Orgeat, pronounced OR-ZHA (soft ‘zh’ sound), is not as fancy as it sounds. It’s a key ingredient in the classic Mai Tai, but really is pretty much just almond milk in syrup form. Now, before you go racing off trying to dump sugar into your carton of almond milk, be aware that your commercialized almond milk is likely extremely diluted and doesn’t have nearly the level of almond oils that make orgeat so richly flavorful and delicious.

Ever wonder how almond+water even make a white cloudy “milk”? This is due to the concept of emulsions, where small particles of normally unblendable substances bind together after agitation (same concept that give you thick salad dressings, mayonnaise, hollandaise sauce, and the like) – in this case the two substances being almond oils and water.

Orgeat starts out as a very concentrated almond milk, and then is finished by the addition of sugar and a bit of floral flavors with orange flower or rose water. If you’re looking for something to use in your cocktails, avoid the super commercialized coffee-syrups labeled “orgeat”/”almond” flavor (those are usually chemically infused with artificial flavors) and seek out small artisan brands like Small Hand Foods or BG Reynolds, or just make your own!

Check out my video below for a quick&easy how-to!