Something odd happened this Cinco de Mayo. And it has nothing to do with you waking up on the 6th wearing only a sombrero.
This past May we all survived what will from this day forward be known as Lime-Ageddon: The Great Lime Shortage of 2014.
“It was just a bloodbath,” said Max Toste, beverage program manager and part-owner of Deep Ellum and Lone Star Taco bar in Allston.
Harsh winters and springtime drought in mexico, where the U.S. gets a whopping 98 percent of its limes, originally brought prices up, but then things got even more dicey, and limes skyrocketed from $40 to a staggering $139 per carton in April when the Mexican drug cartels got involved, extorting farmers for profit cuts.
“At its worst we spent $1200 on limes in one week. I was freaking out, to be honest.”
The swollen lime prices made foodie news across the country, with many bars and (mostly) Mexican restaurants being forced to increase prices and cut down on lime juice and garnishes to keep up.
“You can squeeze about four liters of juice out of one case of lines,” Toste said. “If you do the math that’s $30/liter. That’s top-shelf booze prices.”
Markets have since to stabilize. Which is good, because sweet Jesus it’s finally summer in Boston and we only have so many days of sun. And boozy outdoor cocktails with limes are a mandatory access to sunshine.
