Ladies and gentlemen, behold

this. This is an orange. A humble citrus

fruit that has launched empires,

prevented scurvy, and somehow ended up

in a margarita. Today, we're diving into

the world of homemade orange liquor.

Some of you may know that Alton Brown,

patron saint of culinary nery, breaker

of kitchen myth, sworn enemy of

unaskers, has a [music] recipe for it.

It's good, clever, rooted in culinary

logic. But here's the thing. Alton

Brown's a chef. I am a bartender, which

means I respect the delicious science

behind his recipe while acknowledging

with love that it wasn't exactly built

with a cocktail shaker in mind. Well,

technically [music] it was, just not in

the way it should have been. So today

we're going to make his orange liquor

recipe and we're going to keep the

[music] spirit, but we're going to make

it more cocktail friendly. We're going

to correct the dryness, [music] increase

the sweetness, respect the ABV, in other

words, make it perfect for real

cocktails. So let's actually talk about

what Alton did. He [music] makes this

orange liquor because in his own words,

no orange liquor can make the perfect

margarita. So [music] what he does to

make the perfect margarita is he mixes

equal parts of tequila, this liquor, and

just a little splash of lime. So since I

trust this palette, this tells us that

the orange liquor is off balance because

usually we need way less liquor to

provide enough sweetness and flavor to a

cocktail. Also, when you take a closer

look at the recipe, [music] everything

becomes clear. The sugar content is

ridiculously low. Two to three times

less than a normal orange liquor. So, no

wonder he's dumping so much in his

margarita. [music]

One more thing, Alton stirs his

margarita instead of shaking it. Why?

Because he says he doesn't like the

little ice chards melting in his drink.

He also serves it on the rocks with just

a little bit of ice and poor quality

ice, which is another thing that could

be improved here. So, first of all,

shaking is necessary. [music]

It I erase the cocktail. It gives a nice

texture and it cools it properly. If you

don't like the little ice shards, all

you need is the proper [music] bar

tools. That's it. Now, if you like your

margarita on the rocks, quality and

quantity of ice is crucial. It will keep

your cocktail colder for longer and it

will not water it down. And this, my

friends, is why having a professional

quality clear ice maker at home comes in

so handy. Claris is the only countertop

appliance that makes professional

quality clear ice using the directional

freezing method. In fact, it's actually

so good. I'm sure you didn't even notice

I was juggling with their ice cubes,

right? But seriously, clear ice helps

your cocktail chill faster and it melts

slower so you don't have to worry about

your drinks getting watered down. Claris

offers two different machines and

whether you go for the flagship or their

mini both produce the same iconic 2x2 in

clear cubes. The flagship makes four at

a time while the mini makes [music] two.

But the size and quality are exactly the

same. If you're on a budget or short on

contour space, I would recommend the

mini, but if like me you make a lot of

clear ice and can't afford a larger unit

on your bar, [music] definitely go with

the flagship. I've been using my clear

ice machines for more than 2 years now

and it's been a gamecher. No hassle, no

mess, and continuous supply of clear ice

at your fingertips. I'll link their

website in the description and pin

comment below. And if you use my promo

code, Toottran, you'll get 10% off

sitewide. So, thank you very much,

ClariS, for sponsoring this episode. But

now, let's go back to our oranges. So,

first, let's tweak the liquor recipe.

[music] Then we're going to make a

margarita with proper balance and we're

going to shake it of course. And

finally, we're going to call Alton to

see [music] if he approves. For the

ingredients, we will need high proof

vodka, a good brandy, dried bitter

orange peels, sweet orange peels, and

sugar. In order to keep the ABV of our

liquor at 40%, we will need to use a

higher proof vodka, 45% to be precise.

If you don't have such a thing, you can

also boost the ABV [music]

of your regular vodka with higher proof

neutral spirit. Mine being at 95%

alcohol, I will need 455 mls of 40%

vodka and 45 mls of 95% neutral alcohol.

