FAQ Lemon product reviews

I really like lemons and baking with lemons so I thought it would be interesting to try with this drink. I did choose recipes I had done in the past so I can compare them. When the bottle first got here I had a taste of the drink and it was nice so I thought great at least my baking should taste good.

First I did Lemon Sour Cream Cake and when reading the recipe I discovered that there was no lemon essence in the cake so I just put the FAQ Lemon in the icing sugar and it was nice, the icing was sweet and just as it seemed to be too sweet the lemon taste came through and it was really nice.

I then did a Lemon Yoghurt Cake as that does actually have lemon juice in the cake. Worst mistake I could have done. The recipe is a little vague on baking time but I normally find after 45 minutes that the cake is done (I have been taught to use a knife and if it comes out clean without batter on it then the cake is done) so thought that would be a good place to start, the cake crust was done but the knife came out very doughy so then I put it back for ten minutes and tested after every ten minutes. The cake took another hour to actually be baked ie the knife came out clean. The crust was burnt and hard and there was no lemon taste in the cake at all.

I would maybe buy the drink for drinking or making a nice lemon icing but never would I bake with it again.

Having been an avid tester of many alcoholic beverages during my days at Uni, I was curious to see how this drink differed from a Limoncello... like night and day!

Where Limocello is made from the zest and rind of the fruit, this wee drop is made from the juice, and that's where the added tartness comes from. To say this is "an alcoholic lemon juice" would be akin to saying that the Titanic "is a boat of some size" - accurate, but hardly covering the scope of it. This is a very stunning drop that, due to the sharpness, may not appeal to many... but for those who can eat sour lollies by the handful the way most people eat popcorn... this is delight in a bottle.

Speaking of the bottle... glass. So's the stopper. This makes it great at resisting contamination of the drink by anything dissolving under the acidic onslaught. It also means the entire bottle is recyclable, reusable (for oils or vinegars), and even upcycleable by anyone crafty enough.

Deciding to play to the strengths of the drink, I treated it as a lemon juice substitute, and used it in some baking - both as an ingredient in the muffins, and also for making icing. I also used it to make a lemon-sugar glaze atop some speciality muffins I baked as part of another #FoodLab experiment. In all cases this turned out amazingly well, keeping that rich lemon flavour the whole way through.

I also tried this as a 'flavour enhancer' in some L&P - which I have always found too sweet to drink much of, even the "dry" version - and it offset that sickly sweetness wonderfully. It brought the 'L' back into focus! I have no idea why the recipe calls for it to be so sweet you can't taste anything... but a generous splash of this into a tall glass of L&P over ice... a quick swirl to mix... and I had something I could proudly serve to guests over a Summer BBQ meal.

Overall, this is certainly one of the most novel and impressive lemon-based beverages I have come across in more years than I care to admit to. It's in fully eco-friendly packaging, and it's 100% Kiwi Made... what could be better!

Omigosh I love this what a great tasting drink and a versatile one at that. When it arrived I loved the bottle straight away it is really simple yet the features are so elegant with the slimline glass bottle and the neat little glass stopper. The lemon liquer inside looks so natural you can see all the little floaty bits sitting on the bottom of the bottle until you give it a little shake up, I loved that about it so authentic looking.

The first thing I did was to pour myself a shot glass, it was nice really sweet and smooth, it ust glides down your throat and leaves no after burn. It got me thinking about the burn of alcohol and I decided to give it a go as a chaser to a shot of vodka. It was such a great combination with the burn of the vodka and the slightly nasty after taste the FAQ lemon went down nicely, the sweet smoothness settled the burn and left a far more pleasant taste in the mouth.

We have been getting into having loafs lately as they are so easy to make and are great to have for lunches spread with a little bit of butter. I looked for a good lemon loaf recipe and found one for a great lemon syrup loaf which I thought was perfect. The recipe was just basically a lemon butter cake cooked in a loaf tin, with a syrup made from lemon juice and sugar poured over the top once cooked. I substitued the lemon juice in both parts for the FAQ lemon. It was a delicious choice the loaf is very sweet and has a nice stickiness to it from the syrup.

