A week ago, I was invited by a friend to go sip some Cointreau (pronounced ‘kwan-trou’) and find out a little more about it. It was a purely social event but I had so much fun, I thought heck, let’s just blog it anyway. Partly because it’s fun to not have obligations to blog about something, but want to do so for the fun of it. Partly so I’d remember a recipe or two of the cocktails mixed that day that passed pretty much in a blur after a while LOL!
The interesting bit was getting to meet also, the brand representative, who is a 6th generation Monsieur Cointreau. For some reason that amuses me. How many of us can walk up to a brand and say “My great-great-great-great-great-grandad created that!”
Cointreau is a clear liqueur distilled from a mixture of bitter and sweet orange peels and turns cloudy when mixed with water or when the temperature drops so, it’ll turn cloudy when water or ice is introduced. It’s really fascinating, if things like this fascinate you. It sure did me, because I was familiar with the square squat bottle but not familiar with the drink myself. There’re a couple of recipes I picked up below, if you’d like to whip something up for the festive season 😛
Calling itself an orange liqueur, you might expect this to taste of oranges but it doesn’t. There is a hint of smell of orange peel when you smell it but it hits your tastebuds with a slightly sweet tang of alcohol with a faint taste of orange. This does after all contain 40% alcohol so it’s not something you swig merrily in large quantities, mind.
A measure, poured neat over a glass of ice with a twist of lime is a nice way to enjoy this but you will find it most often mixed in cocktails. During the event, we were told that the original cocktail recipes for Margarita, Sidecar and Cosmopolitan all contained Cointreau. I’m not a big cocktail drinker so I wouldn’t know better!
I learned to mix 2 cocktails on the day, which were very interesting so here they are for whoever would like to give these a go. Naturally, if you don’t drink alcohol then this is all quite irrelevant but if you do, then go on, get inventive! Or you could invent your own non-alcoholic versions 😉
Cointreau Fizz
50ml Cointreau
1/2 fresh lime
Soda water
Ice
- Pour Cointreau into glass.
- Fill with ice.
- Squeeze the 1/2 lime into the glass
- Top off with water, stir and serve
Tomyam Cointreau
I’ve no idea what this is called so I made up the name because the ingredients are so similar to what I use when making tomyam soup! The chilli adds a very interesting spicy and piquant aftertaste to the drink that is unusual but interesting.
50ml Cointreau
1/2 fresh lime
1 fresh lime leaf torn (limau purut)
1 cili padi or fresh chilli
1/2 passionfruit (optional)
- Pour Cointreau into glass
- Fill with ice
- Squeeze the 1/2 lime into the glass
- Add the lime leaf and sliced chilli
- Top with water and add the passionfruit if you have any on hand
- Stir and serve
The fun part actually, is that I learned you can add anything. Top off with orange juice if you prefer, or any fruit juice. Someone asked if we might add durian. Erm… I suppose you could, but just don’t bring that concoction near me ok? 😛
It’s nice if you add berries, cucumber, even basil or mint leaves. The herbs make the taste refreshing and even fun. The inclusion of chilli was very interesting for me because it was so local that I could relate. I might even add some lemongrass next time and really make it taste like an alcoholic tomyam. I can just imagine Mr. Cointreau rolling his eyes at me 😛
Yep, that’s him right there. Descendant of the Cointreau family. And that’s his John Hancock overlapping that of his ancestor.
Any fans of Cointreau in the house and do you have a favourite Cointreau cocktail recipe to share?
It was an interesting introduction for me to a drink I may not otherwise partake in or know what to do with. Now, my friend tells me I should store that bottle of Cointreau away as a keepsake but you know, I really want to test my cocktail making skills so we’ll see. Tomyam Cointreau anyone? 😛
Paris B
Scrumptious Weekend: One day of the week where I indulge in my other love – Food! It will feature my cooking experiments or eating and travel adventures. Yes, I will travel for good food and I’m always experimenting in the kitchen.
