Garnishes

Orchid

The orchid on a tiki drink is usually a dendrobium sold as an edible flower, set on the rim or floated for colour; it tastes of very little and most drinkers leave it. By his own account, Harry Yee began the habit at a Waikiki hotel bar in 1955, with a Vanda. Buy blooms sold as food, since a florist’s orchid may carry pesticide residues.

Quick Facts

Legal categoryFood

Flavour Strengthlight

Our keeping timeSeveral days refrigerated.

Storage

Refrigerated in a closed container on damp kitchen paper. Garnish to order for the crispest petals.

Allergens

None of the 14 listed allergens.

The ingredient

About Orchid

Flavour Profile

Primary Flavours

FloralDelicateDecorative

Tasting Notes

Little aroma and a faint, slightly green taste; it is there for colour and form.

Colour on the rim, almost no flavour in the glass

An orchid gives a tiki drink colour and shape that fruit cannot, and very little else: the scent is faint and the taste slight. So it is judged on looks alone. A firm, fresh bloom works; a wilted or browning one draws the eye to exactly what is wrong with the drink. Choose flowers with no bruising at the petal edges and a stem end that still looks moist, and reject any with spots.

Bought as food, or left off the drink

Dendrobiums are the orchid most often sold as an edible flower, and a flower sold as food has to meet the rules for food. Ornamental plants carry no such promise, and some treatments are taken up inside the plant, so washing a florist’s bloom does not make it safe. If the source is unknown, leave the orchid out.

The orchid against the other flowers and decorations on a tiki drink

Dendrobium, sold as food

Edible: Yes
Scent: Faint
Keeps: Several days, refrigerated
Where to get it: Edible-flower growers and produce suppliers

Orchid from a florist

Edible: Not safe to assume
Scent: Faint
Keeps: Days
Where to get it: Not for drinks

Gardenia

Edible: Not as a garnish
Scent: Strong
Keeps: A day or two
Where to get it: Unsprayed plants only

Cocktail umbrella

Edible: No
Scent: None
Keeps: Indefinitely, dry
Where to get it: Anywhere

Garnish	Edible	Scent	Keeps	Where to get it
Dendrobium, sold as food	Yes	Faint	Several days, refrigerated	Edible-flower growers and produce suppliers
Orchid from a florist	Not safe to assume	Faint	Days	Not for drinks
Gardenia	Not as a garnish	Strong	A day or two	Unsprayed plants only
Cocktail umbrella	No	None	Indefinitely, dry	Anywhere

Two of our drinks finish with one

The Tia Mia sets an edible orchid beside a lime wheel and slapped mint, and the Pearl Diver takes one on its crushed ice. Clip it to the rim by the base or float it clear of the straws, and keep spares cold on damp paper in a closed box, where they last several days.

Using it

Using Orchid

Usage

Clipped to the rim by the base of the bloom or floated on the surface clear of the straws. Our Tia Mia and Pearl Diver take one if you have it; neither depends on it, so leave it out rather than use a florist’s flower.

Pro Tip

Pick a bloom that contrasts with the drink. A pale flower disappears against a cloudy, orgeat-heavy drink, while a dark one reads from across a room.

Top Tips

Buy orchids sold as food. A florist’s plant may have been sprayed.
Handle the bloom by its base; the petals mark easily.
Nest it into crushed ice to hold it upright at an angle.
Keep spares refrigerated on damp kitchen paper in a closed box.

Possible Substitutions

Gardenia Flower: the other classic tiki bloom
Pineapple: tropical without the flower

History & Context

In a 1998 interview with Rick Carroll, Harry Yee, the Waikiki hotel bartender, dated his first orchid garnish, a Vanda, to 1955, and explained it as a way of keeping the ashtrays clean.

Go further

More to explore

Common Questions

Can you eat an orchid garnish?

Food-grade dendrobiums, yes, though the bloom tastes of very little and most people leave it. Ornamental orchids from a florist or garden centre are a different matter: they may have been treated with pesticides not cleared for food, and rinsing does not remove anything taken up inside the plant.

Which orchid is used on cocktails?

Usually a dendrobium, the orchid most often sold as an edible flower. It holds its shape well on a rim and lasts several days refrigerated, longer than most edible flowers. Harry Yee’s first orchid garnish in 1955 was a Vanda, by his own account.

How do you attach an orchid to the glass?

Clip it to the rim by the base of the bloom, or float it on the surface clear of the straws. On crushed ice it can be nested into the ice, which holds it upright at an angle where it reads from a distance.

How long do orchid garnishes keep?

Several days refrigerated, on damp kitchen paper in a closed container, which is longer than most edible flowers manage. Garnish to order even so, since the petals are crispest straight from the box and a bloom browning at the edges looks worse than none.

Why are orchids used on tiki drinks?

For colour that a citrus wheel cannot give, on drinks sold as a holiday in a glass. Harry Yee, who said he started the practice in Waikiki in 1955, gave a plainer reason in a 1998 interview: the orchids made the ashtrays easier to clean.

Which cocktails use an orchid?

Two of ours. The Tia Mia, mezcal and aged Jamaican rum with lime, orgeat and curaçao, takes an edible orchid beside its lime wheel and mint, and the Pearl Diver is finished with one. Both say “if you have one”: the drink does not depend on it.

Make something

Made with Orchid

Featured In These Cocktails

Tia Mia Pearl Diver

Often Used With

Guide by Jerry Can Spirits · Updated 10 October 2026

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