Whether you’re new to making Tiki drinks or you’re an old hand at it with hundreds of rums in your home bar, one ingredient you’ll come across over and over again when mixing Tiki cocktails is Orgeat. This almond syrup adds sweetness and nuttiness to a huge range of drinks from the Mai Tai to the Trinidad Sour, thanks to its ability to balance spirits with sweetness and to bring out the rich caramel nuttiness of fine rums.
And while it might sound like something that is complicated or difficult to make, in fact it’s pretty easy to knock up your own Orgeat at home. With homemade syrup you’ll enjoy a fresher taste to your cocktails, and save yourself time and effort in hunting down Orgeat in the shops as it’s often hard to find commercially.
How to make Orgeat syrup
Orgeat is essentially a mix between a nut milk and a simple syrup, so you’ll want to soak almonds and blend them up — the same way you’d make nut milk — before mixing with plenty of sugar and heating — the same way you’d make a simple syrup. The key to making a good Orgeat is to use good quality almonds, so look for something which is unsalted, unroasted, and as fresh as you can find.
If you can only find salted almonds, that’s okay. Just be sure to skip adding the pinch of salt in this recipe. And at a push, you can use virtually any kind of nut to make a sweetened nut milk syrup, so if you have cashews or Brazil nuts or anything else then feel free to experiment with using those. But for the most classic Tiki flavor, you’ll want to stick with almonds.
Ingredients:
- 1 cup of almonds
- 2 cups of water
- 1 cups of granulated sugar
- Small pinch of salt
- Optional: tablespoon of vodka, brandy, or other strong liqueur
- Optional: half a teaspoon of rosewater or orange flower water
Method:
Begin by gently toasting the almonds to bring out their flavor by heating them in a pan over medium heat for a few minutes or by toasting them in the oven. Then either chop the almonds or add them to a food processor and pulse until fine. Put the ground almonds into a bowl and cover with the water, then leave them there to soak for several hours.
Use cheesecloth and a strainer to strain the liquid from the almonds, keeping the liquid and discarding the almond pulp. Put this liquid into a pan and heat it gently, adding the sugar and salt until both are fully dissolved. Be careful not to heat the mixture too much and avoid burning or caramelizing it.
Remove the syrup from the heat and leave to cool. Once cooled, add the optional tablespoon of spirit (this will help the syrup to last longer before going off). You can also add optional extras at this point such as rosewater or orange flower water. Just beware — these are very strong flavors so use them sparingly!
Your syrup can be kept in a swing-top bottle or jar and should be stored in the fridge, where it will last for several weeks.
