Orange Liquor

Sweetened spirits with various flavors

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MtRainier
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Orange Liquor

Post by MtRainier »

Anyone have a recipe to make a Cointreau, Curacao, Grand Marnier, Triple Sec type drink with orange essence? I've been browsing through Tried and True, but can't find one and Google HD search is coming up slim too.

I'm tempted to just do a maceration like I'd do for OEG, but no juniper or coriander. Then I'd distill it off as if it was gin, cut it with neutral if it's too strong, proof it down with sweetened water, and call it done.

I'd originally thought about doing it like a Limoncello, but Curacao and the rest start out clear, not orange colored. Curacao has food coloring added later, usually. They're distilled with the orange, not just infused.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by cayars »

I make these but not with essence. I use the zest from oranges (sweet and bitter). For your typical Curaçao I'd use a neutral and if making Grand Marnier would use brandy or a brandy/neutral mix with additional spices.

If you've ever made Limoncello it's very similar to the way I do it. But I typically proof my Limonello to around 50-60 proof while I do these mentioned above to 80 proof.

I just do this from memory but I can write it down for you if you like.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by MtRainier »

Yeah, I'm not saying I'd use essence to make it. I'm referring to those drinks being filled with orange flavor. I'd infuse peel and then distill. In OEG, Odin's Easy Gin, I would also add juniper and coriander to the tangerine peel, but instead for this I'd just do orange/tangerine and leave out the rest.

I was wondering what types of orange people use and roughly how much per liter of 43% neutral in the still.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by NZChris »

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pope
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by pope »

I haven’t experimented much but orange zest (no pith, just microplane the color off) added to 50% neutral and then strained cut by weight with simple syrup to 30% is delightful. It’s cloudy and orange, I have some on the shelf at 50% still that I plan on redistilling just haven’t gotten around to it. For my taste 6 oranges in 2L will make a triple sec that overpowers your margaritas.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by kimbodious »

I skip a heap of steps by using essential oils and dilute and sweeten using a stevia syrup
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by NZChris »

I've just tasted a Grand Marnier attempt I made nearly six years ago. It's very nice. Unfortunately, my notes are not very specific when it comes to amounts, but here they are for what it's worth.
______________
320ml Cognac style brandy from my own grapes, 62.5%

Zest;
2/3 of a Grapefruit.
1/4 of Lime.
Dried mandarin peel.
Dried navel orange peel.

6mm vanilla bean.

Steeped for a month. Stashed just below a tin roof for maximum temperature variation

Strained through sieve
295ml

Make a 200g sugar, 200ml water, 1 dsp lemon juice, syrup, boiled for 7 minutes.
Makes about 348g syrup at 57.5% sugar

Added 230ml syrup to get 25% sugar, 35% ABV
Cloudy
______________
It's still cloudy nearly six years later.
______________
The generations of my family that liked these sweet liqueurs has passed on leaving me with little incentive to experiment with this style of drink even though there are techniques I haven't tried yet.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by pope »

seems legit. I’m digging the vanilla bean, interesting. Doesn’t it kill you when you wish you’d just spent five more minutes writing stuff down?
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by NZChris »

At the time, I didn't have scales accurate enough to give me a meaningful number for a bit of dried peel.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by cayars »

I know a couple of different ways to make "Grand Marnier" that people call a clone. I myself wouldn't call them a clone but in the ball park of GM.

One of the popular ways, but takes a while to make and makes small proportions is to take a GOOD/Great Cognac. You basically pour it into a wide mouth jar, add some sugar and hang an orange over the liquid for a month or so in a sealed jar. The orange is about 2 centimeter or a 1/2 inch above the liquid. The orange will sweat and drip into the Cognac. This is the easy method and gets "close" but is lacking IMHO.

IMHO the type of Brandy or Cognac does matter. Garbage in, Garbage out. Great in, Great out type thing. You'll get a sweeter, orange flavor of what you start with.

There are a couple of videos on Youtube of this way of making GM.


I usually label my orange liqueur like as "Curaçao" as there is no right or wrong way to make it and you don't set expectations for anyone tasting it. Curaçao, Tripple Sec, Grand Marnier are all forms of Curaçao.

