Orgeat

A while back a couple friends told me about a crazy new cocktail they had at a restaurant and recreated at home, a Trinidad Sour. These are the same friends who recommended the first good margarita I've made! I had all but one ingredient for the Trinidad Sour, orgeat. This is an almond syrup. Not just any ol' almond syrup you could buy to put in coffee though, it's been around in some form for centuries and is more complex than something like amaretto. My friends recommend the best orgeat they have had, by Small Hand Foods. Sadly I couldn't seem to get my hands on it, sooo big surprise, I looked up how to make it. I mean, why not right?

I used this tutorial from Serious Eats. I had a bit of a hard time finding orange flower water at a grocery store near by, so I bought it on Amazon here. Some people say this needs to be part bitter almond and part sweet almond. I didn't want to buy or use bitter almonds (they can create cyanide what introduced to water: [sauce]), so I just went with all sweet. I can add a dash of bitters to it after or on a drink by drink basis if I think it needs it.

Raw almonds. Blanched almonds would make a sweeter lighter colored syrup according to the tutorial, but I figured it would be sweet enough already and followed the recipe to use almonds with skins.

The elusive orange flower water. This stuff is intense, I mean, you only use 1 teaspoon!

About two cups of almonds.

I briefly roasted them, nearly forgot about them... 

I only have a mini food processor so I ground the almonds in batches.

I shook the container to get the larger almonds to the top and reground them until I figured they were small enough over all.

Make your simple syrup in a pot large enough to hold all of the almonds too!

Almonds added. I brought them to a simmer then removed from heat and set aside for 3 hours. This is the minimum time, but I was in a pinch. Should have started earlier!

After three hours the almond sugar mixture was much darker. Looks so good. Kinda just want to pour the whole thing over ice cream or into oatmeal.

I used my fine mesh strainer to press the liquid out of the almond mixture.

I took off the top layer and squeezed it in cheese cloth to get the most out of it that I could. Next time I'll just add the almond mixture to the strainer in smaller amounts, pressing and removing in batches. This stuff is sticky and not really fun to handle. It gets everywhere (or I'm messy). After this mix your 1 ounce vodka and 1 teaspoon orange flower water into the strained orgeat and bottle.

Use as soon as you'd like! Keep refrigerated and use it within a month. Short life span, so freezing some would be a good idea if you are worried about wasting it! There will be a small amount of oil in this syrup from the almonds. Make sure to shake it prior to use. 

So what can we make with this stuff?! Stay tuned on Friday for the Trinidad Sour. I'll be following up in the near future with a few orgeat cocktails that I've tried and loved too!