Orange Crush

The fact that the Orange Crush remains a vaguely recognizable soda fountain delicacy today due to its loose relationship to a brand and family of orange soda is a bit ironic. According to Darcy O’Neil’s soda fountain guide and history Fix the Pumps, the crush was originally a drink style that developed specifically around fresh ingredients. Most soda fountain syrups were made with extracts (using alcohol) and other methods that ensured shelf stability, but a crush signaled your drink would be made with whole fruit from scratch. This very much reminds me of the early days of the cocktail revival in the aughts, when the word fresh purposefully preempted every juice on most menus. 

With this recipe I can’t help but bring my modern cocktail sensibilities back to the mix. In this case it means making a syrup from fresh orange that will last you nearly a week if stored in the fridge. While many syrups are made workably acidic with the addition of citric acid, I personally like using the acid phosphate, like the one from O’Neil’s Extinct Chemical Company. You can try subbing about ½ oz. of lemon juice, but the neutrality of the phosphate really lets the orange be orange. It’s crushable, honestly.