What I like to do is make up by "hard liquor marinate" part of this in a 2 liter or half gallon jar wide mouth jar.

Zest 8 to 10 good size oranges and make sure not to get the white pith. Try to get both sweet and bitter (seville) oranges. If you only have sweet oranges that's ok as well. Before zesting the oranges wash the outside with soap and water and use a light brush if these are store purchased. This will wash off the was they often have on them. If you will add brandy later (see below) you can up the oranges used to 15 to 20. It will make sense later.

Put all the zest into the jar. Add a half stick to full stick of cinnamon, 3 or 4 whole cloves, 3 or 4 All-Spice balls. Now top off the jar with home made Neutral that is 150 proof or better. The higher the proof the better as it helps with the orange flavor extraction and cuts down on the time needed. You can let this set in a closet for a couple of weeks or help it along with some heat. I sit them on a radiator in the winter or you could split to a couple of quart/liter size jars and use the microwave to raise the temps to 150 ish. Could also use a pan filled with water or any other SAFE way to raise temps. Or just sit the jar and wait. Using the microwave cheat you can literally do this a few times and be ready to use it the next day. I'll typically just let it sit on it's own unless I'm making an "emergency batch".

The slices of zest loose color as the orange flavor is extracted and become brittle. You'll know when it's done. Taste the alcohol and it will taste very orange and the peels will get brittle.

Once ready strain the orange liquor through a sieve to remove the zest and spices. If you like, squeeze the zest in some cheesecloth to get out the last shot glass of liquor. :)

Now depending on if I want the "sweet" orange taste or wanted some "bitter" orange taste and didn't have any to zest I'll add some orange bitters you can find at the liquor store or often times at the grocery store.

If you want a traditional triple sec you will want it very sweet. If a "normal" Curaçao then sweet. If you want it to lean toward a Grand Marnier then sweet but will come back to this shortly.

On the stove you need to make up a simple syrup. A basic simple syrup is one part water and one part sugar by volume. That means to measure out a cup of water added to a pan, followed by a cup of sugar added to the pan. Heat enough to get the sugar to melt while stirring, turn off heat and allow to cool to room temp. To make a very sweet syrup or a 2:1 syrup use one part water and 2 parts sugar.

OK, back to our base spirit. If you want this to be more like Grand Marnier than tripple sec you will add good Cognac or Brandy to our 150 ish proof orange spirit. You can use anywhere from 1/2 brandy to equal amount brandy. So after straining if you had 1.5 to 1.75 Liters of orange spirit you could add 750 ML to 1.75 L of cognac/brandy. If this is store purchase will likely be 80 proof that is now mixed with your 150+ proof orange liquor.
Mix well and give it a couple of days to rest/blend if possible.

Now take your proof and tralle hydrometer and measure the current ABV or your orange liquor you have made. Let's assume it measures 120 proof or 60% ABV. We want to bottle our finished product at 80 proof or 40% ABV.

So now we can choose which syrup we want to mix the 1:1 or 2:1 syrup and use that to mix with our spirit to proof it down. What we want to do is calculate this like so:
Volume in mL of spirit * ABV / bottle ABV = total volume

So let's assume we had 1.75 of our base spirit and added 1.75 of brandy/Cognac and ended up with 3.5 liters or 3500 mL of spirit at 60% ABV.
3500 mL * 60 / 40 = 5250 mL
So now we add enough sugar syrup to top off our container to 5250 mL. When you mix spirit and/or water together you DO NOT get the sum of their volume due to chemical reactions that occur which we normally refer to "contraction". You do not need to worry about this as long as you TOP OFF to the required volume and check/top off again in a few hours.

If you don't have big enough containers to do this in one batch split it up. For example if you only have 2 Liter glassware available take 1 Liter of spirit and do this:
1000 mL * 60 / 40 = 1500 mL
So you fill the jar to 1 Liter mark with spirit and then add enough sugar syrup to get to the 1.5 or 1500 mL volume mark. Let set a couple of hours after stirring/mixing and top off again with sugar syrup if needed. That will give you perfect ABV.

