Triple sec


Triple sec, originally Curaçao triple sec, is a type of strong, sweet and colorless orange-flavored liqueur. It is a variety of Curaçao liqueur, an orange-flavored liqueur made from the dried peels of bitter and sweet oranges.
"Sec" is the French word for dry. The etymology of the term "triple sec" is unclear.
Triple sec may be consumed neat as a digestif, or on the rocks. However, it is more typically used as an ingredient in a variety of cocktails, such as sangria, Margarita, Kamikaze, White Lady, Long Island Iced Tea, Sidecar, Skittle Bomb, Corpse Reviver #2 and Cosmopolitan.

History

The Combier distillery claims that triple sec was invented in 1834 by Jean-Baptiste Combier in Saumur, France. However, the Combier distillery was more famous for its élixir Combier, which contained orange but also many other flavorings.
According to Cointreau, its orange liqueur was created in 1875.
Triple sec was certainly widely known by 1878; at the Exposition Universelle of 1878 in Paris, several distillers were offering "Curaço triple sec", as well as "Curaço doux".