Cointreau

Cointreau

Type	Liqueur
Manufacturer	Rémy Cointreau
Country of origin	Angers, France
Introduced	1849
Alcohol by volume	40%
Proof	80 (US) 70 (UK)
Colour	colourless
Flavor	Orange

Cointreau (pronounced: [kwɑ̃.tʁo]) is a brand of triple sec produced in Saint-Barthélemy-d'Anjou, France. It is drunk as an apéritif and digestif,^{[citation needed]} and is a component of several well-known cocktails. It was originally called "Curaçao Blanco Triple Sec".^[1]

Production

Cointreau Distillery was set up in 1849 by Adolphe Cointreau, a confectioner, and his brother Edouard-Jean Cointreau from Angers. Their first success was with the cherry liqueur, guignolet, but it was when they concocted a blend of sweet and bitter orange peels and pure alcohol from sugar beets that the success of the enterprise was definitively confirmed. In 1875, the first bottles of Cointreau were sold. It is now estimated that thirteen million bottles are sold each year, in more than 150 countries. Ninety percent of production is exported. The company is still owned and run by the Cointreau family, although a notable descendant, André J. Cointreau, left the company to run the famed Paris-based Le Cordon Bleu culinary school in the 1990s.

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-Raphaël, Haiti as well as Ghana.^{[citation needed]}

Cocktails

In addition to being consumed neat (or often on ice), Cointreau is at the heart of many famous cocktails. Several recipes claiming to be the original Margarita include Cointreau as does the IBA approved recipe for the Cosmopolitan.

Publicity

Ex Avirex LTD., nowadays Cockpit USA, issued in the 1980s an A-2 limited edition leather flight jacket featuring Cointreau Original Margarita noseart on the back of the jacket. In early 2008, burlesque entertainer Dita Von Teese became the new face of Cointreau's "Be Cointreauversial" advertising and marketing campaign.^[2]

References

1. ^ Alexis Lichine, Cfr. Enciclopedia del vino y alcoholes de todos los países. Traducción castellana. Barcelona 1987, p. 236
2. ^ Cointreau, Dita Von Teese Unite, 17 January 2008.

External links

• Cointreau official website
• Rémy Cointreau