I also made some little lemon curd tartlets. My partner loves lemon meringue tarts but i'm not a fan of the egg white part so I never add this to the top. I cut down on the sugar in the lemon curd recipe and substitued the lemon juice for the FAQ lemon. These were delicious served with some icecream although my partner still insisted they would of been better with the meringue topping (blergh). You couldn't taste they were alcoholic so I let my daughter have one as I figured the alcohol would of probably burnt off in cooking the curd.

I wanted to try something different with the liquer, and searched for some recipes that used lemon in a savoury way. One of my favourite things is couscous salad, and I always add a squeeze of lemon juice when I make it so decided to use it in a couscous salad. I was worried it was going to be too sweet and my partner has a real thing about savoury food being savoury. I used a small splash of the FAQ lemon and some minced garlic chopped mint and tomato and some butter. I thought it did taste a bit sweet but mr fussy pants didn't notice so it couldn't of been too bad. I thoroughly enjoyed it anyway :)

I am a little sad at how quickly my bottle has gone down a because it tastes so good to just drink, and b because there are so many ways you can use this. I want to try lemon cheesecake squares, and lemon brownies, and I am really keen to give a sweet crispy lemon chicken a go so what is left of my bottle is really going to be rationed carefully.

I have just been lucky enough to receive a bottle of FAQ Lemon and this is a real treat. First you have a beautifully crafted bottle complete with a vintage style glass stopper, which initially confused me because I've not seen glass stoppered bottles outside my lab. There was a pleasing pop/click as I levered off the top with my thumb to release the amazing aroma.

I poured some into my glass and inhaled the aroma which was rather surprisingly of lemon juice - a nice rich juicy lemon. No pithy or peely notes, just real lemon.

The flavour is also to be expected with a surprising twist. It is smooth and pleasant to sip, the alcohol goes almost unnoticed in such a finely balanced and carefully crafted product. The sweetness is not over-powering and carefully balanced with the acidity of the lemon, with enough acidity so you can tell it is lemon, but not so sour that you pull faces that would scare kids and cats.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoy this product - a nice warming beverage on a cold winter's night and yet could be a nice refreshing drink on a hot summer's day and I look forward to sampling a few more bottles.

I was very lucky to receive a bottle of this FAQ Lemon drink for review. When the bottle arrived, it came to my work place. Everyone gathered around my desk, because a parcel is a great excuse to stop and watch. The comments were all very positive and a bit jealous. The bottle itself is beautiful. It's a great shape, it looks elegant and it has a glass stopper as well which adds to the WOW factor. There was one grumble about the low alcohol content.

When I got it home for the evening, I opened the bottle and presented my husband with a shot glass. This stuff is smooth with some heat from the alcohol though it doesn't burn. It is very tart, and for me it was like drinking alcoholic lemon juice. My husband on the other hand thought it tasted exactly like a lemon toddy with honey.

I made several things with this product before it ran out. The first thing I made was a simple ice cream with a bottle of cream and a 1/2 tin of condensed milk. I added the FAQ to the condensed milk first to avoid curdling of the cream. Whizzed up and frozen, this made a great ice cream. The alcohol content means that the ice cream doesn't go totally hard making scooping easy too.

I made a lemony cream cheese icing for carrot cake as well. That added just an extra kick to the icing flavour. The tartness of the lemon against the cream cheese, made me instantly think of cheesecake. So I made a simple cheesecake filling, added these to baby food jars I had left over. Then once set, I added a FAQ jelly to the top. This was made with gelatine and hot water. It is best to hold off adding the FAQ until the gelatine mix has cooled otherwise the alcohol content is lessened. This made a sour lemon jelly which paired with the lemony cheesecake was delicious. If you wanted a sweet tart jelly, you could just dissolve sugar in the mix as well.

Lastly there is a lemony brownie recipe doing the rounds on facebook at the moment, so I thought I would give that a go. The kick of the alcohol wasn't there in the brownie, but the flavour of the lemon was. It was the perfect pairing with the FAQ ice cream warm from the oven. Yum.

I'm sure you could do a savoury sauce or something for over fish or chicken. However, I just ran out. It's great with lemonade too! This is a great little product. Its classy, it's tasty and very versatile. If you are looking for a sophisticated, natural lemon liquor to be savoured, this would be your drink.

