In 1796, Amelia Simmons's American Cookery flavored a boiled custard with "two spoons of rose-water, or orange flower water," and grocers still stock the same thing. Orange blossom water is the scented water that remains when neroli oil is distilled from bitter orange flowers, and cooks measure it by the drop or the teaspoon.
Simmons's book, printed in Hartford and later reissued in facsimile as The First American Cookbook, reaches for orange flower water again in a sweetened cream with nutmeg and wine, and for "orange water" in an orange pudding. In Lebanese kitchens it has been a staple since at least the 17th century, according to the Lebanese-American cookbook author Maureen Abood, and Middle Eastern grocers are the easiest place to buy a bottle now.
How orange blossom water is made
Fresh flowers of Citrus aurantium, the bitter orange, go into a still with water. The steam carries off the flower's aromatic compounds, and when it condenses, a thin layer of essential oil separates from a much larger volume of fragrant water. That oil is neroli, and the water is orange blossom water, which chemists call a hydrosol.
A 2021 review of Citrus aurantium in the journal Molecules puts orange blossom water at 99.9% of what comes out of the still and neroli at just 0.1%. The same review notes that hydrosols like this one are used mainly to flavor pastries and drinks around the Mediterranean and in the Middle East.
What makes the water smell of flowers is a small amount of essential oil left dispersed in it. A French study of 22 hydrosol samples, published in Food Research International in 2015, measured a median of 677 mg of essential oil per liter in the orange blossom waters, against 205 mg in Damask rose water.
In Arabic it's mazaher. Abood points out that it doesn't taste of orange at all. There's no citrus tartness in it, only a floral, faintly sweet perfume.
Orange blossom water vs neroli, absolute and perfume
These four names turn up side by side in shops, but they aren't interchangeable, and only the first belongs in food.
| Product | How it's made | What it's for |
|---|---|---|
| Orange blossom water | The water from distilling bitter orange blossoms | Flavoring syrups, pastries, puddings and drinks, when sold as a food |
| Neroli oil | The essential oil that separates in the same still, about 0.1% of the output | Perfumery and scented products; far too concentrated to cook with |
| Orange flower absolute | Extracted from the flowers with ethyl alcohol as the solvent, per the Molecules review | Perfumery |
| Orange blossom perfume | An alcohol-based fragrance | Wearing on skin, never eating |
Distillation changes the smell of a flower, which is why neroli and a living blossom don't smell alike. We wrote about that difference in what orange blossom really smells like. We make Orange Blossom Eau de Parfum as a soliflore, a perfume that keeps to one flower, and its label says external use only. Keep the kitchen bottle and the dresser bottle apart.
One more name to untangle. Our Orange Blossom Sourdough Starter lists just two ingredients: wild yeast, and the organic wheat flour that feeds it. There's no flower water in it, so a loaf made with it won't taste of orange blossom unless you add some.
How to cook with orange blossom water
Start small. Abood's rule is that ½ to 1 teaspoon is usually all a recipe needs, because the fragrance is concentrated and works best when you barely notice it.
In syrup for pastry
Abood considers orange blossom water essential to Lebanese baklawa, stirred into both the simple syrup poured over the pastry and the nut filling. The same scented syrup goes over other Lebanese sweets, sometimes with a few drops of rose water alongside. Once you have a syrup made, it also works on a plain fruit salad.
In a drink
The Ramos Gin Fizz, first mixed in 1888 by Henry Charles Ramos at the Imperial Cabinet Saloon in New Orleans, calls for it. Liquor.com's recipe uses 3 dashes of orange flower water with gin, cream, egg white, lemon, lime, simple syrup and soda (use pasteurized egg white if raw egg is a concern). Without alcohol, Abood suggests a splash in lemonade or tea, or in the Lebanese café blanc, which despite its English name, white coffee, is just hot water with a splash of orange blossom water, and honey if you like.
In custard and cream
This is where Simmons used it, and it still works. Heat cream or milk for a custard, rice pudding or panna cotta, take it off the heat, and stir in orange blossom water to taste, starting with ½ teaspoon. Abood pairs it with caramel and brown sugar, which makes a crème caramel a natural home.
Does orange blossom water go bad?
It keeps, but not forever, and the fragrance goes first. Abood's advice is a cool, dark cupboard and a tightly closed lid; stored that way, she says, a bottle lasts a year or longer, though the scent fades.
Spoilage is the other risk, and it's easy to underestimate. In the 2015 study, bacteria grew in orange blossom and rose waters held in non-sterile containers both at room temperature and at 5°C (41°F), and the researchers concluded that neither the waters' essential oils nor cold storage kept them microbiologically stable. Pour what you need rather than dipping a spoon into the bottle, close it straight away, and go by the date and storage directions on the label.
If you're trying it for the first time, make the custard: a pint of cream, sugar to taste, and orange blossom water added ¼ teaspoon at a time after the cream comes off the heat.
