Post #337241 by KuKuAhu on Mon, Oct 8, 2007 2:51 PM

While agree to some extent, and can certainly admire the effort, I am considering a level of diminishing returns here that out weighs the process involved. To make better orgeat for less money and without chemicals is one thing... but to swear all but the 19th century from scratch version to be a total waste is innacurate and ignores 70 years of bartending.

I am willing to bet that by 1940, the French were shipping extract orgeats.

And actually, horchata and orgeat have little to do with one another outside of being similar grain emulsions.

Orge is French for barley. Orgeat was barely water before it became almond water (presumably sometime after the crusades... around the time marzipan was invented). For instance, "barley water" in Italian is "orzata". Italian for almond is "mandorla", and Spanish for almond is "almendra".

I guess for me it is like raising my own cattle to make a good steak... sure, I can concentrate on what I feed these cattle, how much exercise they get, the purity of their water..

Or I can just buy a great cut of beef and prepare it with practiced skill and care.

Which would be the more toothsome steak? I bet few could tell.

Also, for your enjoyment...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Almond#Sweet_and_bitter_almonds

Ahu

[ Edited by: KuKuAhu 2007-10-08 15:58 ]