How to create a cocktail garnish with citrus peel

Knowing how to properly garnish a cocktail is a skill that will never go out of style, and might just be the difference between a good drink and a great one.

With their vibrant flavour and aroma, citrus peels are easily the most popular cocktail garnish. They're the finishing touch to most classic cocktails, and for good reason. After all, what would a Martini be without a lemon twist? Or a Negroni without its customary strip of orange? Just a touch of citrus brings an essential balance and aroma to a serve, as well a welcome pop of colour.

Here, our cocktail expert Kate Meehan runs us through how to create the perfect citrus peel cocktail garnish, and how to use it to make your serve even more delicious.

Cocktail Kate says:

"A citrus peel is much more than a garnish - it's one of the most powerful flavour and aroma enhancers that you can add to a cocktail.

The essential oils in the peel are intensely aromatic and, expressed over the surface of a drink, they create a fragrance that reaches your nose before you even take a sip.

Beyond aroma, citrus oils bring balance to a drink. Rich, spirit-forward serves can benefit from vibrant lemon oils, while orange softens bitter beverages. In short, citrus can totally transform a drinking experience."

Prepare the perfect citrus peel:

Step 1. Choose fresh fruit.

Firm, unwaxed citrus with smooth skin contains the most aromatic oils.

Step 2. Use a vegetable peeler.

Starting near the top of the fruit, pull the peeler smoothly downwards to remove a long strip of a peel. Aim to remove as much of the coloured skin as possible while taking as little white pith as you can.

Step 3. Tidy the peel.

Place the strip on a chopping board, pith side down, and trim the edges with a sharp knife to create a clean rectangle or elegant shape. Neatly trimmed peels not only look more professional but are also easier to handle.

Step 4. Express the oils correctly.

Hold the peel over the finished drink with the skin side facing down towards the surface of the cocktail.

This is an important detail: the essential oils are stored in tiny glands within the outer skin, not in the white pith.

By gently folding the peel with the skin facing the drink and the pith closing inside as you fold, you burst these oil glands and release a fine spray of fragrant citrus oil onto the surface.

Folding the peel with the pith facing the drink is a common mistake and results in far less oil been expressed where it matters.

Step 5. Finish the garnish.

If desired, lightly wipe the peel around the rim of the glass to add another layer of aroma before placing the peel into the drink of resting it neatly on the rim.