Taste Test: Kusaie Lime

I've had this Kusaie Lime now for about 3 years. I brought it by mistake as i thought it was another name for Key Lime which i have heard good reviews of. It is however, a different Lime. When i first tried one i used it as a wedge for a Corona and instantly disliked it due to a weird Camphorous flavour. It was then banished to the back of the garden. Today however i noticed the tree is laden with about 20 fruits so i thought i would give him another chance. So i juiced three with my Lime squeezer and made some Lime-onade with the Soda Stream. When just using the juice only, the lime is actually really good similar to maybe a spicy Meyer Lemon in flavour. Sweet, floral and spicy. I think it is the peel that is the source of the medicinal, resinous flavour so i recommend avoiding for lime wedges or zesting. I'll be definitely using the rest of the fruit on the tree now and taste them further. I went on to make a Mescal Margarita that night and it was exceptional! I have to say though, Tahitian Lime is still the favourite for flavour in my opinion. The elusive Key Lime though, is still yet to be sampled. Kusaie is also quite an ornamental fellow if just grown for that purpose alone. Lots of pinkish-white blossoms and then yellow fruits to follow.

Kusaie should be regarded as a yellow-fruited form of the Rangpur and therefore called the Kusaie Rangpur.  The tree is indistinguishable from other Rangpurs and the fruit differs significantly only in colour. Almost certainly this variety originated in India. It was introduced into Hawaii from Kusaie Island, of the Caroline group in Micronesia in 1885. Kusaie is said to have local importance as an acid fruit in the Hawaiian Islands.  Elsewhere in the United States it is a collection item or oddity.