry garnish.
Kombucha Mule
Ginger kombucha and lime over ice — a tangy, faintly funky alcohol-free take on the Moscow Mule format.
Sparkling Cranberry Mocktail
Tart cranberry juice lengthened with soda and lime — a bright, festive-looking three-ingredient mocktail.
Cucumber Mint Cooler
Muddled cucumber and mint lengthened with lime and soda — a cool, green, alcohol-free highball.
Virgin Daiquiri
Lime and sugar blended with crushed ice to a frozen slush, finished with a splash of soda — the Daiquiri's citrus snap, without the rum.
Queen's Park Swizzle
Rum, lime, mint and sugar swizzled through crushed ice, with a float of Angostura on top.
Leftover lemon
41 cocktailsBetween the Sheets
Cognac, white rum, triple sec and lemon in close-to-equal parts — a strong, citrus-bright Sidecar relative.
Leftover orange
27 cocktailsThree Dots and a Dash
Dark and gold rum shaken with citrus, falernum and allspice dram — a spiced tiki classic named for its Morse-code cherry garnish.
Virgin Sunrise
Orange juice and grenadine, layered so the colour bleeds from red to gold — the Tequila Sunrise without the tequila.















































