Home brew orgeat

Just thought I might start a thread concerning the trials and tribulations of brewing up some homemade orgeat. I can still buy a few brands around here, and I can always order some online or from a local shop, but I have been wanting to try making some for a while and it seems like now is a good time.

To start with, I looked at the ingredients listed on popular commercial brands. The synopsis of that research is as follows..

Commercial orgeat contains:
sugar and water or cornsyrup, natural and/or artificial flavors, various preservatives, various gums or oils that make it cloudy

And what little I could find on classic french orgeat..

almond milk, sugar, orange flower and/or rose flower water

So... I imagine that making almond milk would be tedious, and I can buy good almond milk at the store, so that was my first acquisition. The brand I purchased did contain some cane syrup and a little sea salt, along with mild preservatives. I imagine the cane syrup is going to modify the amount of sugar I need, but these "extras" are not very bothersome to me.

Next we need rose water. Yes, I will try both that and the orange flower water, but rose is first for no real reason. I will also try a batch with both. I bought a nice french brand. Easy enough.

Sugar.. the variety is nearly limitless, but as I am trying at first to make a more classic "orgeat of old" so to speak, I went with an organic brand. It is just evaporated cane juice from plants grown with no chemical garbage. It is a bit tan in color, and this will affect the orgeat, but flavor is my focus, not appearance. At least not yet.

Now we cook.

In a pot I brought 2 cups of the almond milk to a boil along with 2 pounds of sugar. Made a syrup. Cool. Add 1 tbsp rose water.

Taste.

Not bad. This does not have the punchy flavor and smell one expects of orgeat at all, and the sugar has made it a bit tan in color. It is aromatic, mild, and soft on the palate. A good flavor over all, but it truly is a natural tasting product. It is something you could consume as is by itself, which I cannot say of any commercial brand I have tried. I can only imagine that this may be close to the old orgeat made by hand, but it very "old fashioned" in appearance and taste. The rose water is there, though subtle, and I imagine you would miss it if it was left out.

Next up, I go for a commercial version..

I made a sugar syrup with bleached white table sugar. 2 pounds sugar, 2 cups of water. To this I added 6 teaspooons of a nice organic almond extract I picked up, and 1/4 cup almond milk (just for the cloudy thing). Also put in the rose water (1 tbsp).

Result?

Well, this smells a lot like commercial orgeat, and it nearly looks like it too. The taste is more natural, and a side by side has commercial (Torani) tasting very chemical laden. This is useable orgeat for sure, provided you are willing to let go of the idea that the artificial is the benchmark. Rose flavor and scent is again there, but the extract moves it further back in the profile.

Further experiments...

I decided that there are merits here to both the subtle orgeat of the first batch, as well as the more amped up version using extract. I decide to try a mix of the two to see what I get (added a little rum too just for kicks).

Ahu orgeat #1

2 cups of the organic sugar
2 cups of the almond milk
1 cup plain water
4 teaspoons organic almond extract
1 tbsp rose flower water
1/2 cup Cruzan light rum

Combined everything save the rose water and set to boil it in a pot. Once boiling I reduced the heat and simmered it on low (bubbling a good bit) for 25 minutes, whisking occasionally.

This was funneled into an empty rum bottle along with the rose water and shaken. Left to cool and rest.

The result:

A true blend of the 2 concepts, this is a very nice orgeat. It is a bit tan (again due to the use of organic sugar), and I think most will prefer the milky look of commercial orgeat because they are used to it. It does have a handmade flavor, but the extract gives it much of the scent and flavor kick of the commercial brands. I imagine that the more extract you add, the closer you will get to the chemically enchanced taste of the factory produced stuff.

Now... after all this, I am still not close to being done. I'll try a few more recipes, including an orange flower water version. My main goal is simply to do this for fun, but if I can I'll be trying for a more natural version of orgeat that anyone can make, and that is very close to commercial brands so that it is not at all a leap to "get off the chemicals". I suspect that this is doable. I already have the lion's share of the experimenting done, and now I am working it all out in my head. Should have something soon.

Ahu

Whenever the Ahu line of syrups are ready to be bottled and labeled and branded... let's do lunch.
First, we take out a billboard on Times Square... then a video with Waitiki featuring the Mai Kai dancers... endorsements from DeGroff and Berry.

Then we sabotage Trader Vics warehouse with ants.

Hey pablus, you forgot the video game...

Ahu...the king of do it yourself...but what did you do with all that orgeat syrup? How long do you think it will last and would you use rum as a preservative? i would think it would kill the taste.

For comparison, there is also a good orgeat article and recipe over at the Art of Drink blog.

Here are a number of older recipes I've previously posted:

Orgeat

I have not tried them but they do look interesting.

On 2006-11-13 06:17, pablus wrote:

Whenever the Ahu line of syrups are ready to be bottled and labeled and branded... let's do lunch.
First, we take out a billboard on Times Square... then a video with Waitiki featuring the Mai Kai dancers... endorsements from DeGroff and Berry.

Then we sabotage Trader Vics warehouse with ants.

:)

On 2006-11-13 06:38, Loki wrote:
..but what did you do with all that orgeat syrup? How long do you think it will last and would you use rum as a preservative? i would think it would kill the taste.

Oh, I have the large batches left. But I will be mixing them together, trialing orange flower water, extra almond extract, etc. Some experiments will fail and thus win a trip down the drain. In the end I expect to have a fifth or so of the tannish natural style, and a fifth or 2 of the "commercial style" with rose water, and the same for orange flower water.

