Deal of the Week: Cointreau
I don’t know if it’s the strong euro, or the Sex and the City factor - legions of would-be Carrie Bradshaws swilling down cosmopolitans - but the never-cheap Cointreau seems even more expensive these days.
Not that it’s unworthy of the price. For those unfamiliar with it, Cointreau is a liqueur made from the rinds of Seville oranges, much like Grand Marnier, only with a neutral rather than a brandy base. Technically, it’s a triple sec and thus interchangeable in recipes, but it’s miles apart from the run-of-the-mill orange distillate that’s cheap and candy-sweet. It’s used in so many cocktails - more and more given the preference these days for fruity drinks - and its dryness carries them off much more admirably than triple sec. I even love drinking it on the rocks, no garnish or additions necessary. Try that with the twelve-dollar-a-bottle stuff. Still, if you’re entertaining, you can be surprised how quickly your booze budget can disappear.
Fortunately, Martignetti’s Liquors comes through with a great price, $26 tax inclusive for a fifth of the exquisite liqueur. So stock up while you can.
Martignetti’s is located at 64 Cross Street in the North End, right next to the former Central Artery.
It’s not just *a* triple sec. It’s *the* triple sec. The first one.
There’s a massive Martignetti’s on Soldier’s Field Road on the Brighton Watertown line. It’s like Disney World, but for booze.
http://www.google.com/local?f=q&hl=en&sll=42.367793,-71.166444&sspn=0.018866,0.029783&q=Martignetti%E2%80%99s&latlng=42367793,-71166444,3201687807430691657
The one (and only) substitute I’ve found for Cointreau is Luxardo’s [url=http://en.luxardo.it/eng/products/our_specialities/liqueurs/triplum_orange_dry]Triplum Orange Dry[/url]. It’s almost identical to Cointreau in flavor profile, quality, etc. — and $10-$15 cheaper. I don’t know where it might be available in the Boston area; I get mine from Hi-Time Wines in California (for $19.99), but that probably only makes sense because I’m on the West Coast and shipping is cheap. I’m sure it’s available somewhere out east as well.
Sorry for the formatting in the last comment — I just automatically used links as I would in many online forums, without thinking to check what worked here first.
I’ll seek out the Luxardo triple sec, but I don’t recall seeing it here. Thanks for the tip.
And I’ll have to check out the Mega-Martignetti’s… perhaps a reason to get ZipCar?
[…] Back in the comments, a reader recommends Luxardo’s triple sec liqueur as an acceptable substitute for the exquisite but expensive Cointreau. I’ve yet to stumble across a bottle here in Boston. I’ll keep looking, but it’s possible it’s not distributed here. But one acceptable substitute - at least in standard cocktail recipes - is a Mexican knock-off, Patron’s Citronge. Actually, there are at least a couple of Mexican Cointreau knock-offs, one of which I’ve tried coming in a green bottle. But Citronge is readily available here, sold at Blanchard’s and other fine establishments. […]