Orgeat syrup
Sweet syrup
title: "Orgeat syrup" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["almonds", "cypriot-cuisine", "drink-mixers", "greek-cuisine", "israeli-cuisine", "libyan-cuisine", "syrup", "tunisian-cuisine"] description: "Sweet syrup" topic_path: "geography/israel" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orgeat_syrup" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0
::summary Sweet syrup ::
::data[format=table title="Infobox drink"]
| Field | Value |
|---|---|
| name | Orgeat syrup |
| image | Orgeat syrup flavored drinks.jpg |
| caption | A bottle of Italian orgeat syrup |
| type | Syrup |
| flavour | Almond |
| ingredients | Almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water |
| variants | Horchata |
| related | Falernum |
| :: |
| name = Orgeat syrup | image = Orgeat syrup flavored drinks.jpg | image_alt = | caption = A bottle of Italian orgeat syrup | type = Syrup | abv = | proof = | manufacturer = | distributor = | origin = | introduced = | discontinued = | colour = | flavour = Almond | ingredients = Almonds, sugar, and rose water or orange flower water | variants = Horchata | related = Falernum | website = | region =
Orgeat syrup is a sweet syrup made from almonds and sugar with a little rose water and/or orange flower water. It was originally made with a barley-almond blend. It has a pronounced almond taste and is used to flavor many cocktails. Orgeat syrup is an important ingredient in the Mai Tai and many Tiki drinks.
History
An early recipe for orgeat can be found in The English and Australian Cookery Book:
Bitter almonds as a general rule contain cyanide and can be lethal in large quantities. For this reason modern syrups generally are produced only from sweet almonds. Such syrup products do not contain significant levels of hydrocyanic acid, so are generally considered safe for human consumption.
Word origin
The word orgeat () is derived from the Latin hordeaceus 'made with barley' through the French, where barley is called orge. The Catalan word orxata, from which derives the Spanish horchata, has the same origin, though today the two drinks have little else in common and neither of them uses barley.
Regional uses
::figure[src="https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/74/Soumada_Bottles_Kos.jpg" caption="Soumada bottles"] ::
In Tunisia and Libya, a variant is called rozata and is usually served chilled in wedding and engagement parties as a symbol of joy and purity because of its white colour and its fresh (flowery) flavor. It comes in many different flavours, such as traditional almond, banana, mango, pistachio, among others.
In Suriname, there is a drink called orgeade, which is a similar syrup made of sugar and sweet and bitter almonds.
Maltese ruġġata is made of almond and vanilla essence and may include cinnamon and cloves.
In Cyprus and on the Greek islands of Chios and Nisyros, a similar syrup is known as soumádha (). Soumada has a very ancient history at least in Cyprus, stretching back into the Roman period, and it was given as an exotic delicacy by King Peter I of Cyprus to King Casimir the Great of Poland at the Congress of Kraków, held in Poland in 1364.
References
References
- (18 October 2017). "In honor of orgeat".
- "Upgrade your orgeat".
- "Tiki cocktail history basics".
- Abbott, Edward. (1864). "The English and Australian Cookery Book".
- "What are bitter almonds".
- (2013). "Potential Toxic Levels of Cyanide in Almonds (Prunus amygdalus), Apricot Kernels (Prunus armeniaca), and Almond Syrup". ISRN Toxicol.
- Georgina Lawrence. "Ruġġata tal-lewż". ILoveFood.com.mt.
- Maria Dembinska and William Woys Weaver, ''Food and Drink in Medieval Poland'' (Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 1999) p.41
::callout[type=info title="Wikipedia Source"] This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page. ::