As for storage... there really is not reason why this could not be frozen in a plastic jug and thawed later in the refrigerator. Kept frozen I suspect a large batch could be made every six months depending on how heavily one goes through orgeat. These recipes above make about a fifth and a half. So you can extrapolate from there. I'd be comfortable keeping a bottle in the fridge for 3 months provided you watch it for bubbles, mold, odd smells, etc.

As for the rum, I find that if you use a slightly sweet but mild flavored rum (which describes Cruzan light perfectly in my opinion), you can extend the life of a syrup greatly without really obstructing the flavor.

But bear in mind that in the last recipe above I added rum for a little flavor, and not preservative. If you cook the rum in the syrup it will not preserve it at all. Add it after it is bottled. And a little goes a long way. 1/4 cup per fifth will probably work in most cases.

I have seen my own recipe for grenadine sit out at room temp for months and it was fine with just a bit of rum. And you could not taste the alcohol. Anyway, I'd rather have a little extra booze in my syrup than ascorbic acid or sodium benzoate. Not that preservatives are all bad, but... rum is better.

The best bet is to make a batch that suits your use and go through it all before spoilage can occur. I will say that orgeat has been the cheapest of all the syrups or liqueurs I have made, and one of the easiest to produce. Ingredients for around 4 fifths will cost you... oh... less than $15 I think it comes to. I can get true accurate numbers if anyone wants that info.

Ahu

On 2006-11-13 14:16, KuKuAhu wrote:
I'd be comfortable keeping a bottle in the fridge for 3 months provided you watch it for bubbles, mold, odd smells, etc.

Bubbles?

Bubbles?

Bubbles mean there are bacteria farting in your orgeat. Enjoy. :)

My thoughts were so loud I couldn't hear my mouth...

[ Edited by: finkdaddy 2006-11-13 15:37 ]

Hey Ahu,
If you had empty beer bottles laying around and stuck them in the dish washer and then bottled the orgeat and sent me one I wouldn't be skeered to try it.
Really.
This would be for the greater good, a science project per se. I don't think scientist are allowed to sue each other during the scientific process while testing each others work. Right!?

"No, I am not a doctor but, I play one on TC."

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2006-11-14 08:11 ]

On 2006-11-13 06:17, pablus wrote:

Whenever the Ahu line of syrups are ready to be bottled and labeled and branded... let's do lunch.
First, we take out a billboard on Times Square... then a video with Waitiki featuring the Mai Kai dancers... endorsements from DeGroff and Berry.

Then we sabotage Trader Vics warehouse with ants.

Honestly Pab, if I thought I could make a good living producing liqueurs and syrups..

..well, let's just say I'd be looking for factory space somewhere warm. Maybe on the gulf.

Ahu

On 2006-11-14 08:11, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
Hey Ahu,
If you had empty beer bottles laying around and stuck them in the dish washer and then bottled the orgeat and sent me one I wouldn't be skeered to try it.
Really.
This would be for the greater good, a science project per se. I don't think scientist are allowed to sue each other during the scientific process while testing each others work. Right!?

"No, I am not a doctor but, I play one on TC."

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2006-11-14 08:11 ]

Hmmm... better let me finish the project and get a definitive recipe before I start sending out samples.

A beer bottle? Come now, let's be civilized about this. I'm sure I could scrounge up an old jelly jar at least.

Ahu

On 2006-11-14 08:43, KuKuAhu wrote:

On 2006-11-14 08:11, Mr. NoNaMe wrote:
Hey Ahu,
If you had empty beer bottles laying around and stuck them in the dish washer and then bottled the orgeat and sent me one I wouldn't be skeered to try it.
Really.
This would be for the greater good, a science project per se. I don't think scientist are allowed to sue each other during the scientific process while testing each others work. Right!?

"No, I am not a doctor but, I play one on TC."

[ Edited by: Mr. NoNaMe 2006-11-14 08:11 ]

Hmmm... better let me finish the project and get a definitive recipe before I start sending out samples.

A beer bottle? Come now, let's be civilized about this. I'm sure I could scrounge up an old jelly jar at least.

Ahu

OK, it's a deal. :)

Well the glass of exquisiteness I had a Hukilau was ready to be marketed.
I was letting people take sips and all were equally astonshed.

Pab, you oughta pm me your address. If I get a notion to ship some samples, I might put together a little "Pab Pack" with some of this and a little of that.

Ahu

KKH,

Did it come out cloudy with the almond milk?

The cloudiness in commercial brands is an attempt to mimic the way natural orgeat comes out- it's emulsified from the almond oil. When you soak blanched almonds to get the milk, you also get a lot of almond oil. When it's blended with the sugar and water, you get a cloudy result. That's why Torani and others add oil.

And yes, it's a huge pain in the ass to make from scratch.

On 2006-11-15 14:41, martiki wrote:
KKH,

Did it come out cloudy with the almond milk?

The cloudiness in commercial brands is an attempt to mimic the way natural orgeat comes out- it's emulsified from the almond oil. When you soak blanched almonds to get the milk, you also get a lot of almond oil. When it's blended with the sugar and water, you get a cloudy result. That's why Torani and others add oil.

And yes, it's a huge pain in the ass to make from scratch.

Yes, it does come out cloudy, and I expected this. In my research into commercial brands in the first post I noted gums and oils being used for cloudiness, so this was a goal in the process.

To be honest, a very satisfying and cheap homebrew orgeat is surprisingly easy to make. If you can make sugar syrup, you can make orgeat in the same amount of time.

