Pistachio Limeade

Pistachio Limeade is a refreshing vintage style Limeade made with a fresh Pistachio Syrup or fresh Pistachio Orgeat and fresh lime juice, crushed ice and chilled filtered water, garnished with a lime wheel and sprig of Native Australian River Mint. Inspired by the Orgeat Lemonade recipe of Jerry Thomas (Thomas 1862: 84) appearing in the 1862 edition of his Bar-tender’s Guide, but here using fresh pistachios suspended in a sugar syrup with rose water and orange flower water and fresh lime juice, instead of almond Orgeat Syrup and lemon juice. My fresh Pistachio Syrup recipe finds inspiration in vintage Soda Fountain recipes such as those offered by Emil A. Hiss (1897) in The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages that feature Nut Syrups made from a range of nuts and nut essences, such as almonds, pistachios, walnuts and hickory nuts, combined with Dave Arnold’s (Arnold 2014) modern streamlined blender based method for making Any Nut Orgeat appearing in Liquid Intelligence.

What is Orgeat Lemonade? Creamy Nutty Lemonade

Orgeat Lemonade is an old fashioned style Lemonade recipe appearing in bartending manuals calling for almond based Orgeat Syrup combined with fresh lemon juice and water along with crushed ice in a refreshing creamy Lemonade. Orgeat Lemonade appears in the Temperance Drinks section in Jerry Thomas’ (Thomas 1862: 84) Bar-tender’s Guide – Temperence Drinks included Lemonades and Sodas which were non-alcholic or could be accented with small amounts of alcohol for flavour.

How to make Orgeat Lemonade? Shake & Dump

Jerry Thomas (1862: 84) writes that the method for making Orgeat Lemonade is to add Orgeat Syrup and fresh lemon juice with water and crushed ice to a large bar glass and shake, finishing by garnishing with berries in season.  Jerry Thomas (Thomas 1862: 84) elaborates on how to make an Orgeat Lemonade:

“(Use large bar glass.)
1/2 wine-glass of orgeat syrup.
The juice of half of a lemon.
Fill the tumbler one-third full of ice, and balance with water. Shake well, and ornament with berries in season.”

Jerry Thomas (1862: 84). Bar-Tender’s Guide. Dick & Fitzgerald: New York.

What is Orgeat Syrup and what are Nut Syrups? Almond Syrup, Nut Milk Syrups

Orgeat Syrup is an almond syrup with a long history of use as a medicinal and culinary preparation in France and elsewhere and is used as an ingredient in fancy drinks made at home, and in Soda Fountains and Saloons. Recipes for Orgeat appear in home cookery books, Soda Fountain and Bar Manuals. For example, Jerry Thomas (1862: 199-200) includes a recipe for Sirop d’Orgeat (Orgeat Syrup) in his Bar-tender’s Guide. Orgeat Syrup is an ingredient in fancy Lemonades and Sodas and cocktails including Orgeat Lemonade and vintage cocktails such as the Japanese Cocktail and tropical or tiki cocktails such as the Mai Tai and Saturn.

Victorian era Pharmacists made Nut Syrups from a range of nuts at Soda Fountains. Emil A. Hiss (Hiss 1897: 85, 50, 75-76, 91) in his The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages includes recipes for Orgeat Syrup made from real sweet and bitter almonds, an Orgeat Essence made either with oil of bitter almond with other ingredients or Almond Essence with Orange Essence and other Nut Syrups such as Hickory-Nut Cream Syrup and Walnut Cream Syrup made from hickory nuts and walnuts. Interestingly Emil A. HIss (1897: 86, 52) includes a recipe for Pistachio Syrup but this uses sugar syrup flavoured with Pistachio Essence or Pistachio Extract made from a maceration of crushed pistachios with cinnamon, clove and lemon peel in alcohol, rather than whole fresh pistachio nuts. At the Soda Fountain Nut Syrups were combined with other fruit syrups into Compound Syrups, sometimes soured with acid solutions and used in fancy Sodas sometimes with ice cream, cream, egg or crushed ice and Soda Water. For example, Emil A. Hiss (Hiss 1897: 91, 107, 108, 115, 126, 116, 137) in his The Standard Manual of Soda and Other Beverages includes recipes for a compound Yum Yum Syrup (Vanilla Syrup + Orgeat Syrup + Pineapple Syrup + Orange Wine Syrup) and fancy Sodas such as Orgeat Phosphate (Orgeat Syrup + Acid Phosphate Solution), Pistachio Phosphate (Pistachio Syrup + Acid Phosphate Solution), Egg Pistachio (Pistachio Syrup + Egg + Acid Phosphate Solution), Almond Sponge (Orgeat Syrup + Strawberry Syrup + Ice Cream) and Cleopatra (Orgeat Syrup + Egg Yolk + Cream) and Vienna (Pistachio Syrup + Cream).

How to make Orgeat Syrup or Nut Syrups? Grinding in Mortar & Pestle to Blender Method

Orgeat Syrup and other Nut Syrups are traditionally made by labour intensive methods such as pounding or grinding nuts in a mortar and pestle, combining with sugar, rose or orange flower water and water to create a rich milky syrup which is sometimes cooked and then strained and in medicinal versions used as a carrier for medicinal herbs. Dave Arnold (Arnold 2014) in Liquid Intelligence offers a modern streamlined technique using hot water and a blender to make Any Nut Orgeat for a much quicker and easier Nut Milk which he strains using a fine mesh sieve or nut milk bag and then reblends with sugar to form a syrup, stabilised with Xanthan Gum and Gum Arabic.

