How To Make Dehydrated Fruit Cocktail Garnishes

It's time to make cocktail garnishes!

A garnish is the literal cherry on top to a perfectly mixed drink. You can add a slice of fresh fruit, a salted rim, or in this case, a piece of dehydrated fruit. 

You can dehydrate lemons, limes, grapefruit, oranges, and more.

You can use a dehydrator or your own oven.

In this blog we're going to explain a couple different types of dehydrated fruit and outline the steps in using your oven to dehydrate them.

Dehydrating with a dehydrator.

If you have your own dehydrator, it will likely come with instructions. Using a dehydrator to dehydrate your fruit is one of the most effective and efficient options. Check out some of these dehydrators on Amazon, ranging from $40 to $400.

Dehydrating with an oven.

Remember these age-old words of wisdom, “slow and steady wins the race”. You may need to repeat them to yourself over the next 3-9 hours. Dehydrating requires patience, since you want every last drop of moisture gone from your fruit before storing it.

There are three different dehydrated fruit options that we're going to outline: Wheels, Powder, and Edible Bark.

Wheels:

Slice your fresh fruit into half an inch thick pieces. Anything smaller will

Besides a simply elegant citrus wheel, there are other things to do with your newly dehydrated fruit.

Powders:

Same method as the wheels, except you take it a step further and crush the dried fruit to make a powder. Who wants a salted glass rim when you can have an orange and thyme flavoured rim?

Edible bark:

Looking to experiment? Blend your chosen fruits up (especially those plump ones like blueberries and raspberries that take forever to dehydrate) and pour the mixture onto a sheet lined with parchment paper. The juices from the fruit should create a puree-type texture that results in one large piece. Dehydrate this pan the same way to create edible bark that will add a unique touch to your cocktail. 

7 steps to dehydrating fruit in the oven:

1. Turn the oven on to its lowest setting (200 F). If your oven has a convection setting, this is a great opportunity to use it. If not, rotating the baking sheets will assist in even drying.
2. Slice fruit thinly, making sure the widths are consistent. The thicker the slice, the longer it will take to dehydrate.
3. Add any herbs you want. Such as thyme on oranges, lavender on lemon. Get creative!
4. Place fruit on parchment lined baking sheet, evenly spaced out. Then place it in the oven.
5. The only thing this next part requires is patience, as it will take 2 to 4 hours for the fruit to dry out in the oven. Check every half hour to see how they're doing. Remember: You can’t leave any moisture in your fruit otherwise they won't last as long and could turn moldy. 
6. Once dried, remove the pans from the oven and leave them to cool.
7. After they’ve cooled, this is when you would turn them into a powder if a rim is what you’re going for. If you chose the edible bark route, break the pieces up into long shards that can rest in a glass.
8. Finally, put them in a tightly sealed container of your choice, storing them somewhere dark and dry.

There you have it. You have made your very own garnishes!

Add them to your next mojito, negroni, margarita, or our personal favourite, the gin & tonic.

Be sure to brag to anyone and everyone who will listen. Taking your cocktails from good to great, one step at a time. If you're feeling dehydrated from all this dehydration talk, check out one of our cocktail recipes using our Premium Tonic Waters.