Cocktails with Orange slice
Orange slice is a garnish cut as a cross-section of fresh sweet orange, carrying flesh, pith and aromatic peel.
Taste profile
Fragrant with sweet citrus oil from the peel, over lightly sweet, gently tart flesh and a faint bitterness at the pith.
How it's used
An accent garnish set on the rim, perched on the glass, or floated in the drink for colour and citrus aroma; it can be dropped in to contribute a little juice, and a dehydrated slice serves as a shelf-stable decorative alternative.
Substitutes for Orange slice
Another citrus garnish such as an orange wheel, wedge or twist preserves the citrus identity with only minor loss of appearance and aroma; the peel-oil aroma alone can come from an expressed twist, and its trivial sweetness from any sweetener already in the drink. A lemon or lime garnish changes the citrus character and the orange colour.
Often confused with
A twist is a strip of the outer peel only, cut to express aromatic oil; a slice is a whole cross-section including flesh, pith and peel, so it also contributes juice and visual bulk.
Orange wedge