Now, to make things right, we need to

increase the sugar content in our liquor

compared to Alton's recipe. So that way,

we don't end up dumping half of our

bottle in the shaker just to get the

right [music] sweetness. But because

that means we're going to use less

liquor in the drink itself, it also

means we need to increase slightly the

amount of sweet orange peels in the

recipe. So that way the flavor is still

singing in a margarita. Now the variety

of oranges is also super important.

Alton uses Valencia sweet oranges and

sumo mandarins. This is a great choice.

I [music] mean those two things together

will make an amazing flavor profile for

the liquor, but sumo mandarins are

sometimes quite hard to find. So, what

is very important is regardless of the

variety you're going to use is that you

use sweet oranges. But even more

important than that, you need to use

organic wax-free oranges because we're

going to use the peel only and we're

going to infuse them in alcohol. So, you

need something perfectly clean [music]

and natural. Speaking of which, to clean

your oranges, place them in a large bowl

filled up with lukewarm water and for

every litter of water, dissolve one

teaspoon of sodium carbonate. Wash

thoroughly and then you can zest them.

And make sure to remove as little white

pith as possible to avoid unwanted

bitterness. Now in a sum bag, add 100 g

of your fresh orange peel, 500 mls of

your 45% vodka, 250 mls of brandy, 200 g

of sugar, and finally 7 g of dried

bitter orange peels. Seal your bag and

place it in a hot water bath set at 160

Fahrenheit for 1 hour. Halfway, [music]

take the bag out and mix the content to

make sure the sugar is dissolved and to

ensure an even extraction. After 1 hour

of cooking, immediately plunge the bag

in ice water and let it cool down

completely. Once cool, filter it through

a fine mesh strainer. You'll notice the

liquor is somewhat cloudy at this point.

And you could [music] drink it and use

it as is, but I prefer a cleaner result.

So, I'll show you two different methods.

For the first one, I'll set aside 250

mls of the liquor and [music] place it

in a separating funnel. I'll leave it

there until all the cinnamon settles at

the bottom, which can [music] take up to

one week. But the waiting time also

helps the flavors melt together. Once

fully settled, you simply [music] drain

off the bottom layer by opening the

valve. The rest will be perfectly clear

filtered orange liquor. For the second

method, I first poured the liquor

through a coffee filter to remove the

larger particles. It will still be a

little bit cloudy, so I bottle it and

store it in the fridge to cold filter

it. [music] The cold temperature speeds

up the precipitation. And after about 48

hours, you'll see all the sediment

collected at the bottom of the bottle,

ready [music] to be decented. Now, I

just finished the liquor today and I

want to keep this video moving. So,

we're going to do the [music] tasting

and the cocktail with a cloudy version

because, like I said, there's nothing

wrong with that. So, the moment of

truth.

Oops.

Yep. The right sweetness, beautiful

punch of citrus. It's straightforward

but balanced. [music]

Exactly what we want. Next step, we're

going to make the margarita. And of

course, we're going to shake it this

time. We're going to start with 2 oz of

a good blanco tequila. Like Alton says,

if you don't want to drink your tequila

[music] neat, well, it's not good enough

for your margarita. Then we're going to

do 1 oz of our orange liquor

and 1 oz again of freshlysqueezed lime

juice.

Now we fill the shaker with ice

and give it [music] a vigorous shake for

10 to 15 seconds.

We're going to fine it to get rid of the

ice dards over a beautiful Claris ice

cube

and a half salted rim glass. We're going

to add a lime wheel for the garnish. And

there have it, Alton Brown's improved

margarita.

Cheers.

It is perfect. The sweet and sour

balance is [music] spoton. So, this, my

friends, is for me the perfect

margarita.

Cheers again.

Hi, Alton. It's me. It's JF. So, I tried

your orange liquor and it's amazing, but

I made a couple of tweaks, so I'd love

your feedback. Call me back.

Hope's going to take it with a grain of

salt to grim.

Cheers.

It's good.