Homemade Cointreau

I made real homemade Cointreau / Triple sec that’s brighter, bolder, and way more alive than anything on the shelf. Watch me infuse dried orange peels with vodka and spices, clarify it the easy bar way with milk washing, and taste it head-to-head against the original. Then we shake up a classic Margarita and a Cointreau Spritz that show how it behaves as a cocktail ingredient.

Classic Margarita

• 1½ oz. / 45 ml tequila
• ⅔ oz. / 20 ml homemade triple sec
• ⅔–? oz. / 20–25 ml fresh lime juice
• Shake with ice, fine strain into chilled cocktail glass.
• Garnish with Lime wheel.

Dr. Spritz (Cointreau Spritz)

• 1½ oz. / 45 ml homemade Triple sec
• 3 oz. / 90 ml dry Sparkling wine
• 1–2 oz. / 30–60 ml Soda water
• ⅓ oz. / 10 ml Lemon juice (for balance, optional)
• Build in wine glass filled with ice. Stir gently.
• Garnish with kumquat.