brandy - Girl & Tonic

Homemade Orgeat Recipe | 2 Different Step-By-Step Recipes to Make DIY Orgeat Syrup

by corrie.pennington / July 31, 2020

A homemade orgeat syrup made with blanched almonds, white & Demarara sugar, rosewater, & orange blossom water. Orgeat is a rich, classic syrup used in tiki cocktails like the Mai Tai and the Japanese Cocktail. Learn how to make it from scratch or check out the no-fuss orgeat recipe.

I’m excited for today’s post because being able to make this homemade orgeat recipe will open up a world of new cocktail recipes, namely tiki cocktails.

Disclosure: Some of the links below are affiliate links. If you buy a product via my affiliate link, I will receive a commission. This is at no additional cost to you. I only recommend products I actually like!

If you’re newer to the cocktail world, you might be unfamiliar with the word “orgeat”. And chances are, if you’re like me, you have no idea how to pronounce it. Before we talk about what it is, let’s learn how to say it first. Then, when you see it 1835 times in following paragraphs, you’ll cement the pronunciation in your memory.

It’s hard to phonetically type out, but my best attempt is or-zhjaht. Okay, okay, just click here to hear the pronunciation. Really, just click the link. Alright. Now we know. Orgeat. I’m kinda known for mispronouncing words in my familiar so I try to be ahead of the game now. (I once pronounced “beekeeper” as “beek eeper” so…)

Alright, now that we know how to pronounce it, let’s define it. Orgeat is an almond-based syrup that is used to flavor beverages like cocktails and coffee.

When I first launched this cocktail blog about 7 months back, I also started up the Girl & Tonic instagram account. Naturally, I started following a lot of other cocktail bloggers and cocktail Instagram-ers. That’s when I realized just how much I still had to learn about mixology. I mean, just what the HECK is this orgeat stuff I keep seeing in all of these ingredient lists?! (I’ll confess that in my head I was pronouncing it as or-geet. 🤦🏻‍♀️ Say it with me correctly now: orgeat. Good.)

Google didn’t let me down and informed me that it’s a sweet almond syrup with hints of orange blossom water and sometimes rosewater. Huh. Not what I was expecting. But I was intrigued. An almond syrup in cocktails? That sounds delish.

Now at this point in time, quarantine rules had been lifted a bit and stores were starting to open back up. I asked my husband to go to Spec’s (i heart u, Specs) to find me some of this infamous orgeat. He came home with a massive bottle of Finest Call’s orgeat syrup, proud of himself for grabbing the last bottle of orgeat the store. Apparently pandemics make people thirsty for Tiki cocktails. Looking at the bottle, though, I started setting myself up for disappointment. It looked artificial and syrup-y tasting. I poured myself a spoonful and found that I was right.

Darn. I knew it wasn’t what real orgeat syrup should probably taste like, but I used it in a few cocktails anyway. It was good, definitely sweet, but hardly had any nutty almond flavor to me. Maybe I was ruined from the get-go because I originally watched this YouTube video to learn what orgeat was. I wasn’t getting any of the orange blossom water or rosewater notes. I mean, I was barely getting the nutty notes.

I considered buying some higher-quality orgeat syrup online (I’ve heard great things about the Small Hand Foods orgeat) but figured why not try my own hand at making it. I know a lot of bartenders and home mixologists make their own, so dangit so can I.

If you’ve ever made your own almond milk, this homemade orgeat recipe has some similar steps. However, if it seems too involved, I include a ~~cheater’s version~~ no-fuss homemade orgeat recipe, too. Or you can always order the good premade stuff to make sure you like the flavor before you spend time & energy on a DIY recipe.

P.S. If you buy rosewater orange blossom water for this recipe, check out these recipes that use them: Novelist’s Garden (orange blossom water) and Solomon’s Bazaar (rosewater)

Ingredients for the Truly Homemade Orgeat Recipe

2 cups blanched almonds
1 1/4 cups water
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Demerara or turbinado sugar (this is my take- traditional recipes just use white sugar)
1/8 teaspoon rosewater
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 oz brandy (optional– for preservation)

How to Make the Truly Homemade Orgeat

Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. This is creating the syrup base. While you’re waiting, blend the almonds in a food processor until they are finely ground. Add the ground almonds to the syrup and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes. Remove the pot from the burner and cover with a lid. This almond mixture will need to steep for 3-4 hours.

After it has steeped, strain the mixture into a large bowl using a cheesecloth or very fine mesh strainer. I recommend a cheesecloth because then you can really squeeze and wring out every last drop. Throw the almond grounds away.

Add the orange blossom water, rosewater, and brandy (optional) to the syrup. Stir to combine. Pour the homemade orgeat syrup into a lidded container. Store in the fridge for 2-4 weeks, depending on if you used brandy or not as a preservative).

Homemade Orgeat Recipe

A homemade orgeat syrup made with blanched almonds, white & Demarara sugar, rosewater, & orange blossom water. Orgeat is a rich, classic syrup used in tiki cocktails like the Mai Tai and the Japanese Cocktail. It can also be added to coffee.

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Prep Time 5 mins

Cook Time 10 mins

Steep Time 3 hrs

Total Time 3 hrs 15 mins

Course Drinks

Servings 1 cups

Equipment

saucepan
cheesecloth
lidded container

Ingredients

2 cups blanched almonds
1¼ cup water
1 cup white sugar
¼ cup Demarara sugar (or just use white)
½ teaspoon orange blossom water
⅛ teaspoon rosewater
1 oz brandy

Instructions

Add the sugar and water to a saucepan and bring to a boil for 2-3 minutes. This is creating the syrup base.
While you're waiting, blend the almonds in a food processor until they are finely ground.
Add the ground almonds to the syrup and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for another 2-3 minutes.
Remove the pot from the burner and cover with a lid. Steep for 3-4 hours.
After it has steeped, strain the mixture into a large bowl using a cheesecloth or very fine mesh strainer.* Throw the almond grounds away.
Add the orange blossom water, rosewater, and brandy (optional) to the syrup. Stir to combine.
Pour the homemade orgeat syrup into a lidded container. Store in the fridge for 2-4 weeks, depending on if you used brandy or not as a preservative.

