ORGEAT SYRUP

For classic cocktails - This is the Xpost from Food, but this one will have the cocktails appended to the bottom. This is based on a recipe from fxcusine.com

10.5 oz (by weight) blanched whole almonds
3.5 oz (by weight) almond powder
2 liters good water (I used Whole Foods Italian Mineral Water)
About 4 lb white sugar
1 Tbsp orange flower water
1 teaspoon good almond extract
1/8 teaspoon rosewater

3.5 oz cognac (by weight, as a preservative)

1. Blanch almonds by bringing a large saucepan of water to a boil. Drop the almonds in, remove the pan from the heat and wait one minute. Drain and rinse with cold water to stop the cooking process. The almonds will slip their skins if you treat them like a watermelon seed - squeeze one end of the almond and let it separate into your hand. This will take 15 minutes or so.

2. Take 3.5 oz of the almonds and pulse in a food processor with about 2 oz of sugar. You're looking for a powder here and finely chopped almonds, not almond butter.

2. Roughly chop the remaining almonds, and add them and the water in a large saucepan. Add the remaining 12 oz (by weight) of sugar, and bring to a boil. Let rest for 12 hours with the lid on.

3. Strain through a damp cheesecloth, squeezing the devil out of the almonds to extract every bit of liquid - especially if it's milky... that's flavor!

4. For every 17.5 oz liquid, add 24.5 oz sugar, and in a large saucepan, heat to 150 degrees (do not let this boil!) to dissolve sugar. When sugar is dissolved, remove the liquid from the heat and let it cool. Add the flavorings and cognac.

5. Sterilize bottles (I like to shake a bit of the cognac in the bottles once they're cool and before I add the syrup), and funnel the orgeat into them. Let the bottles cool, then refrigerate them.

Now, this used 14 oz of almonds and a bit more than 3.5 lbs of sugar, so it's a thick syrup when you're done that slightly louches in water. This recipe makes about 3 liters of orgeat, but since this takes 2 days to make, you might as well make a bunch of it. As a note, it will separate into a milky oily layer and a liquid layer - just shake the bottle back together.

Now... here's the fun part: What to do with your gorgeous Orgeat!

The Momisette

1 1/2 oz Pastis (Pernod)
1 oz Orgeat syrup

Add Pastis and Orgeat to a shaker, fill with ice and shake hard. Add to a 12 oz glass filled with ice and top with sparkling water. Personally, I would make an 'Improved' Momisette by dropping the Pastis to 1 oz and adding 1/2 oz of lemon juice.

The Scorpion

1 oz brandy (Pierre Ferrand Ambre)
1 oz light rum (Flor de Cana white)
2 oz orange juice
1 oz lemon juice
1/2 oz Orgeat syrup
1/2 oz 151 rum (Lemon Hart if you can find it, Bacardi if not)

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a double rocks glass filled with ice.

Japanese Cocktail #1

2 oz brandy (Pierre Ferrand Ambre)
1/4 oz Orgeat syrup
1/4 oz lime juice
1 dash Angostura bitters

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and shake. Strain into a Martini glass.

Mai Tai

2 oz dark rum (the best you have.. FdC 7 or Pyrat)
1 1/2 oz lime juice
1/2 oz orange curacao (Senior Curacao)
1/4 oz grenadine
1/4 oz falernum (John D. Taylor's)
1/2 oz Orgeat Syrup

Fill a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Strain into a double rocks glass full of crushed ice, and garnish with a pineapple spear, a cherry, and a sprig of mint.

Thanks,

Zachary