Alfred Cointreau, the Heritage Manager of Cointreau orange liquor, visited Kuala Lumpur for the first time to meet with local bartenders and media. Alfred is the 6th generation of the fine orange liqueur brand originated from Angers in 1849. He was here to share the success story of the family’s brand and his own special secrets on how to make stellar Cointreau cocktails.
Cointreau is a recipe created by Adolphe and Eduord-Jean Cointreau using water, alcohol, sugar, bitter and sweet orange peels, resulting in a crystal clear spirit.
The bitter sweet of Cointreau
The oranges imported from Africa, Brazil and Spain are carefully selected by the master distiller. The current Master Distiller for Cointreau is Bernadette Langlais, who travels to orange farms supply to Cointreau to make sure the quality of these orange peels matches the Cointreau standard.
Clear liqueur
Add ice and it becomes cloudy
Although we did not get to meet the master distiller herself, Alfred explained to us that both fresh and dried sweet orange peels are used whereas for bitter orange peels, only the dried ones are used. We were given some dried sweet and bitter orange peels and were told to snap them into half, releasing the fresh aroma that is also found in Cointreau. To ensure that the purity of the orange peel aroma is maintained, reversed osmosis water is used during the distilling process.
Cocktail books
Passion of the heritage
Alfred’s passion for the brand was apparent during his presentation on the brand and its history. Growing up in Angers and spent his childhood with his grandparents Pierre and Elisabeth Cointreau, Alfred would help make the family aperitifs and he learned the most about cocktail making from his grandmother. Her extensive know-how and remarkable creativity has inspired Alfred which he then inherit her passion for the world of cocktails. During his presentation, Alfred dedicated the session in the memory of Elisabeth, who passed away not long ago.
Cocktails from home
With a bottle of Cointreau, either lemon or lime, ice and any base spirits, you can run a home bar while hosting a party with classic cocktails. These are the four recommended most popular classic cocktails using the orange liqueur:
Cointreau Fizz
Ingredients
50 ml of Cointreau
the juice of half a lime (2 ml)
100 ml of sparkling water
Method
Fill a glass with ice, add Cointreau, the juice of half a lime and top off with sparkling water.
Margarita
Ingredients
30ml Cointreau
60ml Tequila
25ml fresh lime juice
Methods
Pour into a cocktail shaker with ice cubes, shake well, then pour into a chilled margarita or martini glass
Rim the glass with salt
Garnish with a piece of lime
Side Car
Ingredients
30ml Cointreau
50ml Remy Martin VSOP Cognac
25ml fresh lemon juice
Cointreaupolitan (Cosmopolitan)
Ingredients
30ml Cointreau
50ml Vodka
30ml cranberry juice
25ml fresh lime juice
Methods
Shake all ingredients and serve straight up into a martini glass
Garnish with an orange peel
Ingredients
30ml Cointreau
45ml Gin
25ml lemon juice
Methods
- Shake all ingredients and strain into cocktail glass
- Garnish with lemon peel