Toasted pistachio orgeat is a smoky twist on an age old syrup and an essential ingredient for an electric eye.
Orgeat, pronounced “ore-zha”, evolved from the French word orge that means barley. Barley and almonds combined to make early syrups, but the grain was eliminated to become what we use today.
Almonds, peanuts, pistachios, walnuts or any nut may be used in recipes for orgeat. Each adds its own taste profile to the finished product. Orange blossom or rose waters and sugar complete the recipes. These nutty potions are essential ingredients for many cocktails like my Tallulah.
The Process
The first step is toasting the pistachios and making the nut milk by blending and soaking the nuts in water. From there the process diverges along two different, optional paths.
Using the first method we heat, combine and reduce the mixture while dissolving the sugar. The alternate method and the one we use for this recipe simply blends them all together until well combined.
Straining Nut Milk
The heat and reduction method produces a more concentrated flavor and a thicker syrup. Which method you choose is a matter of taste.
Popular Drinks
Many Caribbean coolers and tiki drinks like the Mai-Tai use almond orgeat. The Tallulah uses cocktail peanuts and the Electric Eye uses this recipe. Print
Toasted Pistachio Orgeat
Add smoky, nutty flavor the sweet way!
- Prep Time: 15
- Cook Time: 45
- Total Time: 1 hour
- Yield: 24-30 oz 1x
Ingredients
- 300 grams shelled pistachios
- 1 liter water
- white granulated sugar in a 1.5 : 1 ratio by weight of the nut milk
- 1 big pinch salt
- 1 bar-spoon orange blossom water
Instructions
- Toast the pistachios in a large skillet stirring occasionally until they become fragrant, then remove them and allow them to completely cool
- Place them in a blender and roughly chop
- Add the water, blend on low speed until it reaches a milky consistency, about 4-5 minutes, then let it rest for 30 minutes
- Strain the liquid with cheesecloth, a fine mesh seive or a nut milk bag and weigh the liquid
- Add the corresponding sugar by weight, a pinch of salt and the orange blossom water to the pistachio liquid and blend on low speed until the sugar is completely dissolved.
Calculating the Sugar by Weight
- Weigh the nut milk
- Multiply the weight by .667
- Measure out the corresponding result
- Example: 600 grams of liquid X .667 = 400 grams of sugar