Post #336309 by Scottes on Wed, Oct 3, 2007 6:43 PM

JOE! Dump The Fee's!

The first time I made Orgeat I compared it against the Fee's. The Fee's sucked. My Orgeat is nowhere near as good as my next batch will be now that I know about several more mistakes I've made, and still the Fee's sucked. Dude, it burned the back of my throat! Ack! I dumped it, all 735ml that I had left out of the original 750.

Obviously, now I know that I will be bringing a bottle of the home-made to your house. And I think there's a good chance that you will dump your Fee's.

As to the dedication and precision... Well, I know that The Gnomon and I agree that our intention here is to make your life better, along with anyone else who reads this drivel.

And that reminds me about one thing I should have explained earlier. I have never had good orgeat. All I have ever had was the Fee's. So my pursuit of "perfect" orgeat is a quest to understand what it's supposed to taste like. So far I have made 3 or 4 batches, and have screwed up every one, primarily because I cooked it by boiling it in an attempt to reduce every batch in order to get the strongest almond taste.

OCD... I don't think Tiki is supposed to be compulsive or obsessive. I have always thought of it as being extremely laid back and comfortable.

However, when it comes to tiki cocktails that's thrown out the window for some of us. A perfect Mai Tai is relaxing. An imperfect Mai Tai makes me want a perfect Mai Tai so I can relax...

Almond Mash... Yes, I definitely think you can go too fine. Ideally I think that every single almond particle would be slightly too big to fit through a fine filter. Yeah, perfect.

Drying and milking... Given that the almond oil doesn't evaporate I think that washing and drying them as quickly as possible is key. Save all the oil in the almond. For instance I think that "soaking them for no more than 30 minutes" (para-phrasing somebody in this thread) is not ideal. Rinse them quickly, dry them quickly, keep all the oil in the almond. If the rinse starts the milking process then stop it as soon as possible to allow maximum control and oil extraction. That's my theory.

Dang. Now I have to test that theory one of these days. I'm going to go make a near-pefect Mai Tai...

PS: Joe!! Dump the Fee's!!!