NOTE: Once you add SUGAR to any spirit like this you can not rely on the proof and tralle hydrometer to get accurate readings which is why we use the math to proof down.

You could just use brandy/cognac if you wanted with no neutral but unless you distilled it yourself would likely only be able to find 80 proof in a store. After marinating the oranges and then mixing in a sugar syrup (even with just enough water to melt the sugar) you would not be able to achieve 80 proof output. So keep that in mind.

When making cocktails I rarely find that I truly need Grand Marnier but a good Curaçao that isn't over sweetened like much of the typical triple secs on the shelves. I do like GM for "Cadillac Margaritas" however.

This type of recipe using 150+ proof neutral with a 50% cognac/brandy mix works very well. You get a bit of spice (it's light), the strong orange flavor, the high 80 proof and a taste of the cognac which makes it more elegant but not over whelming like pure Grand Marnier can be in some cocktails. It's a nice middle ground IMHO.

This give you the building blocks to build your own orange liqueur. You could for example marinate a Neutral separately from a brandy marinate and blend them after the fact. You could make a 4:1 or 10:1 simple syrup (just enough water to melt the sugar).

No right or wrong way to make an orange liqueur but use quality liquor to start with. So if you don't have really good brandy you have made, purchase a quality cognac to start with but don't use a bargain brand as garbage in = orange sweetened garbage out. LOL

Hope that helps,
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by MtRainier »

NZChris wrote: Sat Nov 23, 2019 6:22 pm viewtopic.php?t=27528
Thanks! Missed this one.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by cayars »

That's a good read as well.
One of the things I'll point out is that a lot of commercial industries use dried fruit skins vs fresh.

I've never tried dried myself but you can easily dry your won skins as well.

Maybe get your "immediate" need with fresh skins but get a batch of dried skins going so you can use them in the future.

But what I want to allude to is that there isn't a right or wrong way to make an orange liqueur. You adjust it to what you have available and the taste you get from it.

What I wrote above won't disappoint.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by ShineonCrazyDiamond »

This is a GREAT Gran Marnier recipe. I have done this a couple times, and always amazed at how good. Really should be stickied or T&T.

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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by MtRainier »

cayars wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 4:38 am What I wrote above won't disappoint.
Thanks for all the info, cayars. It took me a while to go through it.

I'm definitely going to make one of these infused recipes, but I'm also going to take a crack at distilling some orange flavor out of a boiler, whether in the vapor path or in the liquid.

We went to Curacao on our honeymoon and visited the distillery there many years ago. It seemed like they were basically taking sugar wash or very light rums and using a big pot still to re-distill them with their dried green orange peels. After that they add sugar water and color and sell it to the tourists. I've looked for that dry peel in the US, but haven't found it. I figure I'll try a few different types of dried and fresh orange peel and see what happens.

In the short term imma try Bushman's Gran Marnier recipe that SCD posted the link to, thanks.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Corsaire »

cayars wrote: Sun Nov 24, 2019 2:34 am If you want a traditional triple sec you will want it very sweet. If a "normal" Curaçao then sweet. If you want it to lean toward a Grand Marnier then sweet but will come back to this shortly.
I always thought triple sec meant it was supposed to be drier then gm or orange curacao.

Thanks for the read though, it's bookmarked now.
I'm already making demerara syrup and orgeat, I've got some molasses begging to be turned into rum and now a bunch of recipes for orange liqueurs. Homemade mai tais next summer, can't wait.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by cayars »

Sec is usually known as the French term for the word dry, although when it comes to the liqueur, the term actually means distilled. Therefore, Triple Sec means triple distilled. <-- That is one explanation.

Another explanation of the name is that it uses 3 types of oranges hence the triple and it's drier hence the sec. <-- That's another explanation.
You'll read different explanations of the name on different sites.

Triple sec, was originally called Curaçao triple sec. It's still this way on some bottles.

