Triple sec

Triple sec
Type Liqueur
Manufacturer (various)
Country of origin Saumur, France
Introduced 1849
Alcohol by volume 15% to 40% [1]
Color clear, golden
Flavor orange

Triple sec, originally Curaçao triple sec, is a variety of Curaçao liqueur, an orange-flavoured liqueur made from the dried peels of bitter and sweet orange.

Triple sec may be drunk neat as a digestif or on the rocks, but nowadays is mostly used in making cocktails such as the Margarita, White Lady, and Cosmopolitan.

History

The Combier distillery claims that Triple Sec was invented some time between 1834 and 1848 by Jean-Baptiste Combier Saumur, France.[2] However, Combier was more famous for its élixir Combier, which contained orange but also many other flavorings.[3]

According to Cointreau, its orange liqueur was created in 1875.[4]

Triple sec was certainly widely known by 1878; at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris, several distillers were offering "Curaço [sic] triple sec" as well as "Curaço doux".[5]

See also

References

  1. ^ "Bar None Drinks" [www.barnonedrinks.com/tips/dictionary/t/triple-sec-922.html]
  2. ^ The Combier web site says that Combier's confectionery store opened in 1834, but says only that Triple Sec was invented "à cette époque" as a filling for his candies and chocolates; it also does not mention when Combier's Triple Sec was actually commercialized.
  3. ^ "Les liquoristes saumurois" in Saumur jadis, anonymous Web publication at [1] cites Richard Gasnier, Les liquoristes saumurois de 1830 à 1910, mém. de maîtrise, Angers, 2000, B. U. de l'U.C.O., 15 747 ; François Bouyssi et Isabelle Emeriau, "James Combier ( 1842-1917 ). Essai biographique...", S.L.S.A.S.,, 1992, p. 46-89 ; Alain Mariez, "Un zeste d'orange, deux doigts d'ambition", L'Anjou, décembre 1995, p. 70-77 ; Christelle Couvreux, Marie Bardisa, La Distillerie Combier. Saumur, Itinéraires du Patrimoine, 1999.
  4. ^ La Saga Cointreau on its Web site
  5. ^ The Lancet Analytical Commission, "Report on the Food Products exhibited in the French and English Departments of the Universal Exhibition of Paris", The Lancet, September 21, 1878, p. 417f.