Cointreau 50cl

Every bartender's back bar has a bottle of Cointreau on it, and there's a reason it earned that spot back in 1885. Edouard Cointreau set out to make a clear orange liqueur that carried three times the flavour and far less sugar than the sticky curacaos of the day, and the recipe has barely moved since.

It's made in Saint-Barthelemy-d'Anjou, just outside Angers in France's Loire, from a base of neutral beet-sugar alcohol. Sweet and bitter orange peels, sourced from Spain, Brazil, Ghana and beyond, are macerated and then distilled in copper pot stills, which is what gives Cointreau its clarity and that concentrated citrus lift rather than a syrupy edge.

At 40% ABV this drinks with real backbone. The nose is bright candied orange and mandarin; the palate is zesty and clean with orange oil at its centre, a whisper of nutmeg and cinnamon behind it, and a dry, slightly bitter-peel finish that stops it cloying. That dryness is exactly why it works so hard in cocktails.

This is the engine room of the drinks cabinet. It's one third of a proper Margarita alongside tequila and lime, the orange lift in a Sidecar, and the backbone of a Cosmopolitan or White Lady. Chilled neat over ice it makes a fine after-dinner sipper too. The 50cl format is a sensible size at this price if you're stocking up to mix.

How to Serve

Keep a bottle in the freezer for pouring neat or over a single large cube; it stays syrupy and cold. For cocktails, measure it straight from the bottle at room temperature into your shaker. No need to fuss over glassware for mixing.

Where to Drink It

For a benchmark Margarita, Swift in Soho rarely misses. The American Bar at The Savoy makes an elegant Sidecar. Satan's Whiskers in Bethnal Green pours some of the best citrus-driven cocktails in the city.

Food Pairings

Splash it over crepes or a dark chocolate tart. It's also lovely trickled over fresh orange segments with a little cream.