Triple sec
Liqueurs & bitters · usually a modifier · in 9 cocktails here
What it is
Orange liqueur made from dried peels. Cointreau is the benchmark; cheap bottles are noticeably sweeter and thinner.
Typically about £12 a bottle in the UK.
What it tastes like
Dried orange peel, sweet with a faint bitter edge from the pith. Good bottles taste of fruit; cheap ones taste of sugar and alcohol.
What it does in a drink
Sweetener that also flavours. It does the job of sugar syrup while adding orange aroma, which is why sours built on it need no extra sugar.
Cocktails with triple sec
Unlocks 9 recipes on Drinki.
Best known
- Margarita IBA Salt on half the rim, so you get a choice with every sip.
- Sidecar IBA Sugar rim if you like. Paris, roughly a century ago.
- White Lady IBA A sidecar in gin, with a silk collar of egg white.
- Cosmopolitan IBA Unfairly maligned. Made properly it is a very good drink.
- Lemon Drop IBA Sherbet for adults, sugar rim mandatory.
- Mai Tai IBA No pineapple juice. The real one is rum, lime, orange and almond.
- Long Island Iced Tea IBA Five spirits and no tea. Proceed with respect.
- Corpse Reviver #2 A breakfast drink, historically. Use your judgement.
- Mezcal Margarita Same shape as a margarita, twice the personality.
What it pairs with
The ingredients that turn up alongside triple sec far more often than chance would predict.
Substitutes
- Cointreau or dry curaçao — the same category — Cointreau is the benchmark and worth the difference