Orgeat

By á-460

“There’s a brightness that fresh ingredients bring to it,” says Daniel Shoemaker, owner of Portland, Ore.’s Teardrop Cocktail Lounge. “In a cocktail, the almond and viscosity of homemade orgeat syrup shine through in ways that a store-bought product never would.” Shoemaker started making his own orgeat after being disappointed by the artificial-tasting flavors and high-fructose corn syrup he found in some store-bought brands. Inspired by a recipe that was originally conceived by Darcy O’Neil, keeper of the Art of Drink blog, Shoemaker eventually settling on what would become Teardrop’s house orgeat recipe.

Ingredients

• OR:
• 2 1/4 cups raw almonds, sliced
• 3 1/2 cups tap water
• 3 1/2 cups distilled water
• 1/2 cup organic cane sugar
• 1 oz. vodka
• 1/4 tsp. orange blossom water, or to taste
• 2 cups slivered almonds (toast and grind/pulverize)
• 1 1/4 cups water and 1 1/4 cups sugar boiled constantly stirring three minutes; add pulverized almonds and stir 3 minutes; cover and sit for 6 hours; strain/squeeze.

Preparation

Step 1

-Place sliced almonds in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Cover with tap water and let sit for 30 minutes. Strain, discarding water.
-In a food processor or blender, lightly pulse the almonds until they are coarsely ground. (You can also do this with a rolling pin—to reduce mess, put the almonds in a plastic bag first.)
-Return ground almonds to the bowl, cover with distilled water and soak for 4 to 5 hours, stirring the mixture well every hour or so. Strain liquid into a 1-liter glass jar through a cheesecloth-lined strainer, pressing to extract as much as possible. Discard the almonds.
-Add sugar to the liquid, close the lid tightly and shake the jar vigorously, repeating several times over 15 minutes, or until the sugar is dissolved.
-Add vodka and orange blossom water and stir thoroughly. Cover and store in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks. Makes 2 to 3 cups of syrup.