I have been playing around with it more, and the easiest method to make a version akin to commercial is as follows (minus measurements):

1. Make sugar syrup with white sugar as you normally would (1 pound sugar to one cup water) and let it cool.

2. Add some almond milk for cloudiness. A litle goes a long way.

3. Add natural almond extract. Better brands taste better. Use quite a lot of it too.

4. Add rose water or orange flower water. 2 tbs per fifth seems right.

5. Bottle it.

Congrats, you have orgeat on par with any I have tasted from a factory, minus the artificial/chemical flavor. And it looks correct too.

It really was the simplest bar recipe I have ever had to crack.

Ahu

Thanks Kukuahu! I'll definitely be trying that. There's a place in West Stockbridge that still mkaes its own extracts. I'm hoping they have almond extract. For that matter, maybe they make rose water.

ahhh, another great easy recipe! I'll be brewing some up this weekend. Also need to make another round of your Grenadine syrup. That stuff it the BEST!

"Now and then we had hope that if we lived and were good, God would permit us to be pirates"
Mark Twain
"Life on the Mississippi"

[ Edited by: exotica59 2006-11-16 07:50 ]

the bulgarian rose water is the best one i've ever tried
the link to the place

[ Edited by: jirada 2007-01-31 08:45 ]

Where do I find almond milk? I can get all of the other stuff easy, it's the almond milk that I can't find.

You can find almond milk in the organic/natural foods section of grocery stores. It's alongside the soy milk, rice milk and other cow juice alternatives.

Perhaps I should have rephrased that. Does anyone know where to find it in Lower Alabama? Soy milk is readily available, but organic foods are sparse here. I guess I 'll be calling the health food places (all 3 of them) to see if the have it.

** Update, 10 minutes later **

I forgot about the health food place right down the street from me, I called them and the have it. I'm headed there after work to start my own Orgeat. Yippee!!

visit us at http://www.frostiki.com

[ Edited by: frostiki 2007-02-08 08:21 ]

On 2007-02-08 08:06, frostiki wrote:
I forgot about the health food place right down the street from me, I called them and the have it. I'm headed there after work to start my own Orgeat. Yippee!!

Well, how did it turn out?

Wish me luck - I'll be trying both recipes - almonds and almond milk - tonight. (Along with making some passion fruit syrup.)

If I'm fast I'll also be able to mix up a few Mai Tais - I picked up 4 rums in the last 2 days...

I'll let you know how everything turns out.

I got side tracked by Mardi Gras here. I've got all the ingredients, if I have enough time I'm going to try to make it tonight as well as some homemade grenadine. I'll post here as soon as I make it. I think I'm going to try a version with rum as a preservative for both. BTW on a somewhat related subject I think my in-laws think we have a drinking problem because we keep talking about making all these things to go in drinks. But I had to, we couldn't find falernum anywhere, now we have moved on to the other things we can't find (I can find grenadine, but only roses or master of mixes).

visit us at http://www.frostiki.com

[ Edited by: frostiki 2007-02-19 09:05 ]

I tried my hand at making Orgeat in a couple different ways and thought I'd share my experiences. (And some of my inexperience...)

I have to admit that I'm no expert on Orgeat. The only stuff I have ever tasted is Fee Brothers. After seeing this thread I knew that I could do better than Fee Brothers so I thought I'd give it a shot. I decided to try a few different ways since I wasn't too sure which would be better in the long run. I also figure that I'd share the efforts, since I've been lurking here for the last month and I've learned quite a bit. Hopefully someone can learn something from my trials.

To get prepared, I visited a few local specialty food stores. A local farm store, Idylwilde Farms, carries all sorts of "weird" stuff and I saw Orange Flower Water there so I popped in to grab a bottle. This stuff is made in France branded "A. Monteux" and cost $3.69 for a 3 oz bottle. No ingredients listed, which I found odd. Tasting it straight, it's indescribable. Who thought of putting this stuff into Orgeat? It's great, no doubt, but I never would have thought of mixing this with almonds.

I also grabbed a very nice "Natural, Pure Almond Extract" made by a local company, Scott's of Acton, MA. Ingredients are: oil of bitter almond, water, and alcohol. $3.95 for a 2 oz bottle. This stuff just blows away the regular stuff I used to get in the local supermarket. There is no comparison - this stuff is divine. (I'm sure that any organic or natural extract would be better than the generic stuff though.)

I also grabbed a pound of Shelled Almonds since I couldn't find any whole blanched almonds, just slivers. I figured that whole almonds would retain more taste so I skipped over the slivers.

I then headed to a local organic/natural supermarket, Trader Joe's. I grabbed a pound of their Organic Sugar made from Evaporated Cane Juice. I passed by their nuts and saw a bag of Raw Almonds. I grabbed them, suddenly worried that I might have purchased processed almonds at my last stop. I didn't see any Blanched almonds there.

I headed hope to start cooking.

The first batches were done using the recipe at The Art Of Drink, listed above. Soaking chopped almonds and all that. Before proceeding I sampled both bags of almonds and was surprised at the difference in taste. The first ones were drier and a lot less tasty than the Trader Joe's Raw Almonds. There was a big difference.

Then I blanched the almonds by dipping them in boiling water for 1 minute, and then immediately running them under cold water. I kept the two kinds of almonds separated just in case they made a difference. I chopped up the first batch with a mini food-processor (note that adding a little liquid helps a lot) and dumped then lot into a bowl and covered them with water.

Here's the inexperience showing: I noticed the chopped-up almond skins floating in the water, and instantly realized that they'd tend to make things bitter. That's when it hit me that Blanching is done to make the skins easier to remove. Not too bright... I let them soak anyway, just to see the difference.

