“The Unexpected Blend of Cognac and Orange”
The Grand Marnier mini (50 ml) is a cute little amber bottle with a bell-shaped bottom and some graceful curves at the neck along with a red wax seal above the label. It smells… warm. Deep. I really thought it would smell more like oranges, huh. Pouring it into a glass reveals a golden liquid. A sip, oh Lordy that’s strong, that burns alllll the way down. A sip reveals, once the strength of the cognac has died away, that the orange is in the flavor, even if it’s not in the scent. It’s a pleasant orange flavor, not too sweet, not too bitter. But it’s so strong – people drink this straight? Uff dah… I guess it is 40% alcohol, I should probably start paying more attention to that number, lol.
Just a question, their website has a recipe for – wait for it – “Grand Marnier Neat” and Grand Marnier on the Rocks”. Really? An actual recipe with directions on how to make those? lol. Okie dokie, but here’s some of their other recipes and honestly, they’re super simple. Basically just add the Grand Marnier to something else and add some form of lime or orange slices, these aren’t very original, just sayin’:
Grand Ginger
- 1 ⅓ OZ. GRAND MARNIER®
- 4 OZ. GINGER ALE
- A WEDGE OF LIME
IN A TALL GLASS, POUR GRAND MARNIER® OVER ICE CUBES THEN FILL WITH GINGER ALE. SQUEEZE A WEDGE OF LIME OVER THE GLASS AND THEN TOSS WEDGE INTO GLASS.
Grand Cran
- 1 OZ. GRAND MARNIER®
- 3 OZ. CHILLED CRANBERRY JUICE COCKTAIL
- 1 ½ OZ. FRESH LIME JUICE (HALF A LIME)
COMBINE INGREDIENTS IN A COCKTAIL SHAKER, ADD ICE AND SHAKE VIGOROUSLY. STRAIN INTO AN ICE-FILLED HIGHBALL GLASS. GARNISH WITH A LIME WEDGE. ALSO DELICIOUS BLENDED WITH ICE FOR A REFRESHING FROZEN COCKTAIL.
Grand French Coffee (just out of curiosity, what makes this “French”????)
- 1 ½ OZ. GRAND MARNIER® (WARMED)
- 3 ½ OZ. HOT COFFEE
- WHIPPED CREAM
POUR GRAND MARNIER® AND COFFEE INTO A MUG AND TOP LIGHTLY WITH WHIPPED CREAM.
I have both ginger ale and Cranberry juice in the fridge. I’m going to try ginger ale since I like that better, however I am shy on limes so I’m not quite making the “Grand Ginger” recipe…
I pour in slightly more ginger ale than Grand Marnier and stir it with what I think is some sort of weird, plastic avocado knife. Unlike some of the other liqueurs I’ve sampled the alcohol flavor remains and the orange flavor is diminished this time. Ugh… Oh my, this may be the first of my blog drinks that I don’t actually finish. Not. A. Fan. Why would you ever put this in coffee? I can see maybe hot cocoa but coffee? Now to be fair I’m not really a coffee drinker anyway but I have some really good foo foo coffees every now and again and the thought of putting this in coffee just makes me… Ewww…
Well, since I can’t make it any worse I’m going to pour some cranberry juice in with the ginger ale and see if that helps. Now I have a mixture that’s about 1/3 Grand Marnier, 1/3 ginger ale and 1/3 cranberry juice. Another stir with the weird avocado knife thingy and… muuuuch better. The cognac is now tolerable and the hint of orange flavor improves the cranberry juice. A Lot. The whole thing is also a pretty, burnt orange color in my glass. I try a few more drinks and find it’s not completely unpleasant. Okay. So not a keeper but drinkable with enough other stuff in it. I’m kind of sad I don’t like it more because there’s a Grand Marnier gift set at work with some really pretty shot glasses in it but no way do I want a full sized bottle of that for myself.
They do have a Raspberry Peach variation that the restaurant/liquor store I work at does not carry a mini for. I’d like to try it but I have no wish to buy the full sized bottle for 50 some dollars, I’m not rich here, folks. I’ll keep my eye out for a mini of that and see if maybe then can special order me one.
At any rate, here’s the technicalities on Grand Marnier:
Bottle Esthetics: Really appealing bottle design. I like it a lot and it will go on my windowsill.
Scent: A deep, warm, alcohol smell. Not much orange fragrance.
Viscosity: Water thin with that hint of essential oiliness.
Taste: Sharp, deep burning fire with an aftertaste of oranges, delightfully well balanced.
Versatile: Apparently the makers think you can put it anything. I think not so much. Only somewhat versatile.
Overall Score: 4 out of 10