Now I know what to get the next time I go through duty free 🙂 I’ve had Cointreau cocktails a long time ago but I honestly cannot remember what they were like as I’ve had a couple of other drinks too. But your tomyam recipe sounds good!
That was my thought exactly, Lyn! I always see Cointreau at Duty Free but I never knew what to do with it. Now I do! 😀
I love cocktails. I’m so glad you blogged this because the timing is perfect. Christmas is just round the corner and I love making cocktails for drinks and entertainment at our annual Christmas dinners 🙂
Besides gin, Cointreau is my favourite liquor and I have dreams of going to a bar tending school one day. And when IT stops being fun, I might go open a bar 😀
Haha I thought it was a good idea to get it out before Christmas. Allows people to experiment hehe… I actually thought of learning to make cocktails once too! Back in the day when I used to drink a lot more than I do now. It looks like a fun thing to learn – go for it!
You know, I don’t think I’ve ever had it! I should pick up a bottle as it sounds like it’d be lovely at Christmas!
It will be! It is a nice mixer for drinks and fun to experiment with too 🙂
Ohh Cointreau, one of my favorite liquors 🙂 I’m not a fan of ‘straight up alcohol’, so I really enjoy the bittersweet orange-y taste of this 🙂
Dita von Teese is the ‘face’ of Cointreau, she even has her own ‘version’ of the Margarita – Margadita 🙂 I’ve mixed it before, tastes really interesting! You should try it! I think there’s a youtube video of Dita making the coctail.
The sweetness really surprised me but in a nice way. I actually liked it just with a squeeze of lime and sparkling water. So refreshing! I did see that Dita von Teese is the new face of the brand. Will definitely look up her cocktail, thanks Cathy!
Fun! I love experimenting with drinks and different cocktails (er, that is, drinking different ones, lol, we don’t have a well stocked bar at home besides the few essentials!).
I do too, at home that is, coz I get all red and sleepy when I have alcohol and it’s not very nice when you’re outside LOL I don’t have a bar either, but maybe I’ll start building one eh? 🙂
I haven’t had Cointreau in ages, but the few times my mother and I made margaritas together we always used it in our recipe. I’m not a heavy drinker these days but the Tomyam Cointreau cocktail sounds really lovely and refreshing!
Yep! We were told that the original margarita recipe calls for Cointreau! All this while I thought it was just tequila LOL! Another refreshing drink is the Cointreau mixed with basil leaves, lime and cucumber. I have stopped drinking for a while but the occasional drink is nice with friends 🙂
HAHAHAHAHAHA tomyum cointreau!!!! For your version, you can really use the lemon grass as stirrer. Smash the root section a bit first, though. 🙂
I love this drink! And Bombay Sapphire gin. And tequila. Heck. Anything alcohol I love… HAHAHA
Cointreau is also lovely poured over crepes with orange filling (somehow the name escapes me right now). 😀
Ooh clever girl! I plan to try it with lemongrass because it’ll be so unique! I didn’t peg you for an alcoholic *ahem* hehe but I’m not into gin. Used to be a vodka and tequila girl. You know, clear innocuous looking but hits you like a mallet, sort of drinks? LOL!
Don’t judge a book by its cover, Paris! 😀 My Polish friends chilled vodka in the freezer for a few hours. The liquor gets crystallised a little bit. And serve it when you eat some marinated raw fish (I think it’s with olive oil, salt and lemon juice). It’s surprisingly good. The icy cold vodka makes it so easy to drink (and so easy to get drunk as well). 😀
Hahahahah, Tomyam Cointreau? That’s so you. I love cocktaisl but I don’t deep dive into the ingredients, heck I just order and drink! However, the closest would definitely be Margarita, frozen please!
Oh yum! Frozen Margaritas are awesome 😀 I don’t know what goes into cocktails myself, which was why learning how to make one was so interesting 🙂