What can I use instead of orange peel for oils expressed over a finished drink?

Lemon peel (1 strip per orange strip). Sharper and more floral, and it cuts sweetness instead of rounding it, so an old fashioned reads brighter and less rich. Grapefruit peel (1 strip per orange strip). More bitter and resinous, which suits anything with amaro or bitters in it. Loud enough to bury a delicate drink. Mandarin or clementine peel (2 strips per orange strip). Softer and sweeter perfume with less bitterness. The peel is thin and tears, so cut wider strips than you would from an orange. Orange bitters (2 dashes per twist). Lands in the liquid rather than above it, so you taste orange instead of smelling it. Adds bitterness the twist would not have.

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What to use instead of orange peel

Q: What can I use instead of orange peel for dried peel simmered into a stew or braise?

Fresh peel in wide strips, added late (2 strips added in the last 20 min per 1 tsp dried peel). Brighter and more floral with none of the bitter backbone. Added early it goes flat, so timing is the whole trick. Dried tangerine peel, chenpi (Match by weight). Deeper and slightly medicinal, closer to a Cantonese braise. It holds up to two hours of simmering without turning harsh. Dried lemon peel (Match by weight). Sharper and more resinous, and it can taste of furniture polish in a long braise. Better in a 30 minute pot than a three hour one.

It depends entirely on what it's doing in the dish. Here's the job, what else does it, and what to skip.

Oils expressed over a finished drink

Squeezing the peel sprays a fine mist of citrus oil onto the surface, and you smell that before the first sip, which is the entire job of a twist.

Lemon peelRan out

1 strip per orange strip

Sharper and more floral, and it cuts sweetness instead of rounding it, so an old fashioned reads brighter and less rich.

Where to buy it →

Grapefruit peelRan out

1 strip per orange strip

More bitter and resinous, which suits anything with amaro or bitters in it. Loud enough to bury a delicate drink.

Where to buy it →

Mandarin or clementine peelRan out

2 strips per orange strip

Softer and sweeter perfume with less bitterness. The peel is thin and tears, so cut wider strips than you would from an orange.

Where to buy it →

Orange bittersRan out

2 dashes per twist

Lands in the liquid rather than above it, so you taste orange instead of smelling it. Adds bitterness the twist would not have.

Where to buy it →

What doesn't work: Dried orange peel from the spice jar dropped into the glass. The volatile oil evaporated during drying, so there is nothing to express, and after a few minutes it just leaches tannin and makes the drink taste like cold tea.

Dried peel simmered into a stew or braise

Dried peel holds bitterness and heavier aromatics that survive an hour in the pot, which is why bouillabaisse and Chinese braises call for it dried rather than fresh.

Fresh peel in wide strips, added lateRan out

2 strips added in the last 20 min per 1 tsp dried peel

Brighter and more floral with none of the bitter backbone. Added early it goes flat, so timing is the whole trick.

Dried tangerine peel, chenpiRan out

Match by weight

Deeper and slightly medicinal, closer to a Cantonese braise. It holds up to two hours of simmering without turning harsh.

Dried lemon peelRan out

Match by weight

Sharper and more resinous, and it can taste of furniture polish in a long braise. Better in a 30 minute pot than a three hour one.

What doesn't work: Orange juice stirred in instead. Juice is sugar and acid with no peel oil at all, so it sweetens the broth, none of the perfume turns up, and enough of it will split a rouille when the two are combined.