Notes

*I recommend using a cheesecloth. It’ll be messy, but you’ll be able to squeeze out every drop of syrup.

Keyword almonds, orange blossom water, orgeat, rosewater, sugar

Ingredients for the No-Fuss Homemade Orgeat Recipe

1 1/2 cups unsweetened almond milk
1-2 teaspoons almond extract, depending on the strength & quality of your extract
1 cup white sugar
1/4 cup Demerara or turbinado sugar (this is my take- traditional recipes just use white sugar)
1/8 teaspoon rosewater
1/2 teaspoon orange blossom water
1 oz brandy (optional– for preservation)

How to Make No-Fuss Homemade Orgeat Syrup

Add the almond milk, almond extract, and sugars to a saucepan. Heat to a boil. Remove from heat and add the rosewater, orange blossom, water, and brandy. Stir to combine. Pour the homemade orgeat syrup into a lidded container. Store in the fridge for 2-4 weeks, depending on if you used brandy or not as a preservative).

simple syrup

Cherry Simple Syrup | How to Use Cherry Pits to Make a Delicious Syrup

by corrie.pennington / June 29, 2020

This cherry simple syrup is made with cherry pits. It has a delicate, delicious flavor– far from any artificial cherry flavor you might be familiar with. And don’t worry, it’s nontoxic. But more on that later on.

When I bought fresh cherries last week, I was only planning on making brandied cherries. But as I started seeing the cherry pits pile up, I knew I couldn’t let them go to waste. I recalled that a friend of mine told me he used cherry pits in his homemade Luxardo cherry recipe. I considered adding the cherry pits to my brandied cherries and then figured I’d try to make a cherry simple syrup instead.

In the back of my mind, I felt like I remembered something about cherry pits being toxic. If that was true, how was my friend able to use them in his recipe? Hmm… A quick Google search helped me sort that out.

This cherry simple syrup is made with cherry pits. It has a delicate, delicious almond flavor-- far from any artificial cherry flavor you might be familiar with. And don't worry, it's nontoxic.

Cherry pits, like the pits of other stone fruits such as peaches and plums, contain kernels inside called noyaux. The noyaux contain amygdalin, which turns into cyanide when it’s consumed or digested. This sounds a little scary, huh? The good news is that even if you swallow a few cherry pits on accident, you’re in the clear. This is because the amygdalin-ridden noyaux is safely nestled inside the casing of the pit. The outer shell of the pit is meant to withstand stomach acids. This is so that the precious kernel (where the amygdalin is) is protected even if an animal eats the fruit. The only way to expose the kernel is if you crack the pit open.

So, it is totally safe to use whole cherry pits. As long as you don’t crush, crack, or chew on the pits, no harmful toxins will be released. But, if you accidentally add a cracked cherry pit to the saucepan, it’s fiiine because we’re boiling the syrup anyway.

Yes, it is safe to use the kernel itself if you cook it. Noyaux is used commonly in Europe to flavor ice creams and other various sweet treats. If the noyaux is toasted or boiled prior to use, it renders the amygdalin harmless.

Hopefully, you’re feeling confident that this cherry simple syrup made with cherry pits is indeed safe. Like 100% safe. If you want more information, or if you’re wanting to hear this information from a more certified source, check out Poison.org’s article.

Now that I’ve cleared the air about cherry pits being poisonous, we can move on to talking about the cherry simple syrup.

Invest in a cherry pitter to make this cherry simple syrup recipe easier, faster, and cleaner!

Pitting cherries is a pain in the B-U-T-T so to make this chore easier, I invested in a cherry pitter. I loooove this one because it has a built-in splatter shield. It made the process a lot cleaner. If you’re gonna be pitting a whole bag of cherries, be kind to yourself and invest in a cherry pitter.

The great thing about using the cherry pits to flavor the syrup is that they impart a delicate almond flavor. Bits of the fruit flesh will cling to the pit and will flavor the syrup as well.

When I was making the syrup, I noticed that the syrup color was more brown than red so I threw in 3 or 4 cherries. This created the gorgeous maroon color like you see in the photos.

Wondering how you can use this cherry pit simple syrup? You can add some to your iced tea, use it in baking, drizzle it over some pancakes or waffles, make a mocktail with Sprite or sparkling water, or of course, in a cocktail. This would go beautifully in an Old Fashioned. I also think it would make an interesting Cherry Gimlet.

Let me know in a comment below how you plan on using this cherry simple syrup.

If you’re interested in creating other flavored simple syrups, check out these 6 other flavors.

Ingredients to Make Cherry Simple Syrup Made with Cherry Pits

1/2 cup cherry pits (this will come from about 3 cups or 1 pound of fresh cherries)
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
3 cherries (optional)
1/4 oz brandy (optional– to preserve it)

How to Make Cherry Simple Syrup Made with Cherry Pits

Add the cherry pits, sugar, water, and cherries to a small saucepan. Simmer for 5-10 minutes. Remove from heat and strain the contents into a mason jar or other sealable container. Add the splash of brandy and allow the syrup to cool before placing the lid on. Store in the fridge for 1-2 months.

If it begins to look cloudy, toss it. You can also freeze some of the syrup. Just keep in mind it may not freeze all the way due to the high sugar content and the small amount of brandy.