Triple sec
Template:Short description Template:Infobox Beverage
Triple sec is an orange-flavoured liqueur that originated in France. It usually contains 20–40% alcohol by volume.<ref name="diffords176">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
Triple sec is rarely consumed neat, but is used in preparing many mixed drinks such as margaritas, cosmopolitans, sidecars, Long Island iced teas, and mai tais.
EtymologyEdit
The origin of the name "triple sec" is disputed. The term is French and composed of triple, with the same meaning as in English, and sec, the French word for "dry". Some sources claim it comes from a triple distillation process used to create the liqueur,<ref name="diffords176"/><ref name="barnone">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> but others say that a triple distillation is not used.<ref name="vinepair">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Cointreau, a brand of triple sec, is reported to have invented the term based on the three types of orange peels used in the liqueur, although other reports have Cointreau claim the triple to mean "three times the flavour of Curaçaos".<ref name="diffords176"/><ref name="seniorco">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref><ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref>
HistoryEdit
Triple sec has been popular for more than 150 years. The Dutch East India Company created orange liqueurs by steeping dried orange peels from places such as the island of Curaçao.<ref name="diffords176"/> Unlike the modern-day triple sec, which contains only the flavor of orange peel, the Dutch version includes herbs and spices, and comes in a variety of colors such as clear, orange, or blue.<ref name="diffords176"/>
The Combier distillery claims that Jean-Baptiste Combier and his wife Josephine invented triple sec in 1834, in their kitchen in Saumur, France.<ref>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Orange liqueur was rising in popularity after the Dutch introduced Curaçao, and the Combiers sought to create a version that would be true to the orange fruit, they wanted it to be crisp and clean, with orange essential oils as the main feature. To achieve this, the Combier family used bitter oranges that were native to Haiti, and sweet Valencia oranges to balance the flavor.<ref name="CombierStory">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> The liqueur was made by sun-drying the various orange peels. After at least 48 hours, they would begin distilling this mixture in copper pots. Lastly, they would put them through a third distillation, to purify the flavor.<ref name="CombierStory"/>
In 1875, Cointreau created its version of triple sec and calls it one of the most popular brands.<ref name="cointreau">{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Triple sec gained popularity and was widely known by 1878; at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris, several distillers were offering "Curaço Template:Sic triple sec", as well as "Curaço doux".<ref>The Lancet Analytical Commission, "Report on the Food Products exhibited in the French and English Departments of the Universal Exhibition of Paris", The Lancet, 21 September 1878, p. 417f.</ref>
ProductionEdit
Triple sec is usually made from a spirit derived from sugar beet (used because of its neutral flavor), in which orange peel is steeped. The oranges are harvested when their skin is still green and not fully ripened, so the essential oils remain in the skin rather than the fruit's flesh. The spirit is redistilled and mixed with more neutral spirit, water, and powdered beet sugar, resulting in the final liqueur. This process creates a spirit that has a robust and distinct orange flavor.<ref name="diffords176"/>