Orgeat (almond syrup)
The secret ingredient behind half the tiki canon. A Mai Tai without orgeat is rum with lime; with it, that creamy backbone appears — and you cannot place where it comes from until you taste the syrup on its own.
Ingredients
- 200 g raw blanched almonds
- 400 ml water
- 300 g white sugar
- 1 tablespoon orange blossom water
- 30 ml brandy or vodka, to preserve
Preparation
- Toast the almonds in a dry pan over medium heat, moving them, until they smell fragrant. Five minutes is enough and they must not darken: burnt almonds turn the whole syrup bitter.
- Chop them coarsely and cover with the water. Leave them to soak for at least 4 hours, ideally overnight in the fridge. This is the long step and there is no shortcut: it is when the almond gives up its fat and flavour to the water.
- Strain it, squeezing hard through muslin or a clean cloth, until you have every drop of almond milk. What stays in the cloth gets thrown away.
- Heat that milk gently with the sugar, stirring until it dissolves. Do not let it boil.
- Off the heat, add the orange blossom water and the brandy. Cool and refrigerate: it keeps for a month. It separates as it stands, so shake it before using.
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