Cointreau- This is a classic orange liqueur, with a strength of 40%. Produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France from two types of oranges Citrus sinensis and Citrus aurantium.

The history of the creation of Cointreau liqueur

The story begins on St. Lode Street in Angers, France. The brothers, Édouard-Jean and Adolphe Cointreau, worked in the family patisserie and had a need for high quality natural liqueurs that were not available at the time. It became a kind of challenge for them.

And in 1849 the brothers, Edouard-Jean and Adolphe Cointreau opened the doors of their distillery Cointreau & Cie SA.

First they released liquor from wild cherry, and gradually expanded the line up to 50 flavors.

Edouard Cointreau, the son of Edouard-Jean, practically grew up at the factory, he dreamed of becoming the best master distiller. And in 1870 the dream came true, Cointreau Jr. joined the family business. Eduard noticed consumer interest in the taste of oranges, which at that time was a very rare and valuable commodity. This universal product which appealed to both men and women. He constantly experimented and invented various combinations, until in 1875 he created perfect combination bitter and sweet orange peel. His passion turned into original liqueur Triple Sec (that's what this crystal clear drink was originally called). After 10 years, Edie decided to patent the name and the bottle, which became calling card brand, but due to a lot of competition, he was unable to do so. And then it was decided to rename the orange liqueur to Cointreau.

To date, Cointreau has more than 300 awards, and the very first brand received in 1889 at the World Fair in Paris. In 1990, Cointreau & Cie SA merged with Remy Martin and entered the market under the new name Remy Cointreau.

Making Cointreau liqueur

For production, the zest of bitter and sweet oranges is used. The former are harvested while still green in the Antilles, when the content essential oils reaches its peak. And some varieties of sweet oranges are used in fresh, they get to the plant from southern France, Brazil and Italy. The zest from oranges is removed by hand and dried exclusively under the sun, and after it has arrived at the production, it is insisted on high-quality alcohol. Then distilled several times with water and adjusted to Cointreau standards.

In the process of adding alcohol, sugar and water - to fix the drink - they check the density of the liquor, the alcohol content, the transparency of the liquor and its ability to acquire an opal hue when in contact with ice or water.

Interesting fact: Edouard Cointreau proved himself in the advertising field. In 1898, the world saw the first advertisement for Cointreau, where the image of Piero Cointreau first appeared, it was created by the Italian artist Nicolas Tomano. This character was used until 1954. In 2001, the alcohol we are considering had a new slogan "Be Cointreauversial", it is used all over the world, with the exception of France.

Types of Cointreau liqueur

The line of Cointreau liqueur is presented in two positions:

1. Cointreau Original is a masterpiece created by the unique distillation of natural sweet and bitter orange peel. This liqueur presents the perfect balance between sweetness and freshness.
2. Cointreau Noir This drink was created in 2012. It combines the classic Cointreau orange liqueur and elite cognac from the Remy Martin cellar.

Cointreau liqueur design

The design of the bottle has not changed much over the years of liquor production. It is very concise, and resembles a bottle of expensive bourbon. The French agency Betc Design, together with the famous designer Catherine Malandrino, developed a design specifically for America. The Statue of Liberty (a symbol of France's gift to America) was chosen as the main image. The bottle is also decorated with metal swirls and Swarovski stones.

How to drink + cocktail recipes

Cointreau has been very popular among men since the end of the 19th century. This liquor was used as an aperitif among representatives of high society.

True connoisseurs of orange liqueur prefer to drink it slowly, in small sips, enjoying amazing taste and aroma from tall glasses, cognac or wide glasses.

To date, Cointreau is used in several forms:

1. undiluted liquor.
2. Diluted highly carbonated liquor mineral water in the form of soda or other soft drinks.
3. With ice, enjoy your drink as the ice melts.
4. As part of popular club cocktails.

Cointreau can also be served as a digestif. It goes well with exotic and familiar fruits, cheese, chocolate and various confectionery.

Since 1930, when ladies accompanied their gentlemen to elite establishments, they constantly ordered the White Lady cocktail. And we will learn how to cook it at home.

Ingredients

1. Orange liqueur Cointreau - 30 ml
2. Dry London Gin - 50 ml
3. Lemon fresh - 20 ml
4. Ice - 200 g
5. Spiral orange peel

Cooking method

1. In a shaker, mix all ingredients with ice.
2. Strain the contents of the shaker through a strainer into a pre-chilled martini glass.
3. When serving, garnish with an orange zest spiral. Drink in small sips.

