How to Cut Orange Wedges, Slices, and Twists for Cocktails

Creating Orange Wedges

Wash the orange and then slice the ends off. Place the orange sideways in the middle of a cutting board. Use a sharp kitchen knife to cut the top and bottom off the orange to get rid of the stem and blossom end bits. Hold the orange firmly when you do this, so it doesn't slip or roll while you're cutting. You can use either a chef’s knife or a paring knife for this, but it's easier if the knife is very sharp. Be careful whenever you’re using a sharp knife. Keep your fingers and hands out from under the blade and always cut away from your body.

Cut the orange down the middle vertically. Hold the orange firmly with your thumb on one side and your fingers on the other side, so it doesn’t roll away while you cut it. Slice straight down through the middle, from the flat stem end to the flat blossom end. Alternatively, you could stand the orange up on one of the flat ends and cut down through the middle from the top to bottom that way.

Make 3 even diagonal cuts to cut each half into 3 wedges. Place the halves of the oranges flat-side-down on your cutting board. Slice into the peel diagonally from 1 side down to the middle of the fleshy side on the cutting board, then repeat this for the other side to cut the half into 3 even wedges. Do the same for the other half of the orange. It might take a few tries to get the hang of cutting orange halves into 3 perfectly even wedges, but just keep practicing and you’ll be able to do it with no problem soon enough!

Slice a notch from the flesh to the peel in the middle of each wedge. Flip the wedges over so they are flesh-side-up on the cutting board. Cut down through the center of the flesh in each wedge until just before you reach the orange rind. Be careful not to cut all the way through the orange wedges. But don’t worry if you mess one up. You can always just eat your mistake! If you want smaller wedges, you can cut each large wedge in half, then cut a notch into the middle of each of your smaller wedges.

Stick the wedges on the rims of drink glasses to garnish them. Slide the notch you cut in an orange wedge over the rim of a glass until it sits there on its own. Try garnishing cocktails like Margaritas, Dark and Stormies, and Bloody Marys. Stick the wedges on non-alcoholic beverages like fresh-squeezed orange juice, iced tea, and even glasses of ice water. Other cocktails that go nicely with orange wedges are Pimm’s Cups and Gin Fizzes. For a non-alcoholic treat, try adding an orange slice to a glass of ice water, lemon-lime soda, orange juice, or a frozen juice mocktail. When you’re drinking a beverage with an orange wedge garnish, you can squeeze the wedge into the drink for extra orange flavor. Or, you can just grab it off the rim and eat it!

Making Wheels and Slices

Cut both ends off your orange. Place your orange sideways on a cutting board and hold it steady by the sides. Use a sharp chef’s knife or paring knife to cut the top and bottom ends off. Be careful when you’re slicing an orange with a sharp knife. Make sure you have a good grip on it, so it doesn’t slip or roll, and keep your fingers and hands out from under the knife’s blade.

Slice the orange into round slabs of the desired thickness, starting at one end. Hold the orange steady by the sides. Start cutting from one end by slicing straight down through the orange horizontally, keeping your fingers and hand that you’re holding the orange with out of the way as you cut. Keep slicing until you cut the whole orange into even wheels. Wheels that are about ⁄4 in (0.64 cm) thick are a good size for drinks if you’re not sure how big to make them.

Cut each wheel in half if you want orange slices for your drinks. Lay a wheel flat on your cutting board and cut right through the middle, so you have 2 even slices. Repeat this for each wheel to cut them all into even slices. You could also leave half the orange in wheels and cut half the wheels into slices, if you want a variety of garnish options for drinks.

Slice a notch into your wheels or slices if you want to put them on glasses. Cut a notch from one side of each wheel into the middle of the wheel. Make a notch in the middle of the flesh of each slice that goes almost to the orange peel. You can skip this if you are planning to put the wheels or slices directly into a drink, rather than on the rim of a glass.

Stick your wheels and wedges onto glasses or into glasses or pitchers. Try garnishing glasses containing cocktails or pints of beers like wheat beers or citrusy beers with the wedges and wheels. Toss some wheels or wedges right into pitchers of things like Margaritas or Sangria to decorate them and add some citrus flavor. For example, if you make a pitcher of Screwdrivers with orange juice and vodka for brunch with your friends, you could throw some whole orange wheels directly into the pitcher. You can then use some slices to garnish individual glasses for serving. You can also double-up on oranges in pints of beer by putting a wheel in the beer itself and sticking a wedge on the rim of the pint glass. For a fun, tropical treat, try adding a slice of orange to a skewer along with other fruits like cherries and pineapples.

Cutting Orange Twists

Cut the bottom off an orange and place it cut-side-down on a cutting board. Hold an orange sideways on a cutting board and use a sharp knife to cut off just the bottom end. Stand the orange upright on the cutting board with the end you just cut flat against the board. This just helps stabilize the orange while you cut the peel off to make a twist. Once you get comfortable with slicing the peel, you may choose to skip this step.

Use a paring knife to slice off a thin oval of the orange’s peel. Start at the top of the orange and just barely cut into the peel. Slice down and away from you until you cut off a thin, oval-shaped piece of the peel. It’s OK if there is a bit of the pith, or the white rind, still attached to the peel, but it’s best not to have a big chunk of it. If there is, you can carefully slice the white pith away from the peel using your paring knife. It’s up to you exactly how big to make your orange twist. Feel free to experiment with different oval sizes until you decide what works best for you and the drinks you’re making.

Twist the ends of the piece of peel in opposite directions using your fingertips. Pick up the oval-shaped piece of peel using 2-3 fingertips of both your hands. Twist your hands in opposite directions, so the oval curls up into a spiral shape. This not only looks cool, but also releases the oils inside the peel to add aroma and flavor to your drink.

Put the orange twist into a cocktail and serve the drink. Orange twists make nice garnishes for classic cocktails like Old Fashioneds or Orange Martinis. Simply drop the twist into the glass on top of the drink or lean it up against one side of the glass, so the rim supports it and it stands up. Other cocktails you might want to garnish with an orange twist include the Tom Collins and the Sazerac.