Cointreau "Caviar"

[Joe Riley]

This looks sort-of interesting: Cointreau "Caviar"

Cointreau is, arguably, the single greatest orange liqueur on the market, at the very least the one indispensable orange liqueur which no bar should be without.

So the idea of little solid "pearls" of Cointreau seems to be a phun concept. Gotta give Remy-Cointreau props for cleverness.

Perhaps too often the visual aspect of cocktails gets discounted because, after all, what REALLY matters most is how the darned things TASTE, right?

But as anyone who has ever vacationed somewhere with a mild to tropical climate can attest, the delight of spotting a tasty, refreshing drink (perhaps even with a tiny umbrella perched on top?) on a serving tray can be a compelling argument to sudden cocktail indulgence.

How often has this phrase (or multiple variations thereof) served as famous last words: "Say, that looks delicious, I'll have one of those!"

I think it will be a hoot to see just what cocktails are created with this product. Certainly it will give margaritas a make-over.

[SeanMike]

Very interesting. Any idea how it's sold - i.e., is it something that needs special handling or keeping, such as refrigeration?

It seems like the pearls would give bursts of Cointreau flavor throughout the drink rather than a consistent taste. I'd probably want to make sure that the cocktail itself tastes fine both with and without - as well as with a LOT of - pearls to make sure you don't get any "bad" tastes.

[ulysses]

I played around with one of their machines in NY and I feel like the whole process is a little too labor intensive for the final result(that and there's always this chemical/soap flavor that you can't get rid of). Almost every good bartender in this city has played around with alginate/chloride compounds, in fact so much that the encapsulation idea is already passe in D.C..

[meatwad]

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