Orgeat

One US cup of orgeat weighs between 293.5 and 308 grams, depending on how the cup is filled and which source measured it. That range is the answer; a single number would not be. Every figure behind it is below, with the method each source used.

Also called orgeat syrup, almond syrup, almond orgeat, sirop d'orgeat, orzata, cocktail almond syrup.

TL;DR: **One US cup of orgeat weighs 288 to 320 g depending on brand and product family.** Two distinct product families exist under the same name: real-almond artisan orgeat (Liber & Co, Small Hand Foods, BG Reynolds, Trader Vic's traditional) and commercial almond-flavor orgeat (Torani, Monin, Fabbri, Finest Call, Fee Brothers). Both cluster around 290-315 g/cup based on sugar concentration and sucrose-water thermodynamics. King Arthur does not publish orgeat.

Orgeat (pronounced *or-zhat*) is an almond syrup essential to tiki cocktails, most famously Victor Bergeron's 1944 Mai Tai at Trader Vic's in Oakland. The name derives from Old French *orge* (barley) — the original medieval European orgeat was a barley-water tonic used as a shelf-stable milk substitute in Mediterranean climates. Almonds replaced or supplemented barley in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, and by the nineteenth century orgeat had settled into its modern form: an almond-rich sugar syrup flavored with orange flower water and often a touch of bitter almond oil for marzipan depth. The Italian *orzata* (still barley-based in some regional traditions) preserves the original grain-based derivation.

The two-product-family split is the central disambiguation. **Real-almond artisan orgeat** (Small Hand Foods, Liber & Co, BG Reynolds, and the traditional Trader Vic's formulation) starts with whole California almonds that are blanched, roasted, and ground smooth. Jennifer Colliau's Small Hand Foods orgeat, cited by Jeffrey Morgenthaler as the reference standard in *The Bar Book*, also incorporates apricot kernels for a marzipan note without relying on extract, plus organic cane sugar, orange flower water, and a small measure of biodynamic California brandy for preservation. Liber & Co's formulation is similar — filtered water, cane sugar, whole almonds, gum arabic, orange flower water, citric acid, and a touch of bitter almond oil. **Commercial almond-flavor orgeat** (Torani, Monin, Fabbri, Finest Call, Fee Brothers) is fundamentally a sugar-water base with natural or artificial almond flavor, gum stabilizer, and preservatives — no real almond content at all. The flavor profile is thinner and one-dimensional compared to artisan; the density is nearly identical because sugar concentration dominates.

The density spread across both families is remarkably tight based on published sugar content per serving. Liber & Co's label reports 10 grams of sugar per 15 mL serving; Torani's reports approximately 20 grams of sugar per 30 mL serving — both work out to about 667 milligrams of sugar per millilitre, or roughly 50-55° Brix. Standard sucrose-water density tables at 20°C give 50% w/w sucrose = 1.230 g/mL (291 g per US cup), 55% w/w = 1.259 g/mL (298 g/cup), and 60% w/w = 1.289 g/mL (305 g/cup). Real-fruit variants may skew a few grams per cup lighter than pure sucrose syrup at the same Brix due to suspended almond solids and orange flower water displacing some sugar mass; commercial variants track the sucrose-water physics directly. The published range 288-320 g/cup covers observed brand variance across both families with headroom for the tiki-tradition orgeats that lean richer.

In the ExactCups syrup cluster, orgeat (288-320 g/cup) opens a new mid-band. Standard simple syrup 1:1 (289 g/cup) sits at orgeat's low end; rich simple syrup 2:1 (314 g/cup) sits near orgeat's upper. Orgeat is denser than a standard sugar-water simple syrup because of the almond fat and dissolved solids in real versions, and because commercial versions run slightly richer than 1:1 to compete with the perceived body of the artisan originals. It sits below the 336 g/cup cluster (honey, agave, barley malt, golden syrup at 76-80% solids) and below the 320 g/cup cluster (date syrup, pomegranate molasses, cane syrup, sorghum syrup at 65-70% solids).

Practical bartender recommendation: for a proper Mai Tai and any tiki drink where orgeat drives the flavour, use a real-almond artisan brand (Small Hand Foods, Liber & Co, BG Reynolds) — the flavour difference is substantial and the density difference is negligible. Commercial almond-flavor orgeats work adequately for coffee-shop drinks and volume applications where cost and shelf life matter more than character. Weigh at approximately 300 g per cup as a central working figure; store refrigerated after opening (12-18 months typical shelf life for well-preserved commercial and artisan bottles alike).