Is Cointreau a distillate or a liqueur?

Cointreau is a liqueur, not a distillate . And as a liqueur, Cointreau is more than a triple sec. A liqueur is an officially recognized spirit category with quality indicators around the spirit’s components and method of production. On the other hand, triple sec is a generic term for any orange-flavored spirit, with no specific rules around the method of production or quality criteria. Since there is no official EU legal definition, nor specific quality requirements that must be met to carry this name, there can be significant differences between one triple sec and another. Whereas distillate is a liquid produced from the vapor during a distillation process.