Orgeat Lemonade

This drink combines traditional bar staples into a tasty non-alcoholic drink that's both tasty and elegant.

DIY Falernum

Falernum can be tricky to find commercially, but it's easy to make at home so that you can be ready to mix up lots of classic Tiki cocktails.

DIY Orange Liqueur

Top-shelf orange liqueurs are pricey, while bottom-shelf options can drag a good drink into the gutter fast. But homemade orange liqueur is just right...and it's a blast to make.

DIY Amaretto

Amaretto is an Italian liqueur that tastes like almonds, though it's made from apricot kernels.

Orangettes

Orangettes are a perfect, simple homage to the combination of orange and chocolate. This recipe is designed to create candied orange zest that is delightfully chewy on the inside, with chocolate the snaps between the teeth on the outside. Use a high-quality chocolate of no more than 61% cocoa solids; higher percentages can be difficult to use for dipping. I like to simmer a cinnamon stick in the simple syrup to impart a hit of cinnamon. It's not mandatory, but highly recommended.

DIY Orange Bitters

Just a drop or two of orange bitters can add the right depth to your cocktail or bridge together ingredients that aren't quite living up to their mixological potential. Deep, citrusy, spicy, complex orange bitters are an essential part of so many balanced cocktails.

Blood Orange Flip

Lately one of my favorite ways to use blood orange juice is with whiskey. Both ingredients have a certain amount of sweetness, but the citrusy sourness of the blood orange helps liven up the richness of whiskey. Looking to add a little depth to the cocktail, I added a hint of honey syrup.

DIY Sweet Vermouth

Sweet vermouth has a delicate balance of rich, spicy, sweet, and bitter flavors, and is an essential ingredient in dozens of classic cocktails.

Partly Cloudy

A riff on a Dark and Stormy; the resemblance comes in the pairing of ginger and rum (and, well, the name). At the Spotted Pig, bar manager Ryan Gannon makes his own falernum: a sweet syrup that uses allspice and ginger and clove and lime zest steeped in over-proof rum "until it gets nice and happy," when it's combined with simple syrup with almond extract; in the drink, it commingles with lime and grapefruit juice along with Mount Gay rum, Aperol, and ginger beer.

Vin d'Orange Recipe | Cook the Book

This recipe for Vin d'Orange from Put 'em Up! by Sherri Brooks Vinton is an ideal introduction to the world of home infusions. For those of you familiar with Lillet, that lightly sweet, elegantly orange flavored French apertif, this is a do-it-yourself approximation. White wine is mixed with pieces of whole orange (including the skin and pith for a pleasant bitterness), vanilla bean, cinnamon, and a mix of vodka and sugar for sweetness and shelf life.