Beachcomber cocktail

Ingredients

1. Orange liqueur Cointreau - 20 ml
2. white rum– 60 ml
3. Lime fresh - 20 ml
4. Maraschino liqueur - 2 splashes
5. Ice - 3 cubes
6. lime slice

Cooking method

1. In a shaker, mix all ingredients with ice.
2. Pour the contents of the container into a martini glass.
3. Garnish with a lime slice when serving.

Ritz Cocktail

Ingredients

1. Orange liqueur Cointreau - 5 ml
2. Cognac - 25 ml
3. A sparkling wine– 120 ml
4. Orange juice– 25 ml
5. crushed ice
6. Spiral Lemon Peel

Cooking method

1. In a shaker, mix liqueur, cognac and orange juice.
2. We fill a champagne glass 1/4 with crushed ice, pour the contents of the shaker and fill the remaining space with sparkling wine.
3. Quit when serving lemon peel straight into the glass.

With a bright orange taste - complex, controversial and even daring, as professionals evaluate it. The highlight of "Cointreau" is a special recipe that involves the use of sweet and bitter varieties of citrus fruits in a certain proportion. For more than 160 years of its existence, Cointreau has received dozens of top awards at international exhibitions and has become one of the most popular liquor brands among consumers around the world.

Production technology "Cointreau"

In the production of Cointreau, the dry peel of bitter oranges, as well as the peel and pulp of sweet oranges are used: the former are brought from the Antilles, and the latter from the plantations of Brazil and Spain. After insisting on alcohol, which allows to achieve the maximum extraction of essential oils from the feedstock, the composition of the future Cointreau liquor is subjected to double distillation, then sugar syrup and spring water are added there, the alcohol content is regulated, transparency and density are controlled.

At first glance, there is nothing special about the Cointreau recipe, but its main secret is the ratio of ingredients, which the Cointreau family keeps secret. The finished product is poured into branded bottles, the shape of which, like the Cointreau brand itself, is protected by copyright, patented at the end of the century before last.

Composition of Cointreau liqueur

"Cointreau" - alcoholic drink with a strength of 40 degrees, which incorporates only natural ingredients. His taste qualities are determined solely by the characteristics of the feedstock and strict adherence to each stage of the technology. Despite the fact that the drink has the highest percentage of alcohol among its counterparts, high degrees practically not felt. The sweetness of "Cointreau" is harmoniously balanced by the natural light bitterness, which is present due to the peel of wild oranges. This ingredient not only relieves the liquor from excessive cloying, but also fills it with an incredibly persistent and multifaceted aroma.

How to drink "Cointreau"

The famous French liqueur "Cointreau" is recommended to drink either in pure form, having previously cooled to a temperature of 4-6 degrees Celsius (you can simply add pieces of ice), or mixing it with non-alcoholic or alcoholic drinks. There are many well-known Cointreau cocktails: Margarita, Cosmopolitan, Long Island, B-52, Joker - there are more than 200 of them.
It should be borne in mind that water or ice, when added to a crystal clear liquor, causes it to become cloudy, giving it an opal hue. This "Cointreau" chip is a kind of test for its originality and is associated with big amount essential oils in liquor.

Cuantro - price in WineStyle

If we compare the cost of "Cointreau" and other popular liqueurs in our store, for example, or, then it corresponds to the average level. For a drink with such a big name rich history and many awards, the numbers on the price tag look more than democratic. A bottle of Cointreau liqueur WineStyle stores can be bought at a price of 909 rubles, and the average price of a liter of drink is 1500 rubles.

When in 1875 in the small town of Angers in western France, a young hereditary entrepreneur Edouard Cointreau creates a strong orange liqueur called Triple-Sec Cointreau, he does not yet know that it will be one of the most popular drinks worldwide.

Looking for something original, Cointreau makes his liqueur much stronger than his contemporaries. He dresses it in a square, opaque, amber-coloured bottle. And he does what no one has done before him - he shoots a commercial about his alcoholic drink, which is broadcast in the newly appeared cinemas. Pierrot is depicted on the bottle cover. In the video, he sits at a table and chooses the right drink for himself, refusing the usual champagne and wine, he does the best choice- orange liqueur Cointreau.

In 1989 the French company merged with the Remi Martin concern, since then all rights belong to the firm Remy Cointreau. The Cointreau family business has been passed down from generation to generation. In 2012 its leader was the 26-year-old Alfred Cointreau. The French trading house is famous for its original ideas so in 2007 The face of the brand was Dita Von Teese, known for her burlesque shows, and then Laetitia Casta.

