The marga-right way to make a margarita

From mixing margaritas on the beach to global brand ambassador

Kevin Sueiro’s journey with Cointreau began with a student job mixing cocktails on a beach in Monaco. Today, he is the Global brand ambassador for Cointreau. We asked Kevin a few questions to explore what makes Cointreau such a critical part of any bartender’s tool kit.

When did you discover you had a passion for Cointreau?

“When I was a student in France, I was doing many summer jobs, and one year, I got this job on a beach in Monaco making tons of cocktails, tons of mojitos and caipirinhas, and it got really boring. We decided that one day per week it would be Margarita Day. I worked hard to create a basil and pineapple Margarita that was really good. That was the first time I was proud of myself making cocktails.”

This was the beginning of Kevin’s lifelong love affair with the Margarita ­– and Cointreau!

“Of course, Cointreau was the key ingredient right at the beginning of my journey, and I’m so super proud to be the ambassador for Cointreau right now.”

What makes Cointreau unique?

“170 years of ‘savoire-faire’. Édouard Cointreau created Cointreau in 1849, and we’re still here today. That tells you that we know what we’re doing!”

This ‘savoire-faire’ that Kevin talks about has many parts, from the selection of orange peels, chosen for the organoleptic qualities of their essences, to the harmonious blending of ingredients to achieve the ideal aromatic balance, to the grand finale, the distillation in 19 custom copper alembics just like those used by Édouard Cointreau over a century ago. This is Cointreau’s rich savoir-faire, passed down and repeated through 6 generations and over 170 years.

What sets Cointreau apart from any other orange liqueur or triple sec?

“Cointreau is more than a triple sec. It is an orange liqueur in a league of its own and it is still produced at a single distillery at Angers, the town in the famous Loire valley where Cointreau was born.”

Cointreau is made with only four pure elements – water, sugar, neutral alcohol and the finest orange peels, rigorously selected in Ghana, Brazil, Tunisia and Spain. These elements are symbolised by the 4 sides brand’s unique square bottle.

“We use two types of oranges. We use both sweet and bitter oranges that we source from particular climates. It’s not only about oranges. It’s about Terroir, just like in the wine industry.”

Cointreau’s unique distillation process, provides the best way to extract all the aromatic components, capturing all the many different flavours of bitter and sweet orange, making its flavour much more complex and interesting.

“It requires 170 years of savoir-faire to master these aromas to achieve consistency in production and create the same Cointreau every time.”

What makes Cointreau such a versatile cocktail ingredient?

“I like to say that no matter the question, Cointreau is the answer,” says Kevin, “because when you have this bottle, you have a liqueur that contains more than 40 aromatic notes, and if you’re a bartender, that is basically a treasure you can work with.”

“With 40 aromatic notes, the possibilities are endless.”  

What are some of the most innovative ways you’ve seen Cointreau consumed?

“I would say that I see new innovative ways to use Cointreau every day. We have an International competition where bartenders from all over the world submit their own recipes made with Cointreau, and many of them are super innovative.”

Kevin has seen everything from creating a sour version of Cointreau liqueur to creating a Cointreau ‘foam’ to garnish cocktails and dishes. He relates how a bartender friend of his in Paris even made a Cointreau candy:

“He dehydrated the Cointreau in an open oven until there was only the sugar left, but with a lot of Cointreau flavour, then he turned it into a powder that he used on the rim of the glass. I was like, ‘OK, that’s a pretty cool way to work with Cointreau’.”

Tells us one thing about Cointreau that most people don’t know?

“Cointreau was used in many speakeasies during prohibition in the US – that is why Cointreau is such a big part of US cocktail culture. If you type ‘EUVS Vintage Cocktail Books’ into Google, you’ll find old cocktail books from over a hundred years ago where you can see original recipes in which Cointreau is mentioned.”

“When you work with Cointreau, you work with a piece of history.”

As the inventor of the Margarita, American socialite Margarita Sames so famously remarked, a “Margarita without Cointreau not worth its salt”. Why is this so?

When Margaritas Sames invented the Margarita in 1948, she didn’t just create one of the world’s favourite cocktails but a whole new cocktail category, the ‘Daisy’. The Daisy cocktail template consists of spirit and citrus juice, sweetened by a liqueur – just like the Margarita classic Cointreau-Tequlia-Lime juice combination in the drink that bears her name.

“If you use syrup instead of Cointreau, you’re not making a Margarita,” says Kevin, “ you’re making a ‘Sour’ cocktail – it’s not a ‘Daisy’ cocktail,” says Kevin.

With 40 different aromatic notes, Cointreau serves as a flavour amplifier, helping to reveal the other ingredients in the Margarita, bringing balance, depth and unrivalled freshness to the mix.

“There’s only one way to make the best, Margarita and that’s to use the best ingredients,” says Kevin, “you have to use Cointreau; I mean, it’s so deeply part of the Margarita’s DNA – I just can’t think of a Margarita without Cointreau.”

“It’s not the Marga-Right way to do it!”

What’s your favourite twist on a Margarita cocktail?

“Oh, that’s a tough one…at CopperBay in Paris lead bartender Aurélie Panhelleux,  she’s super-creative, did a twist on a Margarita twist with jasmine tea and infusion of fresh jasmine in Cointreau that’s is one of the best Margarita’s I’ve had in my life!”

If there’s one word that describes Cointreau, what would it be?

“Unique – because there’s no other product like Cointreau L’Unique, but there have been many attempts to copy it. The Cointreau Museum in Angers even has a section we call the copycat museum, where you can see all the copycat products that tried to be Cointreau but failed.”

Last but not least, what’s the one thing you’d like Australians and Australian bartenders to remember about Cointreau?

“I think I would want every Australian bartender to remember that they must have Cointreau behind the bar,” replies Kevin. “When you pour Cointreau, you’re not just pouring an orange liqueur but a bit of bartending history.”

“Cointreau is something that is part of bartending DNA. You must have it! You don’t want to miss part of your DNA. Not having It would be a professional mistake.”

As the key ingredient in over 450 cocktails, Cointreau is a crucial asset for professional and amateur mixologists alike.

“When you’re Cointreau, when you have 40 aromatic notes in your aroma wheel, when you have this DNA, you’re unique, and it’s impossible to copy you.”

If your venue, bar or store hasn’t got Cointreau, contact your Spirits Platform Representative today.

Here are 3 more of Kevin’s favourite twists on the Margarita – handpicked to refresh your patrons or friends throughout the long, hot Australian summer.