Orgeat Taste Test -- the results are in! - Tiki Drinks and Food

A AceExplorer Grand Member (8 years) Deep in the Jacksonville Flori-duh jungle. Joined: Apr 03, 2008 Posts: 2564	A AceExplorer Posted posted on Fri, Nov 9, 2012 6:05 AM I do not refrigerate my store-bought Orgeat, I think it's probably chock-full of preservatives and it's time I get off my lazy ass and start making Orgeat from scratch... heh! But I do think the bottle may even clearly make the statement that no refrigeration is required, I'll have to go look later... But definitely, if I made my own Orgeat, I would not risk my labor-of-love and I would refrigerate it. I remember doing research a couple years ago online and reading about "almond milk" and some other almond derivatives and how they were highly favored through hundreds of years of history because they kept much longer than milk products and did not need refrigeration. Or something like that... But I'm a play-it-safe kind of guy with my syrups. Now, having said all that, two things about my other syrups: All others are kept refrigerated once opened or made. This is primarily done for safety, flavor and quality stabilization. But several are hard to come by or a bit pricey and they get extra care and attention. Within this refrigerated group, with the exception of my simple syrup because it's so easily made on-the-spot by aggressively blending and never heating, ALL my home-made syrups are stored with the addition of 1 or 2 ounces (depending on bottle size) of neutral grain spirit (Everclear) as a preservative for additional safety. This came about as a result of speaking with Jeff Berry back when I started making my first Falernums and started moving into making other syrups at home. "Syrup care" is important especially when you start investing time and effort into making syrups and flavorings from scratch. My routines have evolved and no doubt will continue to evolve. I think the use of the neutral grain alcohol is a good tip from Jeff Berry, although it is a slight departure from the "purist" tendencies in me, but a practice which I have come to readily embrace. I consider the neutral alcohol preservative a practically inconsequential element in a finished cocktail -- I think more impact on flavor is generally made by either slightly over- or under-pouring any one of the other ingredients, or shaking too long, blending too long, etc. I'm still developing and refining my home-made syrup repertoire. I'm very comfortable with Falernum and once a year have a "Falernum making party" at my house with two other friends who have taken quite a liking to that syrup. I think Orgeat is next on my list to try. I'm interested in hearing other thoughts and comments on the above.

I do not refrigerate my store-bought Orgeat, I think it's probably chock-full of preservatives and it's time I get off my lazy ass and start making Orgeat from scratch... heh! But I do think the bottle may even clearly make the statement that no refrigeration is required, I'll have to go look later... But definitely, if I made my own Orgeat, I would not risk my labor-of-love and I would refrigerate it. I remember doing research a couple years ago online and reading about "almond milk" and some other almond derivatives and how they were highly favored through hundreds of years of history because they kept much longer than milk products and did not need refrigeration. Or something like that... But I'm a play-it-safe kind of guy with my syrups. Now, having said all that, two things about my other syrups:

All others are kept refrigerated once opened or made. This is primarily done for safety, flavor and quality stabilization. But several are hard to come by or a bit pricey and they get extra care and attention.
Within this refrigerated group, with the exception of my simple syrup because it's so easily made on-the-spot by aggressively blending and never heating, ALL my home-made syrups are stored with the addition of 1 or 2 ounces (depending on bottle size) of neutral grain spirit (Everclear) as a preservative for additional safety. This came about as a result of speaking with Jeff Berry back when I started making my first Falernums and started moving into making other syrups at home.

"Syrup care" is important especially when you start investing time and effort into making syrups and flavorings from scratch. My routines have evolved and no doubt will continue to evolve. I think the use of the neutral grain alcohol is a good tip from Jeff Berry, although it is a slight departure from the "purist" tendencies in me, but a practice which I have come to readily embrace. I consider the neutral alcohol preservative a practically inconsequential element in a finished cocktail -- I think more impact on flavor is generally made by either slightly over- or under-pouring any one of the other ingredients, or shaking too long, blending too long, etc.

I'm still developing and refining my home-made syrup repertoire. I'm very comfortable with Falernum and once a year have a "Falernum making party" at my house with two other friends who have taken quite a liking to that syrup. I think Orgeat is next on my list to try.

I'm interested in hearing other thoughts and comments on the above.

Post #658270 by AceExplorer on Fri, Nov 9, 2012 6:05 AM