I blanched the Raw Almonds, ran them under cold water, and proceeded to de-skin by hand. What a serious pain. Well, it wasn't that bad, but a bit tedious. I chopped them in the processor and set them to soak.

An hour later I started the squeezing process, placing a lemon-sized bunch of chopped almonds into a square of cheesecloth and squeezing like heck. 4 squeezes later I was done with the first batch. Then the same to the second batch. It was a pain, if you ask me - easy but annoying. And I ran through $4 worth of cheesecloth by the end of the night. There has to be an easier way. (Yes I'm lazy.)

Another hour of soaking and another round of squeezing through cheesecloth. I was left with 2 bowls full of what looked like slightly watery milk. I taste-tested the two, and there was no comparison. The batch that had all the chopped skins tasted like watery something - something that wasn't worthwhile. The batch made from skinless Raw Almonds tasted much better.

However, I wasn't getting much almond flavor here, in either batch. I love almond. I expected the distinct taste of almonds. I got a hint of almond in water. I was not impressed.

I tossed the batch of almonds-with-skins down the garbage disposal. I wasn't going to bother proceeding with that tasteless stuff. Instead, I concentrated on the near-tasteless Raw Almond batch. I had 16 oz of almond milk, a very nice color just like cow's milk. I got 16 oz of this almond milk.

I heated it slightly on the stove, and added about 1.5 pounds of Trader Joe's Organic Sugar, the evaporated can sugar. Wow, did that make for an ugly color. My wife, an artist, couldn't describe it beyond "A positively yucky dark tan color with a touch of blech." Myself, I thought it looked disgusting, too, somewhere between watery turkey gravy and a Mai Tai. Regular table sugar would have made for a nice white, I'm sure, but I really wanted to stay with the natural stuff. Besides, this Orgeat was primarily going into Mai Tais so it was a perfect match.

After the sugar dissolved I let it cool for a bit, and tasted it. It did not have any almond taste whatsoever, and tasted like sugar syrup made with a very mild turbinado sugar. OK, there was a very mild hint of almonds somewhere in there, but I think I tasted it because I knew it was there.

I grabbed the Orange Flower Water and threw in 2 Tbsp. Wow, did that make a difference! I still can't describe the taste, but the aroma hits your nose long before the syrup hits your mouth. Quite nice, indeed.

But still no almond taste. So I grabbed the natural almond extract and tossed in 1.5 tsp. NOW the taste of almonds was present! And it tasted quite yummy. The combination with the orange flower water and organic sugar was fantastic. Such depth, so many tastes and smells. This was good stuff.

I am a fiend for bold tastes though, so I added another 1/2 Tbsp of orange flower water and another 1/2 tsp of almond extract. I figure I'll be using very little of this syrup in my Mai Tais. It is very very sweet and extremely bold in taste. But delicious - very very delicious.

Now that I had some idea of what Orgeat is supposed to taste like I grabbed the Fee Brothers Orgeat and took a tiny taste. What is this crap? It literally burned the back of my throat going down. I checked the ingredients: corn syrup sweeteners, water sugar, and a bunch of chemicals. Their web site says it's "An almond-flavored milky-white syrup." Well, there's no mention of almonds in the ingredients. Compared to my Orgeat this is pure crap.

All in all I don't think I made a very proper Orgeat. Next I had to try the Almond Milk method. I found a quart of almond milk at Trader Joe's. Made by Pacific Natural Foods this was $3.29 and contained: Almond base (filtered water and almonds), brown rice sweetener (filtered water and rice) natural almond flavor, sea salt, carrageenan, and some preservatives. I took a sip before proceeding with the process. I was not impressed. It tasted like watery cardboard - yes, that's what my notes state. Watery cardboard. I did not find much almond taste. I couldn't imagine proceeding.

I threw it out.

One of these days I'll taste a real orgeat. Until then, my recipe is as follows:

1 cup water
1.5 cups organic evaporated cane juice sugar
2-1/2 TBsp Orange Flower Water
2 tsp organic almond extract
1 oz vodka or light rum to preserve.

Note that this is a pretty powerful mix. You might want to start with 1 Tbsp of the orange flower water and 1 tsp of the almond extract, and adjust to taste.

And I beseech you to never buy the Fee Brothers Orgeat.

I made mine similar to the Ahu version of Orgeat but added two more tsp of almond extract, the orange blossom water and the rum after cooking the almond milk, sugar, H2O, and a couple of tsp of almond exract. It came out nothing like the commercial version. But that is a good thing, it turned out to be much more floral and aromatic no burn to it like the finest call stuff I had been using. I also made a homemade grenadine which was incredible. Now I have to rest my liver a little to prepare for the vast aray of drinks I will need to make now that I have these great additions to my bar

Anyone have a good recipe with actual measurements? "A little goes a long way" and "Use quite a lot of it too" leave me scratching my head. I've acquired all the ingredients and would appreciate any input on this. Thanks.
Mytah

Look up about 20 lines above your post:

My recipe is as follows:

1 cup water
1.5 cups organic evaporated cane juice sugar
2-1/2 TBsp Orange Flower Water
2 tsp organic almond extract
1 oz vodka or light rum to preserve.

Rum Review Blog - http://scottesrum.blogspot.com/

[ Edited by: Scottes 2007-04-13 08:41 ]

[ Edited by: Scottes 2007-04-13 08:42 ]

Thanks Scottes, 20 lines above is my normal blind spot sorry I missed it the first time. The extract goes in after the syrup is cooled correct? no almond milk huh? that stuffs gonna sit around a while I guess.:lol:
Mytah

I tried a batch with almond milk, as well as home-made almond milk, if you feel like reading my long diatribe about my trials. I did not find it useful at all. And the home-made was far too much of a pain in the neck, in my opinion. If you're a purist, I'm pretty sure that I did list the measurements for the ingredients that I used.

