Orchid Thief

Name: Orchid Thief
Ingredients: 1/2 oz. lemon juice; 1/2 oz. orange juice; 1 oz. vanilla syrup, see below; Club soda; Orange peel; 1 vanilla bean; 1/2 quart sugar; 1/2 quart water

Recipe from Bar Mezzana

Adapted by Jenna Rycroft

Orchid Thief — Gentl and Hyers for The New York Times. Food stylist: Maggie Ruggiero. Prop stylist: Rebecca Bartoshesky.

Rating: 4(91)
Comments: Read comments

Vanilla simple syrup goes a long way to round out and jazz up what would otherwise be just another nonalcoholic cocktail of citrus juice and soda. Served in a Champagne glass, it’s pretty, festive and just right for making a toast, minus the booze. —Jenna Rycroft

Featured in: Don’t Call Them ‘Mocktails’

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Ingredients

½oz. lemon juice
½oz. orange juice
1oz. vanilla syrup, see below
Club soda
Orange peel

For Vanilla Syrup

1vanilla bean
½quart sugar
½quart water

Ingredient Substitution Guide

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Preparation

Step 1
Slice a vanilla bean lengthwise and add to a quart of simple syrup (equal parts sugar and water by volume). Steep overnight. Remove bean. Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator.
Step 2
Add juices and syrup to a Champagne flute. Top with club soda. Garnish with orange peel.

Ratings

4 out of 5

91 user ratings

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Comments

Cat6 years ago

I made a whole 6.6L dispenser’s worth of this. Eyeballed the quantities - a large bag of oranges and a bag of lemons. 2 cups of the vanilla syrup (didn’t have a bean so used 1 tbs vanilla bean concentrate with the seeds intact, left overnight). Cut a few slices of extra orange and lemons to float in the dispenser, and had some mint lying around to throw in too. Topped it all off with soda water until the dispenser was full. Couple handfuls of ice too. Got compliments all round!

BRENDA BEISER7 years ago

This is an amazing non-alcoholic cocktail. The vanilla bean is critical to the flavor. Highly recommend - and it is very easy.

Max D.2 years ago

Hot tip: this will make a child with a cold feel much better and cheer her/him up! My teenage kid has a cold, and last night for his sore throat I gave him the traditional spoonful of honey with lemon juice. Then I realized: sweet and citrus flavors! So I made an Orchid Thief for him. The smile on his face said it all. A festive and cheerful drink for what-ails-ye!

Marguerite8 months ago

Why not just say 2 cups of sugar and 2 cups of water. Who has ever heard of a 1/2 quart of sugar.

Jennifer1 year ago

I made the vanilla syrup a little differently - 1/3 cup of sugar and water with 1 tsp of vanilla. Made for a delicious cocktail and I won’t have vanilla syrup in my fridge for the next 5 years.

Max D.2 years ago

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