Hi, Friends of Cocktails! Orange liqueur is a key ingredient of many classic cocktails like the Sidecar, Margarita, White Lady, Corpse Reviver Number 2, Mai Tai, and the list goes on and on. But what if you want a non-alcoholic cocktail? Do you just add orange juice? Not on my watch! We’ve made non-alcoholic spirits, bitters, vermouth and amaro in the past, so now it’s time to make non-alcoholic Orange Liqueur, and use it in a Zero-version of a classic cocktail.
I’m saying Zero, because the recipes I used are based on the work of the authors of the book Zero, A New Approach to Non-Alcoholic Drinks. I take their recipes, test them out, and adjust them as I see fit, so I did the same with today’s Orange Liqueur recipe. Alongside the ingredients you’ll need a sous vide cooker to have the most control over temperature and no liquid will evaporate - but if you don’t have a sous vide yet, you can put together a little makeshift sous vide cooker using a cooking thermometer.
Now for the orange liqueur ingredients and recipe. First and foremost, oranges, for peels and juice, but we’ll also add dried orange peels, sugar, fresh ginger, vanilla bean, ceylon cinnamon, water and optionally pectinex, which will help with a clearer end result. Let’s start, it’s Mocktail Time!
Zero Orange Liqueur
● 500g Water
● 400g Orange Juice
● 190g Sugar
● 100g Fresh Orange Peels
● 30g Dried Orange Peel
● 9g Thinly Peeled Ginger
● 0.8g Ceylon Cinnamon
● 0.4g Vanilla Bean
● 3g Pectinex
Start by peeling organic oranges. We’ve covered the importance of using citrus with edible peels whenever you’re making infusions or blending the peels, and that applies to Super Juice, liqueurs, cordials, tinctures and so on. Once we have the orange peels, add them to the sous vide bag alongside the other ingredients, then it’s time to seal it. I try to leave as little air in there as possible, and as always, I like to go with a double seal.
Our infusion will go into the sous vide bath which is set to 90°C or 195°F for two hours. Always a good idea to give it a shake once or twice in between but once it’s done, cool it slightly, then cut open the bag and strain out the solids. I’ll take it one step further by making it a bit clearer with the help of Pectinex, so add it to the liqueur and let this do its thing. I’ll leave it in a sealed bottle overnight, so you’ll really be able to see the sediments.
If you can’t find Pectinex, agar agar will do an even better job at clarifying, but it would also strip more of the flavor, so I’m just going with pectinex this time. When straining it’s best to wait until the sediments create an additional filter, which is when you’ll see a clear looking stream of orange liquid coming through. You might need to re-filter it a few times, but the cloth filter is still a better option than the coffee filter, which clogs up pretty fast and takes way too long.
Giving it a quick taste I can say we got what we aimed for - orange in every aspect. Dried orange adds depth and a rich note, ginger brings freshness and a subtle kick, while the spices fill out the liqueur. Even after it’s strained we get a slightly opaque non-alcoholic liqueur, but it’s packed with orange notes. Bottle, add a label, and it’s ready for use. Also remember to keep it in the fridge and use it within 7 days, or freeze it for months.
I’d say we successfully tackled another non-alcoholic challenge, but why stop there? With the variety of zero ingredients we already made on the channel it would be a shame if we didn’t whip up a zero-version of a classic cocktail using today’s ingredient. So let’s make a Virgin White Lady!
Virgin White Lady
● 90mL · 3oz Zero Gin
● 45mL · 1.5oz Zero Orange Liqueur
● 22.5mL · 0.75oz Lemon Juice
● 15mL · 0.5oz Egg White
● 2 drops 20% Saline Solution
I always start with a chilled shaker, even when the first part is done without ice. So add the ingredients in, and since I mentioned the sous vide hack, another hack I like is to use a hawthorne strainer to separate the egg white and egg yolk. Give the egg white a quick scramble with a fork or a milk frother to make it easier to measure too! Now instead of a dry shake, or a reverse dry shake, I’ll froth up the cocktail using the milk frother.
Now we add ice and give the cocktail a quick shake to chill our Virgin White Lady. Then grab a chilled coupe glass and double strain using a fine mesh strainer, to keep out any small bits of ice. For garnish I’ll add a twist of lemon peel, with the essential oils expressend over the frothy cocktail, then place it on the side of the glass. Now it’s time for the real test of our liqueur - how does it work in a non-alcoholic cocktail?
Amazingly good, if I can say so myself. The Virgin White Lady is juniper forward, bright, dry and citrusy, with both orange and lemon notes. It’s well balanced and has a really rich mouthfeel. A complete success, and with that we’ve reached the Bottom of The Glass. Today’s fun fact is related to the best known orange liqueur out there, Cointreau.
When launched it was labeled as Triple Sec, because it used three types of oranges - sweet, macerated and bitter. We used the peels, juice, and dried peels, so let’s say we were close with our Zero Liqueur. Until next time, cheers, Friends of cocktails and mocktails.