On our parents’ property in Naitasiri, there are many kumquat trees. They make use of the beautiful fruit by processing them into a juice.
Kumquats are a citrus fruit, high in Vitamin C. The fruit is packed with vitamins and minerals, including those that weed out carcinogens and prevent cancer. Unlike other citrus fruits, kumquats are usually eaten whole, peel and all. The peel is packed with essential oils, anti-oxidants and fiber.
Kumquats have been filling the trees since we’ve been here; so we’ve been collecting them on our walks (usually 4-5 bags at a time) and making the juice ourselves.
After picking the kumquats, we wash them all. Then we cut them in half to make them easier to process. We put them in the food processor, skin and all, and they make a thick pulpy liquid. We then strain that using mesh, putting the pulp aside to save for later. We transfer the strained juice concentrate into bottles. Our 4-5 bags of kumquats make about 6 liters of juice, and a comparable amount of pulp. We store the pulp in the refrigerator, and the juice bottles in the freezer until we’re ready to drink them.
To make our daily kumquat juice, we use about 1/4 cup of the concentrate and ¾ cup of water. We then sweeten it with the liquid sweetener of choice- either1 tsp of honey, maple syrup, or coconut nectar.
