Cointreau is a French citrus liqueur, distilled from the peels of sour-oranges, according to the same mid 19th century recipe. During storage, a special sugary syrup is added to give the Cointreau its special flavor. Cointreau is a brand of triple sec produced in Saint-Barthelemy-d’Anjou, France. It is drunk as an apéritif and digestif, and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called “Curacao Blanco Triple Sec”.
The production methods and recipe are a family secret, but tours of the distillery are open to the public. Photography is restricted in many areas to protect the production process from being copied. Cointreau sources its bitter oranges from all over the world, usually Spain, Brazil and Saint-Raphael, Haiti as well as Ghana.
Ready to meet the strength of the crystal clear spirit, are baskets laden with sun-dried orange peels, their intricate colours defining different orange flavors; greenish-bronze for bitter, orangey-red for sweet, which yield a greater fruit intensity. Their heady fragrance will soon be revealed by the following steps. The peels are fully dried, macerated and finally distilled in gloriously burnished red copper stills to extract every drop of the precious essential oils. The other ingredients (alcohol, sugar and water) – which are also completely natural – give the liqueur its creamy roundness and aromatic vigour that inspires the mouth. Like an intimate secret, the recipe itself is faithfully guarded.
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