Cointreau Liqueur
Cointreau Liqueur is a 750mL crystal-clear orange liqueur bottled at 40% ABV, made in Saint-Barthelemy-d'Anjou, outside Angers, France, from Edouard Cointreau's 1875 recipe: sweet and bitter orange peels macerated in pure sugar-beet alcohol and distilled to concentrate their essential oils — so concentrated the liqueur turns opalescent over ice. The house was founded in Angers in 1849, but this bottle is the 1875 creation, and it remains the definitive premium triple-sec style: drier, cleaner and more intensely orange than the generic category it anchors, and an irreplaceable ingredient in the Margarita, the Sidecar and the Cosmopolitan. It is available to order online at Del Mesa Liquor.
- ABV: 40%
- Size: 750mL
- Style: Crystal-clear orange liqueur (triple-sec style)
- Recipe: Sweet + bitter orange peels, sugar-beet alcohol — Edouard Cointreau, 1875
- Origin: Saint-Barthelemy-d'Anjou (Angers), Loire Valley, France
- Key serves: Margarita, Sidecar, Cosmopolitan, White Lady
1875: The Orange Liqueur Every Bar Is Built Around
Brothers Adolphe and Edouard-Jean Cointreau set up their Angers distillery in 1849 and made their first name with a cherry liqueur; it was Edouard, of the next generation, who solved orange in 1875 — balancing sweet peels against bitter ones so the liqueur poured crystal-clear yet intensely aromatic, with a finish dry enough for serious cocktails. The recipe's four ingredients — alcohol, water, sugar and orange peel — have not changed since, and the peels are still sourced internationally for the blend the family keeps secret. The Margarita, Sidecar and Cosmopolitan canons all assume this bottle, and the house it built merged with Remy Martin in 1990 to form Remy Cointreau. The family's darker expression sits alongside it on the Cointreau vendor page, with the cocktail shelf around them in our spirits collection.
Tasting Notes
Consensus profile: bright, zesty orange peel and mandarin on the nose with floral hints and a whisper of spice; a palate that opens sweet-orange then balances with bitter-orange zest, lemon brightness and gentle warm spice; and a notably dry, clean, crisp finish with lingering citrus oils.
How to Enjoy
The canonical three: a Margarita with blanco tequila and fresh lime, a Sidecar with cognac, a Cosmopolitan with vodka and cranberry. It also pours opalescent and aromatic over ice as a digestif in its own right. Tequilas and cognacs for the builds are in our tequila collection and cognac collection.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Cointreau the same as triple sec?
Cointreau is an orange liqueur of the triple-sec style — the premium original of the category — at 40% ABV, drier and more concentrated than generic triple secs. Many classic recipes, the IBA Cosmopolitan among them, specify it by name.
When was Cointreau created?
The house was founded in Angers in 1849; the orange liqueur itself is Edouard Cointreau's recipe of 1875, blending sweet and bitter orange peels. Both dates are correct — for different things.
What is Cointreau made from?
Sweet and bitter orange peels macerated in pure alcohol derived from sugar beet, then distilled. The recipe carries 40+ distinct aromatic notes and turns opalescent when mixed or poured over ice.
The orange liqueur the classics are written around — order Cointreau online from Del Mesa Liquor, San Diego, CA.