Orange liquor has an excellent taste, rich amber tint and an invigorating citrus aroma. The recipe for making this drink at home is quite simple and understandable to everyone. If desired, the most unexpected components can be added to its composition. The taste of a home-made drink is often in no way inferior to the famous Cointreau or Grand Marnier.
Features of Orange Liqueur
This alcoholic drink is extremely popular and quite in demand in almost all countries of the world. To date, the most famous types of liquor are the following drinks:
- “Grand Marnier” has a tan shade and a magnificent aroma. It has an unusual taste, as this liqueur is made on the basis of cognac. The drink is named after its author Louis-Alexander Marnier, who made liquor at the end of the XIX century.
- The famous French Triple Sec liqueur has no orange hue, as it undergoes triple distillation. This drink was invented by Jean Baptiste Combier.
- In addition to orange peel, Curacao liquor contains cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg. This product is notable for the fact that it has quite original shades: blue and green. They also produce orange Curacao liquor.
- Italian orange liqueur "Aurum" incorporates orange juice and saffron. Due to the amber hue, this liquor got its name, which translates as "gold".
When listing alcoholic beverages, one cannot fail to mention the famous Cointreau orange liquor, which was invented back in 1875. He has an analogue of Van der Hume of African descent. This drink is made on the basis of brandy.
Orange liquor at home
Making this drink is a snap. First of all, you should choose quality products so as not to spoil the taste. Oranges must be ripe, without damage, dents, diaper rash or fungus. For the recipe you will need seven large or eight medium-sized fruits. Next, you need to purchase high-quality vodka or cognac. You can use homemade moonshine, but only after double distillation. When preparing liquor, you can not do without honey or sugar. Water will need no more than one liter, and sugar is enough to take one kilogram.
Wash the oranges, and then pour them with boiling water and take them out after half a minute. The fruit is peeled, divided into slices and filled with alcohol. Thus, over two weeks, alcohol tincture on oranges will be prepared. After it is ready, make sugar syrup. To do this, pour granulated sugar into boiling water and stir with a spoon until completely dissolved. As soon as the water with sugar boils, the fire can be turned off.
After the syrup has cooled, it is combined with an alcohol tincture and insisted for another seven days. At the end of the term, the composition is passed through double cheesecloth and bottled. The color of a homemade drink is usually saturated, with an amber tint. It has a fairly pleasant taste and a magnificent citrus aroma.
Homemade Cointreau
This recipe allows you to cook at home the famous orange liquor as close as possible to the original.
For the recipe you will need several oranges (three or four pieces), one glass of sugar, one lemon, a liter of diluted alcohol and spices (bay leaf, allspice, peas and ground red).
Citrus fruits are poured with boiling water, after which they are immediately removed and peeled. The zest is rubbed on a coarse grater so as not to touch the white part. As a rule, they try not to use the white inner part of the peel due to the fact that it is bitter.
Grated zest is mixed with alcohol and insisted for one week. Spices are added at the very beginning of cooking. The bay leaf is removed from the composition after four hours. The prepared liquor is filtered through double cheesecloth. Keep the drink in the refrigerator.
This is a fairly quick way, allowing you to enjoy a fragrant alcoholic beverage seven days later, which will taste just as good as Cointreau orange liqueur.
Arancello liquor
This Italian liquor is pretty easy to make. It will take only three ingredients: one glass of white sugar, a half-liter bottle of vodka and four large oranges. The fruits are peeled and refrigerated. At this time, the zest is poured with vodka and left to infuse for seven days. The mixture should be in a dark, cool place. The container is occasionally pulled out and shaken. After a week, the juice is squeezed out of the orange, mixed with sugar and boiled over low heat.
Alcohol tincture is carefully filtered through a bandage or gauze and mixed with orange syrup. The resulting liquor is stored in the refrigerator and consumed in small quantities with food.
Grand Marnier Liquor
At home, you can recreate the famous French liquor, which will slightly differ from the original. Home-made orange liquor is no worse than the original. In order for the drink to be of the highest quality and similar, you will need only good products:
- One glass of honey.
- Orange extract (one and a half teaspoons).
- Cognac brandy (one bottle).
- A teaspoon of glycerin.
- You will also need spices such as coriander and cinnamon.
Brandy is poured into a container prepared in advance, honey, spices, orange extract and glycerin are added to it. The composition is infused for at least 90 days. The storage location should be dark and cool. After the end of the cooking time, the mixture is filtered through a double filter and bottled.
Lemon Coffee Liqueur
The composition of this alcoholic drink includes natural coffee. In addition, to prepare the liquor you will need half a liter of diluted alcohol, at least 30 tablespoons of sugar and two medium oranges. There should be exactly 40 coffee beans. Then proceed as follows: coffee beans are pushed into an orange. To do this, make deep cuts in the peel. After grains are put in both oranges, the fruits are placed in a glass bowl and poured with alcohol mixed with sugar. After a month and a half, the container is removed and filtered through double gauze. Squeeze juice from an orange and also add it to liquor.
Cinnamon Liqueur
You will need the following ingredients: 700 grams of sugar, half a liter of alcohol diluted with water, five pieces of medium oranges and one stick of cinnamon. Juice is squeezed from the fruit and mixed with alcohol and sugar. The zest is cut into slices and tied in a small piece of gauze. The bag with the peel is lowered into a container and sent to infuse in a dark place. After a month and a half she is taken out and filtered. The resulting drink has a rather pleasant tan and cinnamon flavor.
Cooking Tips
In order to make the home-made product as tasty as possible, you should adhere to the following rules:
- Using the zest of orange, in no case can you touch the white part of the peel. She will make the drink bitter and unpleasant.
- All fruits in an orange liquor recipe must be ripe and not damaged.
- It is advisable to take alcoholic beverages of good quality. If home-brewed moonshine will be used, then it should be as transparent as possible and not have a specific flavor.
- It is advisable to add glycerin to the preparation. This substance is completely harmless and very often used in the food industry. It contributes to the thickening of the liquid while cooling the liquor. Thanks to him, the taste and color of the drink also improves.
- Fruits should be dipped in boiling water before use to remove the wax coating that is often present on store fruits.
Thus, using simple tips, you can prepare a great orange liquor at home, which will appeal to friends and family. Oranges contain many vitamins and minerals, so liquor from these fruits will also be good for health.