Ever buy the wrong kind of _____?

[Yojimbo]

Racing to the liquor store to get supplies for a drinks testing that I posted about separately, I grabbed what I thought was a bottle of Combier because they didn't have a big bottle of Cointreau, and I was planning on using it at a fundraiser. Alas, my drinks made with the stuff were off, not enough orange flavor -- when I actually read the label I realized I had bought Royal Combier, which is half orange, half herbal. Dumb newbie mistake, but I also was working on about 2 hours of sleep the night before.

Anyway, I'm sure I'm not the only one who's bought/been given a bottle of something other than what they were hoping for -- any suggestions for what to do with this stuff? It was OK by the barspoon in a classic 2/1 Martini, but I'm at a loss for other ideas. Re-gift it? Donate to a local bar? Any suggestions would be gratefully received.

[thirtyoneknots]

Royal Combier is an appropriate sub, generally speaking, wherever one might otherwise use Grand Marnier.

[Yojimbo]

Hmmm, I did a taste test between the two, and my impression was the Grand Marnier was thicker, more syrupy, and definitely had a stronger orange fragrance and flavor; the RC was thinner and had a more candy-like sweetness and flavor, with a definite spicy edge.

I will say the Royal Combier played pretty nicely by the capful in a 2-1 blanc vermouth martini, and I suspect it would work with light rum as well, but it's definitely going to be sitting in the back of the bar shelf for a while. And it was totally overwhelmed by tropical fruit juices in a tiki recipe, so I'm still down one bottle of Cointreau or Triplum.

Too bad there's no craigslist for opened bottles of liqueur!

[haresfur]

Too bad there's no craigslist for opened bottles of liqueur!

Well there probably is if the opened bottles are 70 years old

[brinza]

from the Combier website:

A harmonious blend of Original Combier, V.S.O.P. cognac and Elixir Combier (one of the most famous of all French hygienic liqueurs since its creation by Jean-Baptiste Combier in 1852), Royal Combier Grande Liqueur includes ingredients such as aloe, nutmeg, myrrh, cardamom, cinnamon, and saffron, the result of which is an exotic and complex liqueur best enjoyed cold or in classic and modern cocktails as an orange liqueur substitute for added spice.

It sounds like a very interesting product in its own right. It seems like a blend of a Grand Marnier-type product and an amaro. I wouldn't be in such a hurry to get rid of it. While it's not going to work in most applications calling for Cointreau, it still should be fun to experiment with. You might want to try it as a sub for Amer Picon or Ramazzotti (though it will probably be considerably sweeter than those items, so you'd have to reconfigure any recipes to account for that).

Edited February 24, 2012 by brinza (log)