And no, it doesn't stay around too long in my house, though it will last.

And I forgot to add that I would first try 1 cup of sugar - I think 1.5 cups makes it too sweet for a Mai Tai. If 1 cup isn't enough you can always add 1/2 cup more and shake it like hell.

And yes, I would add the extract after it's cooled, but I doubt that it really matters.

Made a batch last night, seems like awesome stuff. Question...do you store it in the fridge or at room temp?

I put it in the fridge. Why take a chance?

Hi

I'm new in all that stuff, but getting very interested. I got a basic question about orgeat: I'm from Spain and we have "horchata", in fact is very common. We drink it chilled at summer by its own, not as an ingredient to cocktails. On the other hand, I had never heard about "orgeat syrup" before getting into tiki drinks recipes.

The question is that I don't know if that "horchata" we have is the same thing that orgeat. I have asked in a couple of great liquor stores and they don't know anything about orgeat syrup. Moreover, I checked some recipes to brew your own "horchata" and are very similar to the orgeat syrup recipes I have seen on the net.

The problem I have is, since I have never seen a bottle of orgeat syrup, I can't compare to our "horchata". And, considering I don't know exactly what am I expected to get, it's a bit difficult to brew my own. "Horchata" has a milky texture but is a bit more tanned that milk, without having a cream colour. It's sweet but doesn't has a creamy or thick texture on mouth

Please can anyone help me with that?

And sorry about my lousy english...

BS

It sounds quite similar, though horchata seems to be made with tigernuts (chufa) rather than almonds. I would also have to guess that horchata does not contain orange flower water, which gives a very mild addition to orgeat.

It is quite simple to make orgeat - as long as you can find orange flower water. Making a small batch is not very expensive and doesn't take too long. Then compare orgeat versus horchata.

But something even simpler, if you're not one that demands exact ingredients: Try a couple orgeat drinks and substitute horchata. You may have to adjust the amount of horchata to get a good flavor. But in the end, if you like the drink that way, then stick with horchata. So it may not be an "official" Mai Tai, but if it's a Mai Tai you like then that is a good thing.

On 2007-04-19 06:43, Scottes wrote:
But in the end, if you like the drink that way, then stick with horchata. So it may not be an "official" Mai Tai, but if it's a Mai Tai you like then that is a good thing.

That sounds very wise. Thanks for your advice!

BS

On 2007-04-19 06:20, BastardoSaffrin wrote:
Hi

The question is that I don't know if that "horchata" we have is the same thing that orgeat. I have asked in a couple of great liquor stores and they don't know anything about orgeat syrup. Moreover, I checked some recipes to brew your own "horchata" and are very similar to the orgeat syrup recipes I have seen on the net.

The problem I have is, since I have never seen a bottle of orgeat syrup, I can't compare to our "horchata". And, considering I don't know exactly what am I expected to get, it's a bit difficult to brew my own. "Horchata" has a milky texture but is a bit more tanned that milk, without having a cream colour. It's sweet but doesn't has a creamy or thick texture on mouth

Horchata has the same linguistic roots as orgeat and, though they are somewhat related, they are two different things. The almond milk that goes into making orgeat is a kind of horchata. The original horchata (supposedly) was a nut milk popular in ancient Egypt made from chufa (tiger nut). Horchata has since come to refer to a variety of vegetable milks; chufa, rice, almonds, and more. Soy milk could probably be called a type of horchata.

Anyway...the French orgeat always seems to have been made of almonds. Almond syrup is often used as a subtitute for orgeat, but they are not the same. You make almond syrup from almond extract, whereas, in keeping with its 'almond milk' name, orgeat must be made with almond milk.

It's worth making your own orgeat, even if it is readily available where you are, which is not likely. Most liquor store staff (that I have encountered) have no idea what orgeat is. The same is true with most bartenders—exceptions being those who work in tiki bars or in establishments that specialize in tropical concoctions. The easiest way to buy orgeat is online. I keep some Tessiere Orgeat on hand so I have something if I depleat my stock of the real deal.

Later in this forum I will offer a few of my own insights into making orgeat.

If you let it, making orgeat can be a pain in the ass. So, I try not to let it. Ultimately, it's worth while.

On 2007-05-07 09:44, The Gnomon wrote:
Horchata has the same linguistic roots as orgeat and, though they are somewhat related, they are two different things. The almond milk that goes into making orgeat is a kind of horchata. The original horchata (supposedly) was a nut milk popular in ancient Egypt made from chufa (tiger nut). Horchata has since come to refer to a variety of vegetable milks; chufa, rice, almonds, and more. Soy milk could probably be called a type of horchata.

Exactly. I purchased some almond milk and it was very similar to horchata. But unlike Scottes' almond milk, that one (Almendrola, a Spanish brand) has a strong almond flavor. Well, the fact is that I tried to brew some orgeat. I wrote before I have no idea what orgeat syrup looks like, so that was a big deal for me, and anything I get would be fine. Well, not anything, but I can't tell "That's not orgeat syrup", because I can't compare.

Well, so I had orange flower water, and almond milk, but I just couldn't find almond extract. Well I did, but in big bottles for professional cooks that were like 40$, and honestly, I prefer spending that money in a good rum. So it was like:

• I brew a simple syrup with 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water. Let it cool.
• Added 1 cup of almond milk.
• 2 tablespoons of orange flower water.
• 1 oz light rum, to preserve.

