Use These 6 Almond Garnishes & Syrups To Boost Your Cocktail Game
ALMONDS are a curiously luxurious ingredient that give a lot of depth and complexity to a cocktail concoction. They infuse the drink with a mix of earthy and nutty flavours along with slightly decadent and dense creamy notes, imbuing several layers of textural elements into simple recipes. Undoubtedly, almonds figure prominently in cocktail craft and are used to blend lots of different mixes that incorporate the crushed dried fruit or add orgeat syrup (made using almonds) into their preparation. These nutty mixes bring an altogether different sophistication to your cocktail game, making the use of almonds in mixology a great way to raise the quality of any cocktail party you host.
So, when you play mixologist at home and want to level up your cocktail making game, you might want to experiment a little with this often underestimated ingredient that actually adds a lot of richness to cocktail blends. This can be done by adding almond liqueurs or almond infused spirits into your drinks or simply by incorporating syrups and garnishes that feature almonds.
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Read on below to know more about some of these elements that can elevate your cocktail game when you incorporate their almond notes into classic piña coladas, mai tais and martinis:
Classic Orgeat Syrup
Made from almonds, sugar and just a splash of rose water, orgeat syrup has a very strong almond taste and is often added to cocktails for its nutty flavour profile. The syrup carries a sweet note along with the creamy and earthy components of almonds making it at once a dense coming together of multiple potent flavours. You can add orgeat syrup and its pleasing aroma exuded by the rose water to multiple tiki cocktails or drinks that blend cognac and bitters in order to elevate their textural qualities.
Almond Dust
A rather basic garnish, you can use powdered almonds as a wonderful spread over many chocolate liqueur or coffee liqueur infused cocktails to add a touch of nutty and umami notes to the drink. Almond dust tends to undercut some of the sweetness in your cocktail giving the drink a textural break and a balanced finish.
Orange Orgeat Syrup
Sometimes, a hint of citrus is added to the making of orgeat syrup in the form of orange flower water which gives the concoction a slightly sour and tangy quality. This acidity introduced into orgeat syrup makes it a perfect addition to flip cocktails like whisky sour because it builds on the tangy notes of the drink while adding to it a hint of nuttiness inherent to the almond mixer. With an orange flavoured orgeat syrup, you can cut down on the added sugars found in packed citrus juices and make a more boozy spirit-forward blend.
Candied Almonds
When the festive season is around the corner or you are hosting a fun gathering celebrating a birthday or an anniversary, you tend to prepare cocktails that are creamy, frothy and extremely indulgent. Almonds are the perfect ingredient to add this density into any mix and one garnish which stands out for its sweet and delicious taste is candied almonds. You can use them to top your Irish cream cocktails, eggnog and rum infusions and brandy or cognac imbued milkshakes to make these drinks that much more indulgent.
Amaretto Liqueur
Although not strictly a garnish or syrup, amaretto does add a very exquisite finish to a cocktail concoction because of its nutty profile. The Italian liqueur is generally made using apricot pits or almonds and enjoyed by adding it to cocktails like amaretto coffee or a chocolate almond martini. Some tiki cocktails like tropical sunset also incorporate amaretto into their recipes to make the drink more dense and nutty. You can use amaretto generously when you want your drinks to acquire this nuanced complexity.
Crushed Almonds
Another classic garnish, crushed almonds can be used to prepare many sweet cocktails prepared to celebrate festivities or happy occasions. You can garnish a cocktail glass with crushed almonds by first moistening its rim with sugar syrup and then coating it with the dried fruit. This will also add a crunchy quality to the cocktail, infusing it with a textural surprise.