Recipe for Cointreau kept in the strictest confidence from the very beginning of its production. If you wish, you can go to the museum located at the plant. There you will be told that the main ingredient is oranges, bitter and sweet, brought from Spain and the Antilles. Orange zest is insisted on neutral alcohol for several days. Then using clean water and sugar syrup, the final taste of the alcoholic beverage is achieved. The whole secret correct production liquor lies in compliance exact proportions. And this information is kept in the strictest confidence.

How to drink Cointreau

Liquor is rarely consumed in its pure form, more often it is part of cocktails. However, there are still connoisseurs of the use of this citrus drink without other impurities. In this case, Cointreau is served in cognac glasses, with the addition of a few ice cubes. After a while, the drink becomes slightly cloudy in color. It comes from essential oils., which are part of the liqueur.

liqueur recipe

You can make Cointreau liqueur at home, of course, it will be only as close as possible to the original range of taste. To do this, you will need a few oranges and grapefruits, sugar and spices, and as a base - vodka or 40% alcohol. Just when adding spices, you can show imagination. It can be sweet peas, and Bay leaf, and red ground pepper.

liqueur recipe quite simple: to start, carefully cut the citrus peel, then fill it with prepared alcohol. Add sugar (about 200 grams per liter), spices, pour it all into an opaque glass bottle and leave to infuse for 5-7 days. Then pour the resulting drink into the container where you will store it. If you have a moonshine, you can achieve even more similarity with original product, by double distillation.

Making liquor at home is a job that requires creativity. You can experiment: add rum to the place of alcohol, and add grapefruit to oranges; change the recipe, make the drink sweeter or sourer.

Cocktails based on Cointreau

There are many ways appreciate the versatility of the taste of a French drink. As mentioned above, you can drink Cointreau neat, as well as in combination with soft drinks, and drink cocktails with orange liqueur. There are many cocktails with citrus liqueur in the composition. Perhaps there is not a single bar in the arsenal of which would not be famous drink. However, there are still five of the most popular Cointreau cocktails.

Among the many citrus-based alcoholic drinks, the French liqueur Cointreau leads in popularity and takes first place among connoisseurs. It is worth trying Cointreau once to remember forever its unusual and original taste and aroma. What is the secret of the composition of this orange liqueur?

In the article:

Cointreau liqueur - composition, strength and taste

Cointreau - what kind of liquor is this? Why does he enjoy such recognition? Cointreau is an orange alcoholic drink made in the best classical traditions, with a fruity-floral aroma and a strength of 40 degrees. It is transparent in itself, but if you add a piece of ice to it, it will become cloudy, this is because it contains a lot of essential oils.

Cointreau's composition is based on alcohol, water, sugar and orange peel. Sweet oranges and oranges are used - oranges that have a bitter taste, the peel of which contains a large amount of essential oils. But main secret of this drink in a unique balance of bitter and sweet taste, which is achieved by strict observance of the proportions of products. Sweet fruits give the drink orange flavor, and oranges add tart and piquant note lemon and lime.

With each sip of this liquor, the taste is gradually revealed: first it captures the sensation juicy orange, then a pleasant chill, and after alcohol. At the end, there is a bittersweet aftertaste that lingers for a long time.

Cointreau cocktails

Homemade Cointreau liquor would be more correct to use not in its pure form, but in cocktails, as additional additives will smooth out and neutralize the sharp taste and smell of alcohol, which is heard and felt in tinctures own production. Naturally, original drink also ideal for cocktails, in which it perfectly reveals its taste and aroma.

B-52

This is very famous cocktail and familiar even to those who adhere to sober image life. Coffee liquor and Cointreau are taken. These drinks are poured into a stack in turn, approximately 15 ml each, layers are obtained. They usually drink such a creation quickly - in one gulp.

Quanthropolitan

Quanthropolitan

It was created just for this orange liqueur. 50 ml of Cointreau are shaken in a shaker with 25 ml of cranberry juice and the same volume of lemon juice. The mixture is poured into a martini glass and garnished with a lemon peel spiral. The drink is consumed slowly to get a feel for the taste.