I tasted that brew and for me it was OK. It had almond flavour, it was sweet and has that orange flower water aroma in it. Slight rum flavour, but not the first one. But, as I told, I don't know if that's exactly like orgeat syrup, but can anyone tell me if that recipe can give something similar? Anyway, I'm doing the best to get the almond extract. Anyway, that almond milk I used gave the almond flavor.

I'm a pain in the ass, I know, but thanks a lot!

BS

Well, your description sounds like orgeat to me.

But does it make a decent Mai Tai?? LOL!

On 2007-05-09 06:35, BastardoSaffrin wrote:

Exactly. I purchased some almond milk and it was very similar to horchata. But unlike Scottes' almond milk, that one (Almendrola, a Spanish brand) has a strong almond flavor. Well, the fact is that I tried to brew some orgeat. I wrote before I have no idea what orgeat syrup looks like, so that was a big deal for me, and anything I get would be fine. Well, not anything, but I can't tell "That's not orgeat syrup", because I can't compare.

It's thickish, but not at all slow-pouring. It's whitish overall, especially, store-bought varieties, but not solid white like cow's milk. It's actually rather seminal (hee hee) in appearance, mainly white but streaked and bespeckled with varying degrees of opacity.

Well, so I had orange flower water, and almond milk, but I just couldn't find almond extract. Well I did, but in big bottles for professional cooks that were like 40$, and honestly, I prefer spending that money in a good rum.

Outside of the almond milk emulsion, I consider the use of extracts to be acts of desperation to repair a defective batch. Such doctoring helps to prevent the batch from becoming a total loss, but it is never quite right. I've had to doctor my share of batches gone awry. Doctoring is better than pouring $50 worth of materials and considerable labor down the drain, but doesn't compare to a batch that comes out right.

So it was like:

• I brew a simple syrup with 1 cup sugar, 1 cup water. Let it cool.
• Added 1 cup of almond milk.
• 2 tablespoons of orange flower water.
• 1 oz light rum, to preserve.

Too much water. The sugar should be dissolved directly into the heated almond milk, which itself has too much water. The milk should be heated, but no more than about halfway to boiling, since you don't want it to cook; just evaporate a lot of the water—in your lifetime.

As the water evaporates the syrup gets thicker. Keeping in mind that it's supposed to be a little bit runny, I make this part a little thicker than I want it to end up because I will be adding a quarter of a pint or so of vodka and a few jiggers of rum (for flavor, consistency, and character—if I kept it around long enough it would also have a preserving effect).

I use both orange flower and rose waters, which go in last; twice as much orange flower than rose, and plenty of it. I pour them in directly from the bottle without measuring. Pour-stir-sniff; pour-stir-sniff; until it's right. These go in last because the amounts needed are affected by the pungency of the spirits you use. If you use only vodka, then you'll need less flower water. If you use Coruba rum, which is overpowering, you'll have to dump a lot more flower water in. BTW, using Coruba (or similar dark rum) gives the orgeat a definite caramel tinge.

At that point, if it doesn't pass the taste test, it's time to send the patient to the ER and start doctoring.

I tasted that brew and for me it was OK. It had almond flavour, it was sweet and has that orange flower water aroma in it. Slight rum flavour, but not the first one. But, as I told, I don't know if that's exactly like orgeat syrup, but can anyone tell me if that recipe can give something similar? Anyway, I'm doing the best to get the almond extract. Anyway, that almond milk I used gave the almond flavor.

Well, technically, you can take a few drops of pure orange extract, pure almond extract, and rose water, the combination of which turns cloudy, and make something that tastes somewhat "reminiscent" of orgeat when it's mixed into a drink. But it's obviously not orgeat. It doesn't offer the drink the velvet character of orgeat nor is the flavor as organic. If I didn't have any orgeat when I went to make a Mai Tai, I'd resort to the orange and almond extracts and rose water substitute (very poor substitute, but better than nothing).

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2007-05-10 13:13 ]

http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=26

On 2007-06-20 08:29, Feelin' Zombified wrote:
http://fxcuisine.com/default.asp?Display=26

Great link! Thanks.

When my orgeat separates into layers, I use one of those turkey baster (giant eye dropper) things to dip down under the top layer into the syrup layer. It's a little labor-intensive, but I keep my "working orgeat" in a smallish dispenser anyway and just keep refilling it when it gets low.

If you try the turkey baster, be sure to squeeze the bulb while you penetrate the top layer so nothing gets inside until you reach the syrup.

I tried making my orgeat with store bought almond milk, and while it tastes great it is very opaque Does anybody have any advice on this? Should I strain the almond milk before hand? Any more recipes? I know other people have attemted this.

On 2007-06-21 15:21, frostiki wrote:
I tried making my orgeat with store bought almond milk, and while it tastes great it is very opaque Does anybody have any advice on this? Should I strain the almond milk before hand? Any more recipes? I know other people have attemted this.

I wouldn't bother straining the milk before hand. I actually have a recipe for what I call Emergency Orgeat that I can share some other time. It relies on store-bought almond milk and takes about ten minutes to make. My regular orgeat takes a couple of days. My Emergency Orgeat is still better than the French Orgeat I get from Teisseire.

The following is image heavy, so I hope it doesn't mess anyone up. I apologize in advance for the quality of the pics (lack thereof) but I took them with my cell phone.

Although almond milk made from scratch is the best (no additives and other extraneous crap), the following sequence will give you an idea why it ain't so bad to use store-bought almond milk.

Preparing Your Nuts for Milking
Don't that sound nasty?