How is Pistachio Limeade Different?

Pistachio Limeade uses a fresh Pistachio Syrup with added flavour from freshly hulled pistachios that have an amazing spicy, nutty and floral aroma enhanced by addition of rose water and orange flower water. I sour Pistachio Limeade with fresh lime juice, diluted with chilled filtered water and crushed ice and garnished with a refreshing lime wheel and cooling menthol of fresh River Mint served in a fancy footed soda glass with a reusable straw.

Fresh Pistachio Syrup or Fresh Pistachio Orgeat Syrup

To make Pistachio Syrup, Nut Syrup or Orgeat Syrup using fresh pistachios is easy, but it does take a little advance preparation as fresh pistachios are covered with a soft fragrant outer shell and a hard inner shell which both need to be removed prior to blending the nuts with water to make a pistachio Nut Milk.

Shelling Fresh Pistachios

The soft outer shells of fresh pistachios are an amazing pink and green-yellow colour and are easy to remove simply peeling off by hand.

The inner hard shells require heating to open the nuts revealing their beautiful internal covering of pink skin. Once opened by heat I crack off the hard shells in the way we are familiar with shelling whole pistachios from the green grocer. Fresh pistachios may sometimes need a little encouragement my favourite tool for stubborn shells is a butter knife – simply wedge this in between the two shells and twist to open the nut inside. For very stubborn shells crack in a mortar and pestle but take care to remove all the fragments of hard shells.

Tip: Fresh pistachios have a more intense floral and spicy aroma than dried pistachios amplifying pistachio flavour characterised by spicy, nutty and green and floral notes. If you do not have access to fresh pistachios you can use whole pistachios or shelled pistachios available from the green grocer to make this recipe – they will work well but simply lack some of the intense aroma of fresh pistachios.

Fresh Pistachio Syrup

I use Dave Arnold’s (2014) Any Nut Orgeat modern streamlined blender and hot water method for making Nut Milk and Nut Syrup to make my fresh Pistachio Syrup or fresh Pistachio Orgeat.

Making Fresh Pistachio Milk

Once I have shelled the fresh pistachios I weigh 100grms and add these to a blender with about 3 parts hot water to 1 part pistachios by weight and blend to form Pistachio Milk which I strain with a nut milk bag.

Making Fresh Pistachio Syrup

Measure the yield of your Pistachio Milk and to make Pistachio Syrup add an equal amount of caster sugar into a clean blender with the Pistachio Milk and a pinch of Xanthan Gum and half a pinch of Gum Arabic and blend to well combine. Xanthan Gum and Gum Arabic function as stabilisers for Nut Syrups making for a creamy smooth texture and preventing splitting which can occur without their use.

Stir in rose water and orange flower water and decant your Pistachio Syrup into a clean glass container and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.

Tip: The old fashioned remedy for splitting of Orgeat is simply to shake the storage jar reconstituting prior to use – and this does work – but I have found that using a little Xanthan Gum and Gum Arabic creates a smooth and creamy texture. Gum Arabic is also called for in some vintage Soda Fountain recipes for Orgeat Syrup such as Emil A. Hiss’ (Hiss 1897: 85) Orgeat Syrup II.

How to use Fresh Pistachio Syrup?

Pistachio Syrup can be used in Pistachio Limeade or in other Soda recipes such as compounded with Pineapple, Vanilla and Orange Syrups in my Pineapple Pistachio Cream Lactart or in cocktail recipes such as a Pistachio Rose Rhubarb Japanese Cocktail or a Pickle Mai Tai with Pineapple Shrub Syrup.

Fresh Lime Juice

I use fresh lime juice from a whole lime to sour the Pistachio Limeade and I garnish with a fresh lime wheel adding aromatics and green colour – lime includes mint notes that I complement by using cooling River Mint as a garnish. Lime also has floral notes that I accentuate here by use of rose water and orange flower water in the Pistachio Syrup which amplify the floral notes in the fresh Pistachio, while I accentuate limes’ spicy and citrus notes by using fresh Pistachio with its nutty, spicy and citrus notes.

How to make a Pistachio Limeade: Shake & Dump or Flash Blend & Dump

I use two methods for making Pistachio Limeade: using a cocktail shaker with crushed ice and shaking and dumping into a soda glass or using a blender and flash blending and dumping into a soda glass.  Shaking  in a cocktail shaker is the traditional method used to make Orgeat Lemonade. This shake and dump method produces a finely creamed drink and gives you more control over presentation.

I have also discovered that flash blending with whole ice cubes and dumping into a footed soda glass is another good quick method for making this drink saving time and energy on crushing ice. I recommend this method if you need to batch the Pistachio Limeade or make it on quick demand.

Fresh Lime Wheel & River Mint & Vintage Footed Soda Glass

I serve the Pistachio Limeade in a fancy vintage footed soda glass with a refreshing green lime wheel bringing in notes of citrus, a sprig of cooling green Australian native River Mint and a reusable straw. The green colour and cooling, refreshing citrus aroma of the lime and menthol of River Mint accentuate the light green creamy Pistachio Limeade recalling us to the uplifting green of freshly hulled pistachios and of fresh lime juice.