Sour Orange Cocktail Mix

The other day, my lovely mother sent me a citrus-y surprise from Florida. She's probably more obsessed than even I am for sniffing out backyard fruit that may be going unappreciated. It's where I get it from. Well, a generous neighbor of hers allowed her to take some oranges that were probably good one day, but had reverted back to it's root stock, and were now, according to her, seedy and sour. My guess is that root stock is the Florida sour orange, which is none other than the Seville, or bitter orange, the classic marmalade orange. Also, the classic Triple Sec orange. 

I really didn't want to make marmalade (some peels were mottled brown) or Triple Sec (I still have some from last year). I was stalling, the huge bowl of oranges sitting in the fridge, patiently waiting. Today it hit me: the sour taste of these oranges seemed a natural mixer for cocktails, so, very simply, I juiced them, then added a small bit of sugar, and canned the juice for drinks this summer. Although, I won't be waiting to use this. I'll wager I'll be having a whiskey sour very shortly.

I love my old school juicer.

To be honest, I didn't know exactly what to call this. Sour mix, as you may know, is a cocktail mixer that is made with lemons, limes, and simple syrup. For the masses, this means horribly sweet fake stuff, and for mixologists of fancy cocktails this means hand-squeezed juices mixed with sugar and water. I will always opt for fresh squeezed, but when you have a load of gorgeous seville oranges on your hands, this is what you can do to drink them through out the year. I think these would make a fine margarita, as well!

Sour Mix:

Four cups of Florida Sour or Seville orange juice*
1 cup of sugar

Add the two in a large non-reactive pot. Stir to dissolve the sugar. Sterilize two pint jars, and one half-pint for the extra bit to stash in the fridge. Bring mixture to a boil. Ladle into hot jars. Process for ten minutes.

*I realize that not many folks have access to these fruits. You can probably approximate by using a mix of lemons and limes, with an orange or two thrown in. I used a 1:4 ratio of sugar to fruit, which I think was perfect for my tastes, but you may want to add more sugar. Taste it as you go, and you should be fine.

Seedy!

But wait--there's more! Please don't throw out those peels! I scraped the cups and saved the pulp to make citrus pectin stock. And the peels will be turned into candied bits. If you are lacking at all for inspiration, please look to Local Kitchen's amazing compendium of citrus uses. You will never throw out another peel.

Triple Sec

The world of orange-flavored liqueurs is a big one. Let's get a few things straight at the start. Triple Sec is orange liqueur usually made from dried bitter and sweet orange peels and grain alcohol. There are many different brands of triple sec, like Cointreau and Grand Marnier. Cointreau is apparently brandy-based, though a trip to their purple-prosed site reveals nothing but very funny copy.  Grand Marnier is a cognac-based orange liqueur. I'm sure I've had my fair share of "well" orange liqueurs, like De Kuypers and Marie Brizard, but I think I've stayed clear of Curaçao, that crazy blue stuff.

A while back I was sent some sour oranges from my mother in Florida and being fairly marmaladed out, I decided to make some booze. I had brandy in the house so I decided to go with it. I guess this is a Cointreau-style triple sec? There were a few recipes I sifted through, but what I was most intrigued by was a technique to bake orange slices at a low temperature first and then to soak the slices.

Preheat oven to 200 degrees

4 large sour oranges, sliced 1/8"

Arrange the slices on a cookie tray lined with parchment paper in a single layer. Bake them for two hours and then leave them in the warm oven. Doing this step at night works well--leave them overnight in the oven. Place citrus slices in a quart jar, cover with brandy and let sit for four weeks. Then strain the fruit, leaving the brandy in the jar. Add one cup of sugar and let sit for two more weeks, inverting jar daily until sugar is dissolved.

Note: I froze my brandy soaked citrus, thinking it might be a lovely addition to a marmalade whenever I get the impetus to make marmalade again.

I didn't add a simple syrup to the brandy because I wanted to really taste the oranges. As I'm writing this, I'm sipping a small glass. It's not as sweet as triple sec (though I must admit, I haven't had a straight slug of triple sec since I was what, 13?), and the taste of oranges first, followed by a bitter tang afterwards is very pleasurable. I now know why this was at one time a digestif, or aperitif.

Check out these other recipes:
Mrs. Wheelbarrow's version with Cara Cara oranges and vodka
An interesting version from Thursday Happy Hour that "tastes like orange hard candy"
and one from Food, Literature, Philosophy

Roasted. About to be soaked in brandy.