Kamikaze

Kamikaze

Also popular cocktail, which includes this orange alcoholic drink. 20 ml of Cointreau, 10 ml of good vodka and 10 ml of lemon juice are poured into a shaker and everything is mixed well.

queen mary

queen mary

It's not quite female drink He is popular with men too. With the help of a shaker, 30 ml of high-quality cognac and the same amount of Cointreau are mixed with ice. Pour into a martini glass. The highlight of this cocktail is that in the end, before serving, Grenadine is also added to it. A cherry would be appropriate on top.

Cointreau orange liqueur is good both on its own and in cocktails. This drink will become a real decoration of your table.

Cointreau Cointreau- French orange liqueur, widely used as an ingredient in cocktails. It has a transparent color and is made from sweet and bitter oranges. The brand and trademark is owned by Rémy Cointreau. The strength of Cointreau Cointreau liquor is 40 degrees, calorie content is 197 kcal per 100 grams of product.

The face of the company is Laetitia Casta, until 2007 the face of Rémy Cointreau and Cointreau in particular was Dita Von Teese.

What is Cointreau liqueur made of and how?

As mentioned above, Cointreau liqueur is made from bitter and sweet oranges, moreover, the most oil-rich part of oranges, the zest, is used. Bitter oranges come from the Antilles, sweet oranges for the production of Cointreau liqueur come from Brazil, southern France and Spain.

Orange peel is infused with alcohol obtained from the distillation of grain or sugar beets. Then the infusion is distilled twice in copper cubes of the Sharan type. Fortress and sweetness are brought to the final values ​​by dilution with spring water and sugar syrup. The finished drink is checked for strength, for sugar, its transparency and density are studied, as well as the ability to create an opal hue when in contact with water.

How to drink Cointreau liqueur?

Cointreau liqueur can be used as a dessert in its pure form, as well as with ice. It is an essential attribute of parties, an ingredient for a large number alcoholic and non-alcoholic cocktails. When in contact with ice or water, Cointreau acquires an opal, milky blue hue.

Cointreau cocktails

• Kahlua liqueur - 20
• Liqueur Baileys - 20
• Liqueur Cointreau - 20

Not difficult classic cocktail, which is poured in layers into a stack. At first - coffee liqueur Kahlúa, after - creamy Baileys, then - orange Cointreau. Served on fire.

• 40ml vodka
• 15 ml Cointreau
• 7ml fresh lemon juice
• 30ml cranberry juice
• orange peel

Everything is mixed in a shaker and poured into a martini glass. The cocktail gained great popularity after Sex and the City.

Cost of Cointreau liqueur

A bottle of Cointreau liquor costs about 1000-1500 rubles for a 0.7 liter bottle.

Cointreau liqueur recipe at home

To make Cointreau liquor at home, we need:

• vodka - 1 liter;
• orange - 3 pcs;
• grapefruit (or lemon) - 1 piece;
• sugar - 200 grams;
• black pepper - 5 peas;
• red pepper - 1 gram;
• bay leaf - 1 piece.

Cooking begins with the fact that the lemon and orange need to be scalded with boiling water. This will wash off the wax or other chemical additives. After that, it is required to remove the zest from oranges and lemons. A potato peeler or grater is ideal for this. But you can also use a simple knife. It is advisable not to reach the white pulp of the orange, otherwise the liquor will be too bitter.

Chopped and prepared zest must be put in a jar, where you should also add pepper, sugar, bay leaf. It should be noted that if you are going to further distill the shutter speed (as in original recipe) - then sugar should not be added. After 5 hours, it is worth getting a bay leaf from the jar.

Standing products in vodka or alcohol should take at least a week, after which finished product poured through cheesecloth into bottles.

Ideally, the resulting mixture should be distilled twice into moonshine still, cutting off the "head" and "tail" ("head" and "tail" of the first stage can be added for secondary distillation). During the second distillation, it is also necessary not to take the head (the first 20-30 ml of the fraction), which contain great amount fusel oils. Otherwise, when adding water, the drink will become cloudy. After distillation, the resulting alcohol is diluted with sugar syrup to a strength of 40%.

History of Cointreau

Cointreau liqueur was invented by Adolf and Edouard-Jean Cointreau, brothers who opened a distillery in Angers in 1849. They were engaged in the creation of liqueurs, starting with wild cherries, gradually expanding the range to 50 items. In 1875, orange liqueur was born, the progenitor of modern Cointreau liqueur. Both bitter and sweet varieties of oranges were used there at the same time. In addition, the liquor had amazing transparency. In 1892, the drink was patented, as well as its name and recognizable bottle.

Initially, the liquor was called Triple Sec, however, this name was abandoned, as there were difficulties with the patent for this name.