Cointreau: Art of the Mix Recap

 

Occasionally I like to go to consumer events from liquor companies. When you go only to industry and press events, sometimes you lose track of what they’re educating the general public on. Recently Cointreau rolled out cocktail classes across the US. I attended one in Los Angeles.

This one was perfect because we learned three holiday recipes.

 

I usually do all my drinking at bars and parties so it’s always fun to make my own drinks. Yes, I’ve taken pre-Prohibition style bartending classes and occasionally make a drink for myself at home but the majority of my bartending is at other people’s parties. So having easy drink recipes in mind of my thirsty friends is always a good thing.

Everyone should know how to make a margarita. They’re fairly simple and it’s a travesty if you use sweet and sour mix. Make one with a good tequila and a quality triple sec like Cointreau. Plus fresh lime juice! For a pretty garnish, we both sugar rimmed the coupes and laid a rosemary sprig along the top of the drink. This is for the the holidays but you could skip the bitters and use a more summery garnish the rest of the year. And salt rim the glass, of course.

Holiday Margarita

• 2 oz tequila
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz lime
• 1 dash aromatic bitters
• rosemary sprig

Shake ingredients, strain into a sugar rimmed coupe, garnish with rosemary sprig

One of my favorite old fashioned and Manhattan variations is using rum instead of whiskey. Taking this concept, get your holiday rum old fashioned together with Mount Gay Black Barrel rum and garnish with a cinnamon stick. It’s so festive!

Holiday Rum Old Fashioned

• 2 oz Mount Gay Black Barrel rum
• .25 oz Cointreau
• 4 dashes bitters
• 1/2 slice orange
• 1 bar spoon brown sugar
• cinnamon stick

 

Muddle bitters, orange slice and sugar in rocks glass. Add Mount Gay Black Barrel rum, Cointreau and ice to glass. Stir and garnish with cinnamon stick.

 

I usually see brambles on crushed ice so I was a little surprised this Blackberry Thyme Bramble was served in a coupe. Still, it’s the holidays and most likely you’ll want something warm or at the very least something that doesn’t make you want to warm your hands. Still, I would reverse this drink for the summer by putting it on crushed ice. For now, the vibrant color is brilliant in a coupe. I also felt the blackberries didn’t provide enough sweetness. One full ounce of lemon juice left it fairly tart. This is where you need that sugar rim!

Blackberry Thyme Bramble

• 1.25 oz The Botanist gin
• 1 oz Cointreau
• 1 oz lemon
• 3 blackberries
• 2 thyme sprigs

 

The class was fun and I’d do it again!

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