My favourite liqueur is Cointreau, I do not drink it often, so when I do I want to make sure I enjoy it. However, Cointreau  is not the only orange liqueur on the market, whilst Cointreau is known around the world as a mixer, this liqueur is best served straight up. 

Cointreau is best known in B-52 shooters, the Margarita, the Sidecar and the Mai Tai. Grand Marnier is also an orange liqueur, the colour is a mid-range brown, and I find this liqueur less crisp than Cointreau despite both being known as a triple sec liqueur. I find Grand Marnier a lot heavier than Cointreau and sweeter as well, there are oak tones with orange peel flavours. 

So I ask myself, how do the orange liqueurs stand up against each other? Well, Cointreau is a reasonably clear liqueur that I prefer to drink chilled. I keep a bottle in the refrigerator to keep the liqueur cold so it does not get diluted through the ice melting. Like Cointreau, I prefer to drink Grand Marnier liqueur neat, this time it is served at room temperature in a shot glass so it is easily sipped. I have never chilled Grand Marnier like I have with Cointreau, this is a room temperature liqueur for me.  

Both Cointreau and Grand Marnier are from France, Cointreau bears the family name of Adolphe and Édouard-Jean Cointreau was founded in 1849 in Angers. Grand Marnier has a similar founding history, founded in 1880 in Neauphle-le-Château by Louis-Alexandre Marnier Lapostolle, although the distillery was established in 1827 by Jean-Baptiste Lapostolle. Both liqueurs are excellent, I keep both at home and they get pulled out from time to time and I try a sip of both equally.