Turning 70 isn't the best thing in the world to celebrate with the whole hapu around you when you live in a small house and all you really want to do is curl up in bed with a hot water bottle, a good book and a hot mug of milo, but when the whanau invade and give you no choice, what is an old tane to do? Put on that smile and ride the wave.

So when the courier arrived with a wonderful bottle of something that sounded amazing enough that I actually requested it, and there was a group of 30 or so people all staring at you with that look that says "So, you gonna share that around, Koro?" I sighed inside and resigned myself to getting only a small sip of my new brew. I was over the moon when, upon hearing it was "just some fancy lemon juice" only one guest, the new boyfriend of my youngest tamariki hine, was willing to give it a try, and he was open to joining me in the kitini for a taste away from other eyes.

The deal was, he got one sip of it and if he liked it, he could have a shotglass, but only if he promised NOT to say a word to anyone else, but If he didn't like it, he was free to proclaim loudly how horrible it was. I was really hoping I wouldn't find myself in the second boat too. The first sip told me I had to hope the chap was going to be true to his word, because I was feeling like guarding this very jealously.

He was a man of his word, and after some meaningful manly-stares we enjoyed our shotglass each, and returned to the party and avoided talking about the drink for the rest of the evening. About 5 minutes after I successfully evicted the crowd, I was back into my kitini to enjoy a nice big shot of this in a cup of hot water and honey. The perfect drink for a freezing cold night home alone. Putting the TV on in the bedroom, I climbed into bed to sip away on this amazing creation.

The next day, I received a visit from Mere, one of my friends from the Bridge Club, to whom I also offered a taste of this. She was impressed, though she admitted it was a little tart for her tastes, but was amazed when I made her a cup of my evening brew from the night before, and asked if she could have the empty bottle when I was done with it. I agreed, but only if she helped me empty it in a good way, by making one of her amazing desserts - she's so talented at sweet foods.

Mere had just been shopping and had come across a free recipe for a single-serve lemon pudding, so she agreed to make us one each. That was last night, and I can still close my eyes and remember the silky smooth texture and that rich, zesty lemon taste as we sat and quietly fell off the planet and into a dessert-induced bliss. The bottle is still a third full, and I will be sad to see the last of it go, even while I savour it going, sip by sip. But this is something that is at a good price, and I will be "hinting" to the Bridge Club social committee that this would be a wonderful addition to this year's Christmas Banquet line-up. With Mere backing me up, I suspect we will get our way, and convert half the club to this great new drink.

I was VERY lucky to get a bottle of this to review, especially considering that KIWIreviews originally only got two bottles to review. I was very happy to try this out as I love it when lemon is done well and it's always enjoyed in our house.

My first test had to be just a straight plain out of the bottle test so I poured a shot glass worth for myself, my mum and my husband. Make sure you give the bottle a shake as it does settle, it's made out of the good stuff folks and then give it a nice sniff. The lemon smell hits right away. Gave it a taste and it is definitely lemon, without a doubt, and has a wonderful taste. All three of us agreed that it has a nice flavour and a nice little buzz to it.

I got given a box full of fruit and veggies that are near their use by date and so perfect for baking with, so I decided to go with making carrot cake muffins. I am a fan of a good lemon cream cheese icing, and having managed to score some cream cheese for cheap, so it seemed like the perfect time to use the FAQ Lemon. I found that I needed to add extra icing sugar to thicken it, due to the FAQ lemon, but it still ended up with a great lemony taste with just a little buzz to it. Perfect match and one of the few things that I bake that I will keep for myself ;)

Since I had my big box of stuff I decided t make an Apple Crumble in my small crock-pot. The recipe that I usually use calls for lemon, so what better item to substitute the lemon for than this lovely drink? Mixed this through the apple and sugar cinnamon mix, and honestly, I could have eaten it without cooking it, it added a nice enough flavour to the dish. Then, for extra good measure I added this to the crumble mixture, I ended up with no crunch but plenty of taste.

My last dish was a little naughty but something that I love, I love to eat my pancakes with a coating of brown sugar and lemon juice (just enough that the sugar is all wet, it's one of those dishes where I lick my plate clean. Well, I did that with the FAQ lemon, I just "forgot" to add the pancakes. *drool*

I really wish I had a second bottle as this one is almost empty, taking my time with the shot glass full that I have and really wanting to polish off the rest of the bottle but want it to last as long as possible. Think I like it?