First fill the largest bowl you have around almost to the top with blanched almonds. I use slivered almonds 'cause they're already blanched, quicker and easier to chop/grind, and they're cheaper than whole blanched almonds. If you want to add even more work to this gargantuan task, you can blanch your own.

Next you fill the bowl with tap water (preferably filtered), but not the water you will use later for the milk. This is just to rinse all of the dust and 'atmospheric contaminants' that are clinging to the almonds when you bring them back from the store. You don't want the milking process to get rolling yet, so just stir it around a little and don't let them soak for more than a half hour.

Drain the bathwater. I use a large colander. I haven't tried it yet, but I'm thinking of getting one of those large salad spinners that spins the water off lettuce after you rinse it. Anyway, you're left with a very damp pile of almonds.

I usually take a l-o-n-g w-i-d-e sheet of heavy duty aluminum foil and make a drying pan on top of a coffee table. Spread the almonds out into as thin a layer as you can to dry. This is just to get rid of excess water. When finished, they're still a bit damp and soft (i.e., not hard and brittle). I use a hand-held fan to speed up the process, combing through the almonds with the other hand, turning them. Don't use a big fan unless you want all the dirt from the floor to end up on your almonds.

I use a little cocktail shaker-sized blender call a Magic Bullet to grind the almonds. After returning the 'dried' almonds into a large bowl, 1 to 2 cups at a time I grind the slivered almonds into tiny nuggets.

When finished, you end up with a pasty mass of almond nuggetrines (nugget smitherines). BTW, does anyone else have a smitherine collection? It's hard to maintain. Dust particles are often bigger than the specimens. Anyway, back to the almonds. I place mine in large plastic storage containers.

Milking Your Nuts
Still sounds nasty, but I'm getting into it.

Using bottled or filtered water, pour the water over the almonds and fill the containers to the top.

Cover the containers and set aside at room temperature for several hours (overnight, 24 hr, 36 hr; whatever you can stand). I do not have the patience to reuse my almond mash, so I just start with a big pile of almonds so I don't have to torture myself with a second milking. One is pain in the ass enough.

Supposedly, you can speed up the milking time by heating the water and almonds, but I have always found that there's a degradation in the quality of the emulsion. You're better off setting it aside at this point and picking up the process the next day.

Extracting the Almond Milk
Would it be too crude to call it extraculation?

This has to be done in stages to preserve your sanity. The first thing is to strain it all, little by little through a colander to remove the biggest masses of almond gunk.

When you finish the first stage of filtration trough the colander, you'll end up with a big bowlful of reusable almond gunk. As I said before, I don't have the patience to put this back in the plastic and milk it more. Each subsequent milking is less effective than the previous one. I would take the trouble if there was an area-wide shortage of slivered almonds. Since there is not, I just toss this.

Next I take my colander-filtered milk and strain it through a screen strainer. If I were to go directly to the cheescloth without this and the preceding step, it would take forever to remove the almond gunk from the milk. It clogs up the cheesecloth easily, so nothing drains. If you have to squeeze the cheesecloth too hard, it breaks and sends almond gunk down into the filtered reservoir.

Finally, it's time to use the cheesecloth. I pour the screen-filtered liquid little by little onto a piece of cheesecloth that is resting inside the screen strainer that is resting on top of the colander. I used to put cheesecloth over the colander, too, for the double whammy, but I skip that now. Doesn't help all that much. Mainly just adds to the mess.

As you go along, you have various bowls containing milk at various stages of filtration. Make sure you have lots of bowls around. The milk on the right is just screen-strained. The milk on the left has been poured into and gently squeezed through the cheesecloth.

Store-bought almond milk is filtered better than my most filtered home-made milk, but that doesn't really matter. The fresh orgeat separates into layers with bigger particles falling to the bottom and fine particles floating to the top. To 'harvest' the orgeat syrup you just have to figure out how to isolate the middle layer. I just use a turkey baster dedicated to my orgeat process and manually transfer the middle layer into a separate container.

When you consider all the trouble it takes to get a decent batch of high-quality, all-natural almond milk, the idea of using store-bought almond milk isn't all that hideous.

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2007-06-22 10:07 ]

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2007-06-22 12:35 ]

When you consider all the trouble it takes to get a decent batch of high-quality, all-natural almond milk, the idea of using store-bought almond milk isn't all that hideous.

Yeah, I went through all of what you show - without a few of the excellent time-saving and mess-saving techniques. It was nasty, and I swore that I'd never do it again.

However, when I used the store-bought almond milk I found the taste to have much less quality than the almond method. In fact, I got halfway through the almond-milk method and just threw it all out since it tasted fairly poor. Maybe I didn't use the right brand of almond milk, but I went to 3 stores and ended up with the best I could find.

If I ever did this again I would do it exactly the way you show. Very nice job, and thanks.

Last week I found a bottle of Monin Almond syrup - for $9.00. I had hoped to try it this weekend, but my plans may be changing on me.

On 2007-06-22 12:15, Scottes wrote:
However, when I used the store-bought almond milk I found the taste to have much less quality than the almond method. In fact, I got halfway through the almond-milk method and just threw it all out since it tasted fairly poor. Maybe I didn't use the right brand of almond milk, but I went to 3 stores and ended up with the best I could find.

You're right. I think the processing that store-bought almond milk goes through takes a lot of the kick out of it, but it has two saving graces. 1) It goes through a more effective almond mash filtration, and 2) it's ready right out of the carton. When you use the store-bought stuff you might want to add a few drops of pure almond extract (putting back a little of what their process took out). Be careful, you can easily put in too much extract. The almond flavor in the home-made milk is fairly subtle. The almond extract is not subtle at all.