Image
Image

A lot of cheaper triple secs are very sweet and often only 30% where higher end products are 40% like COINTREAU as well as lightly spiced.
I usually make something that's a cross between Cointreau and Grand Marnier.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by pixioverlord »

Found this while looking for a Cointreau recipe for the Mrs.
Author: Whats4Chow
Recipe type: Distilling

Ingredients
4 Liters 55% ABV vodka from sugar wash
4-5 Oranges
Instructions
Today we're going to convert the Still Spirits Alembic Still to make magnificent batch of steam distilled Cointreau.
Cointreau, Triple Sec, and Grand Marnier are all orange flavored spirits and they are excellent drinking as well as key ingredients in classic dishes like duck a 'l orange.
To start, let's have a quick look at the principal behind steam distilling.
In the regular setup, we have a large heating pot with a dome lid.
The heated alcohol vapors rise and exit through the condenser in the top of the lid. The vapor condenses and drips into a catch bowl.
With steam distilling we're going to add an extra component in the form of a sieve dangling just below the vapor exit.
The vapors pass over the contents in the sieve and are flavored and aromatized in the process.
With that behind us, slice 4 oranges into 4 thick slices each.
Place all of these in a large non-reactive bowl.
Pour in 4 liters of vodka. This is vodka made from distilling sugar wash and the ABV is around 55%.
Cover the bowl with cling-wrap and allow this to steep for 48 hours.
To set up the steam distilling basket, remove the condenser and the threaded nut from the dome lid.
Thread a length of butchers twine through the nut and tie a knot to make large loop.
Take cheap dime store sieve and bend the handle over the sieve.
Create a twin half hitch with the loop of string and attach this to the handle of the sieve.
Screw the nut and condenser back onto the lid and you're ready to go.
Remove the cling-wrap from the bowl and carefully remove the orange slices with a pair of tongs.
Pout the alcohol into the distiller and place 4 or 5 slices of the orange in the hanging sieve.
Turn on the distiller. When the head temperature reaches 40c the first drips will emerge from the condenser. Turn on the cooling water.
All of the foreshots have already been removed from this batch during the first distillation, so all you want to do is collect the product.
At first the alcohol will come out at around 85% ABV and then drop gradually to 40%, and then very quickly to below 20%.
Switch off the still. By this stage you will have collected about 2.5 liters of very robust alcohol.
Dilute this with filtered water to 43% ABV and bottle this in suitable bottles.
If you would like to oak and age the spirit, dilute it to around 64% ABV and add 1 to 2 grams of French oak chips per liter of distillate. Let this age until the coloring is to your liking.
And there we have it.... a perfect batch of orange infused, steam distilled heaven.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Yummyrum »

That recipe is suggesting using cling wrap to cover while steeping . No plastics :thumbdown:
Same as the “thing “ to suspend in vapour path .... if its not plastic then good .
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by cayars »

Yummyrum wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2020 3:39 am That recipe is suggesting using cling wrap to cover while steeping . No plastics :thumbdown:
Same as the “thing “ to suspend in vapour path .... if its not plastic then good .
I'd have to agree as well. Macerate in a sealed glass jar or similar using safe materials. If you need to hang something near your alcohol use cheese cloth or similar.

Here's another way to make a Grand Marnier using a string. Use neutral for something more similar to Cointreau or Triple Sec.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Tummydoc »

Cayars, that works well, but I find it's easier to just put the zest in the jar. A corn shaver is the perfect zesting tool and leaves no pith. I use grappa as my base spirit since I'm not a big fan of unaged grappa but make it yearly after wine crush.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Yummyrum »

I made some this way .... it’s a method I got off Emptyglass. :thumbup: I made a little stand to go in a wide mouth jar out of a staino sink strainer and some staino threaded rod . Replaced the plastic tap with a cork .
Suspended Orange above a liter of 40% and sugar for three months .
B42C5C74-784B-457A-A87C-736F2562798D.jpeg
F3E93332-17A3-4DF6-9F25-B9996FA3311D.jpeg
You can see how the Orange is suspended in a cloud of alcohol .
6198E350-7BA0-4496-831F-CFE14E11D1EF.jpeg
It coloured up quite well . The Orange came out easily . I thought it would be all mushy .... but no .
893BFC08-9D60-4F10-8CD6-2591374CEB4F.jpeg
Goes very well in Margiritas :D
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Hillbilly Popstar »

