Liquid sunshine

Ventura Spirits makes the most of Pixie tangerine season with this beautiful citrus liqueur.

The Pixie tangerine is nothing sort of magical. It’s the kind of fruit you’d read about in children’s story where everything is tender, juicy, and tastes like candy. But these seedless wonders were actually an act of science, not sorcery. Developed by Howard B. Frost in 1927 at Riverside’s University of California Citrus Research Center, the Pixie is a result of open pollination of Kincy mandarins, which are a hybrid between a King Mandarin and a Dancy Tangerine.

They’re a small crop, making up less than one percent of California’s tangerine yield, and grown only by a dedicated group of farmers working on small family farms in the Ojai Valley. Pixies ripen in the spring from the previous year’s bloom, meaning it takes 11–15 months for a blossom to grow into a ripe piece of fruit. Sadly, they’re only available between March and May, with available fruit dwindling in stores throughout June.

They’re absolutely bursting with flavor and the thick, knobby peel is loaded with bright citrus oil, making it the perfect “zest shot” fruit. Every year I try to get my hands on as many Pixies as I can, but this year I discovered that Ventura Spirits make a limoncello-style liqueur with Pixie tangerines, which blends beautifully into cocktails. Below are a couple of test recipes that I’ve been loving recently, featuring Ventura Spirit’s Ojai Pixie-cello.