You might be interested in my Emergency Orgeat recipe. It's painfully simple and takes me ten minutes from start to finish, including clean up if I don't drag my feet. Maybe I'll do a batch this weekend and take some pics. The batches are small BTW, like a cup or two max.

It isn't isn't as good as the stuff that takes two days to make, but that ten minute thing does make it attractive, especially, when you consider that it tastes better than the French orgeat I buy as a backup. That means you can be completely out of orgeat one minute and be making Mai Tais ten minutes later.

Emergency Orgeat Syrup
Image Heavy

M'kay.

This weekend I did a batch of Emergency Orgeat. The following is a step-by-step on how to make it.

To reiterate, this is not the high-quality orgeat that takes me a couple of days to make. This orgeat uses store-bought almond milk and can be whipped together in ten minutes. Even though it pales in comparisson to gourmet orgeat, it is still better than the French orgeat I keep on hand for back up. Once you start making this, you'll find yourself relying on it more and more because it is cheap, easy, and only takes ten minutes to make.

Actually, depending on when you start and stop counting, it only takes about one minute to make. The ten minutes includes about five minutes of waiting and four minutes of separating the syrup from the froth layer.

The Ingredients

Store-bought Almond Milk along with (also store-bought) Sugar, Orange Blossom Water, and Rose Water; plus a shot (or so) of rum. In this batch, I used Wray & Nephew White Overproof, which has kerosene overtones (desirable) and it doesn't intrude on the orange and rose.

Important – Make sure the store-bought almond milk has had a chance for its almond residue to settle back down to the bottom of the carton before using.

I don't see a lot of people waiting for Whole Foods to open in the morning so they can make a mad dash for the almond milk. Generally, right off the grocery shelf the milk is fairly well settled. The trip from the store to the house shakes it up a little, but it settles back down in a few hours. The majority of the almond gunk is pretty-well stuck to the bottom of the carton from sitting around unmoved for so long. Do not disturb this sediment.

If you do disturb it, and if you don't then remove it from the milk, it will remain suspended in your orgeat for a long time before it finally settles to the bottom. That will cause all of your drinks to become very cloudy. They'll taste fine, but they'll be cloudy and will stratify in the drink if it's allowed to sit for any length of time.

You should use the milk from the top 3/4 of the carton for your orgeat. Use the rest for cooking recipes that call for quanities of milk. The almond sediment is edible, of course, but has no business in your orgeat.

Basic Equipment

I use a Magic Bullet, which is a cocktail-shaker-size blender with a few interchangeable pieces. You can use a regular blender instead, but if you have to stir by hand, the process takes a little longer.

Not shown is the drinking straw used to suck the froth layer off the top of the syrup. The froth tastes good, but it is too chaulky to allow to remain in the syrup.

First Minute

Fill the blender about two-thirds full of almond milk. Pour in sugar until the level of the liquid is not quite to the top (leaving room for the following). Next try to pour in a drop of orange blossom water. A lot more than a drop comes out. Do two more of those and do one of the rose water. The dark area at the bottom of the mixture in the photo is the wet sugar that has yet to be dissolved.

Screw on the blade (Magic Bullet) or put on the lid (regular blender). So far, this has all taken up about 15–20 seconds.

If the almond milk was refrigerated, blend for about 30 seconds. If it was unopened and came off the shelf (i.e., room temperature), blend for only 10–15 seconds. It only takes about five seconds for the ingredients to mix together, the majority of the time is just dissolving the sugar. So... this part doesn't have to take up a whole minute.

Minutes Two Through Six

Let the liquid settle for five minutes so that the froth can rise to the top.

Zzzzzzzzzzz...

...key limes...mmm...

...orange curaçao...mmm...

...rock candy...mmm...

...orgeat...mmm...zzzzzzz.

Hey! Where am I? Oh, yeah.

While I waited, I decided to wash off the blade, shave some ice...

...round up a jigger of Mount Gay Eclipse and a jigger of Coruba, plus a shot of Appleton Estate 12 year for the topper...

...sneak up quietly behind and unsuspecting stand of mint...

(Ha! Caught one!)

...and make myself one of these babies.

Minutes Seven Through Ten

Now that the liquid has stratifed as much as it's going to, it's time to suck the froth off the top with the straw.

Ta da! It's done.

Finishing Touches

Decant into an appropriate dispenser.

Orgeat & Rock Candy Syrups are like the Salt & Pepper of tropical drinks. You can use a dash (or more) of each in almost any tropical drink. They're must haves.

NOTE: Since these pics were taken I've gone back to using plain corks from wine bottles as stoppers. The orgeat and the rock candy syrups have opposite effects on the corks. The orgeat makes the cork swell up and the rock candy syrup makes the cork shivel up. Whenever I replenish a batch I just wash and switch the corks, which restores them. I've tried different kinds of stoppers, but these two syrups just seem to destroy them.

Rock candy syrup is not all the same, nor does simple syrup compare. The more unstable the rock candy syrup the better. Its instability refers to its propensity to precipitate sugar crystals (in the form of rock candy). Here's a pic of the bottom of the jar that previously held the syrup in the preceding photo. That's about three weeks of crystallization.

It's about time to dissolve that rock candy and turn it into another batch. Anyway, I like to keep kick-ass rock candy syrup on hand at all times.

Conclusion

Emergency Orgeat Syrup does not have nearly the character of the orgeat that is made from home-made almond milk, heated to 125º F, gradually adding sugar, set out for a day to stratify, then separated from its froth and sediment layers. It does, however, do a fantastic job considering the few minutes it takes to produce.

[ Edited by: The Gnomon 2009-08-06 12:05 ]