Cointreau Blood Orange Liqueur 70cl

Extracted from The Spirits Business – Cointreau: A Brand History dated 4th June, 2015 by Richard Woodard. Originally confectioners, the Cointreau family had opened a distillery in the city of Angers in 1849, keen to use the area’s plentiful fruit to satisfy the growing demand for liqueurs. Their revival of “guignolet”, a cherry liqueur from the 17th century, kicked things off, and soon the family was making more than 50 different products. Edouard was among the younger generation – young enough to have grown up at the distillery – and, when he returned from the Franco-Prussian War in 1870, he had an idea. Consumers, he noticed, were seduced by the exotic allure of orange, a ce and sought-after fruit at the time. But, to his taste, the then popular curaçao liqueurs were too sweet, too weak and just not authentic enough. Perfecting the Cointreau recipe took several years, but the formula has stayed the same ever since. Just as Edouard Cointreau did in 1875, current master distiller Bernadette Langlais combines four ingredients: alcohol, water, sugar and orange peel. The trick is in the peel. It’s sourced from a variety of locations and there’s a mix of bitter (Citrus Aurentium) and sweet (Citrus Sinensis), with varieties including salustiana, cadaneras, navel and pera. Most are dried, but some sweet Spanish orange peels are macerated fresh in alcohol, giving candied, vanilla notes. “The bitter orange peels give the fresh aromas,” explains Langlais. “They’re zesty, green and very volatile. The sweet are the site – they give the juicy orange flavours. It’s a fresh and fruity combination.” The result, Edouard Cointreau decided, should be called “Triple-Sec” – a reference to the triple concentration of orange flavour and the relative dryness of the liqueur. In so doing, he unwittingly created a new category – and yet you won’t see “Triple-Sec” on a Cointreau label today.

• 70cl bottle of Cointreau Blood Orange Liqueur.
• Originally launched for travel retail, this special-edition bottling from Cointreau adds Corsican blood oranges to the sweet and bitter ones found in classic Cointreau..
• Natural and crystal-clear liqueur made from distillation of sweet, bitter and blood orange peels in perfect proportions (only sweet and bitter orange peels for Cointreau Original).
• Made with the most aromatic blood oranges harvested in Corsica. Well rounded spirit with full-blooded fruit notes, rich in zesty, fresh flavours. Perfect balance of freshness and sweetness..
• 30% ABV.