Try These Two Grand Marnier Cocktail Recipes

TL;DR: Look, Grand Marnier is more than that bottle gathering dust in the back of your liquor cabinet. Here are two cocktails that prove it, plus six tasting notes from the man who makes the stuff.

A few years back, I was invited to a Grand Marnier tasting with the man personally responsible for its taste, Patrick Raguenaud. He is the master distiller of the French house, and his involvement in what ends up inside certain Grand Marnier bottles is very direct.

When I arrived at the tasting — held at 4e Mur, a cocktail bar on St-Denis in Montreal — I had no idea what to expect. Everything I knew about Grand Marnier was: cognac, oranges, and a pour over crushed ice in an old fashioned glass whenever someone’s parents were visiting.

First thing I learned: there is more than one bottle of Grand Marnier. The classic, which earns its place on every respectable amateur bar, goes by “cordon rouge” — named after the cord on the bottle.

Grande Lavande

An elegant cocktail born out of a tasting evening at 4e Mur, a Montreal cocktail bar on St-Denis. The Louis-Alexandre, drier than the Cordon Rouge, pairs beautifully with Lillet and lavender bitters.

• Servings: 1
• Prep: 5 min
• 175 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• 30 ml Grand Marnier Louis-Alexandre
• 60 ml Lillet Blanc
• 3 dashes lavender bitters
• 90 ml prosecco
• 1 orange zest, approx. 1cm x 4cm

Equipment

• Cocktail coupe
• Shaker
• Fine strainer

Method

1. Fill a cocktail coupe with ice and water to chill it.
2. Add the Grand Marnier Louis-Alexandre, Lillet Blanc and lavender bitters to a shaker filled with ice.
3. Shake vigorously for about twelve seconds.
4. Discard the ice and water from the coupe.
5. Strain into the coupe.
6. Top with prosecco to fill the glass.
7. Garnish with the orange zest and serve.

Raguenaud then walked us through the full lineup. Grand Marnier is considerably more than one bottle. Here are my notes, scribbled in real time:

First glass: Cordon Rouge

Still too sweet for me. You know what I do when someone hands me a Grand Marnier at a party? I add a few drops of cognac or brandy. You don’t taste the brandy, but you taste less of the sugar and orange. Not bad, right?

Second glass: Framboise Peche

Not my style. It genuinely tastes like peach, with raspberry adding a bit of acidity. That said, it must mix well. A luxury Sex on the Beach. With the bellini revival in full swing, they must be selling a lot of this one.

Third glass: Louis-Alexandre

Drier than the Cordon Rouge but equally smooth. I get cloves and cinnamon. This is what went into the Grande Lavande above, and now you understand why.

Fourth glass: Cuvee du Centenaire

Even drier, more delicate. A slight almond note comes through. This must be extraordinary as a digestif.

Fifth glass: Cuvee 1880

Raguenaud’s creation. Here the quality cognac overtakes the orange aromatics, though the orange is still very much present. This is my favourite of the evening, and it isn’t close. Balanced, almost no sugar, but it rounds the edges subtly. Drink it the way you’d drink a great cognac.

Sixth glass: Quintessence

Also Raguenaud’s. Excellent. Very dry. The citrus is nearly absent — it’s almost just a cognac, straight. Obviously very good. Also $1,000 a bottle, so.

With all that context, what do you actually do with a bottle of Grand Marnier? Honest answer: either spend up on the Cuvee 1880 and drink it straight, or make a proper cocktail with the classic Cordon Rouge. Here’s my favourite of the two:

Dark Margarita

A margarita that earns its own identity: anejo tequila for depth, egg white for texture, orange bitters floated on the foam as a delivery mechanism. Closer to a sour than a classic margarita, and better for it.

• Servings: 1
• Prep: 5 min
• 215 kcal per serving

Ingredients

• 60 ml Anejo tequila (100% agave only)
• 22 ml Grand Marnier Cordon Bleu
• 22 ml lime juice (freshly squeezed)
• 15 ml egg white
• salt
• 1 very thin lime slice
• orange bitters

Equipment

• Cocktail coupe
• Shaker
• Fine strainer

Method

1. Rim the outside edge of a cocktail coupe with lime juice, then salt.
2. Add all ingredients except the lime slice to a shaker filled with ice, plus a small pinch of salt for luck.
3. Shake hard.
4. Strain into the coupe.
5. Garnish with the lime slice and four drops of orange bitters on the foam.

Notes

Avoid Angostura orange bitters — too powerful for this recipe. You can substitute the tequila with a good mezcal reposado for a smokier, racier cocktail. Add agave syrup to taste. I prefer mine on the dry side, so the Grand Marnier sugar is plenty.

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