What's the difference between suspending the orange and just macerating some zest?
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by NZChris »

Three months seems a wee bit excessive. I've had success with suspending botanicals over highish proof for two to four days, then making up the liqueur.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Saltbush Bill »

The best Ive tasted was made by "Rossco" another member here, his is macerated then run through a pot still, then sugar added from memory.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by cayars »

Yummyrum wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2020 2:47 pm I made some this way .... it’s a method I got off Emptyglass. :thumbup: I made a little stand to go in a wide mouth jar out of a staino sink strainer and some staino threaded rod . Replaced the plastic tap with a cork .
I dig your stand, very cool. It should only take about 4 to 6 weeks at most to do it this way assuming normal room temps.
Try it next time putting the sugar in at the start. You'll notice the sugar dissolves over time and you'll see less and less settled on the bottom of the jar. When you don't see any sugar left on the bottom (about 4ish weeks) it's ready!

From lots of sampling I'd say the best oils drip in the 2 to 3 week range so don't try to cut it short.

I do a lot of orange, lemon, lime type drinks similar to what's been mentioned in this thread. When using my own spirits I try to keep ABV at 75% or better and use zest (no white pith) which allows for larger batches (ie 2 gallons of limoncello at a shot). If I'm making a Grand Marnier type clone and don't have any good home made brandy I'll pick up a good bottle at the local liquor store then use this method of floating the fruit above the alcohol. I think this method with the slow drip oils is better for 80 proof spirits while zest in high ABV works well.

I don't think there's a lot of difference time wise between either method since the hanging fruit method is slow infused and ready to drink when all the sugar dissolves and doesn't really need more rest period. With the maceration technique you need to proof down with sugar syrup and then let it rest for a couple of weeks minimum to become really good.
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Re: Grandma Nay

Post by still_stirrin »

I also enjoy the orange brandy as a dessert.

Following Bushman’s recipe, macerating the zest from 3 medium sized oranges in 750ml of 190 proof rum for two weeks produced a wonderful orange essence. Then, using dark brown sugar and inverting it to temper the macerated and strained essence, the product is very close to the commercial brandy.

Filtering it a couple of times through coffee filters will remove the majority of the precipate (coagulated oils from the zest) that can cloud the bottle, but is not necessary if you enjoy it young and fresh.

Here’s a look:
18812CBD-44E9-4D1D-8394-16B0605281C7.jpeg
Delicious.
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Re: Orange Liquor

Post by Terrenum »

cayars wrote: Thu Jan 02, 2020 3:43 am
Yummyrum wrote: Wed Jan 01, 2020 2:47 pm I made some this way .... it’s a method I got off Emptyglass. :thumbup: I made a little stand to go in a wide mouth jar out of a staino sink strainer and some staino threaded rod . Replaced the plastic tap with a cork .
I dig your stand, very cool. It should only take about 4 to 6 weeks at most to do it this way assuming normal room temps.
Try it next time putting the sugar in at the start. You'll notice the sugar dissolves over time and you'll see less and less settled on the bottom of the jar. When you don't see any sugar left on the bottom (about 4ish weeks) it's ready!

From lots of sampling I'd say the best oils drip in the 2 to 3 week range so don't try to cut it short.

I do a lot of orange, lemon, lime type drinks similar to what's been mentioned in this thread. When using my own spirits I try to keep ABV at 75% or better and use zest (no white pith) which allows for larger batches (ie 2 gallons of limoncello at a shot). If I'm making a Grand Marnier type clone and don't have any good home made brandy I'll pick up a good bottle at the local liquor store then use this method of floating the fruit above the alcohol. I think this method with the slow drip oils is better for 80 proof spirits while zest in high ABV works well.

I don't think there's a lot of difference time wise between either method since the hanging fruit method is slow infused and ready to drink when all the sugar dissolves and doesn't really need more rest period. With the maceration technique you need to proof down with sugar syrup and then let it rest for a couple of weeks minimum to become really good.

How much sugar would you put in 1L of 55% neutral when suspending an orange in a glass jar?
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