Post #723251 by Sunny&Rummy on Mon, Jul 21, 2014 9:22 AM

I made a batch of orgeat this weekend using a process I have been tweaking for the last year of so and it gives me a product I am very happy with. I used up my last homemade batch a couple of months ago and have been suffering with crappy Fee Bros until I could find the time to make a new batch. Many delicious celebratory Mai Tais and Pinky Gonzales cocktails were had by my wife and I yesterday when it was ready. Tonight I am thinking Honi Honis and a Scorpion or two!

Here's an encapsulation of a process that will give you one 750 ml bottle of very tasty homemade orgeat.

• Blanch 1 10.25 oz can of raw almonds in a quart of water that has been brought to a boil and removed from heat.

• Remove the skins and rough chop in a food processor with 8 ounces of water.

• Transfer to large saucepan or other nonreactive, heat-proof vessel and add 24 oz boiling water, stir well and let stand 3 hours.

• Strain into clean saucepan and add 1 lb sugar (I like to use confectioner’s sugar for quick dissolving and because it comes in handy 1-pound boxes so no weighing is required). Using a digital thermometer, heat and stir until temperature reaches 140ºF and sugar is dissolved.

• Transfer to 750 ml bottle. Add 1 oz Noyau almond essence, 1 tsp. orange flower water and 0.5 tsp. rose water.

• Keep handy in the fridge for Friday 6pm Mai Tais!

A couple of things I have tweaked along the way that you might find helpful. . .

Lots of online orgeat recipes call for toasting the almonds but I have stopped doing that. It’s pretty easy to burn the almonds if you are not careful and I don’t think it added enough additional flavor to be worth it. It also makes the finished product a bit darker than I cared for.

Similarly, many recipes suggest using brown/Demerara/turbinado sugar, which I generally don’t do unless I am specifically going for a dark orgeat. The dark stuff works well enough in a Mai Tai, but I don’t think it makes nearly as attractive a drink as a lighter orgeat does for something like a Japanese Cocktail or a Scorpion Bowl.

The 1 oz of almond essence sounds like a lot but this product (I get it from a Latin grocery) has alcohol and water added to it and is not nearly as concentrated as baker’s almond extract.

Like lots of people, I often find straining to be the biggest hassle when making homemade syrups, extracts, infusions, etc. If your strainer is too coarse it lets too many fine solids through but if it is too fine it clogs too quickly. For very small batches I’ll still use a food strainer/coffee filter combination for rough/fine straining, but for larger amounts I’ve actually taken to using a sturdy 55% poly/45% cotton pillowcase that I can really squeeze hard without tearing to get the liquid out white retaining even very fine solids. I know it sounds odd but it works really well.

If anybody gives this method a shout, please let me know what you think.