Curaçao ( , ) is a
liqueur
A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...
flavored with the dried peel of the
bitter orange variety
laraha, a
citrus fruit
''Citrus'' is a genus of flowering plant, flowering trees and shrubs in the family Rutaceae. Plants in the genus produce citrus fruits, including important crops such as Orange (fruit), oranges, Mandarin orange, mandarins, lemons, grapefruits, ...
grown on the Caribbean island of
Curaçao
Curaçao, officially the Country of Curaçao, is a constituent island country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located in the southern Caribbean Sea (specifically the Dutch Caribbean region), about north of Venezuela.
Curaçao includ ...
.
Curaçao can be sold in numerous forms, though the most common are the orange-hued dry curaçao and blue curaçao, which is dyed bright blue.
History
It is unknown who developed the first curaçao liqueur, or when, to any degree of accuracy. The
Dutch West Indies Company took possession of Curaçao in 1634. The
Bols distillery, founded in 1575 in
Amsterdam
Amsterdam ( , ; ; ) is the capital of the Netherlands, capital and Municipalities of the Netherlands, largest city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands. It has a population of 933,680 in June 2024 within the city proper, 1,457,018 in the City Re ...
, had shares in both the West and
East India Companies to guarantee its access to spices required for their distilled drinks. According to the early nineteenth-century French culinary chronicler
Alexandre Grimod de la Reynière, curaçao originated in
Flanders
Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...
, and proximity to the province of
Holland
Holland is a geographical regionG. Geerts & H. Heestermans, 1981, ''Groot Woordenboek der Nederlandse Taal. Deel I'', Van Dale Lexicografie, Utrecht, p 1105 and former provinces of the Netherlands, province on the western coast of the Netherland ...
gave distillers easy access to the necessary peels (since Curaçao was a Dutch colony at the time).
Curaçao liqueur is traditionally made with the dried peels of the
laraha (''Citrus'' × ''aurantium'' subsp. ''currassuviencis''), a
bitter orange that had selectively adapted to conditions on Curaçao island.
Spanish explorers had brought the progenitor of the laraha, the bitter
Seville orange, to the island in 1527. Although the bitter flesh of the laraha is unpalatable, the peels are pleasantly aromatic.
The Bols company says that
Lucas Bols (1652–1719) developed a laraha-based liqueur after the discovery that an
aromatic oil could be extracted from the unripe peel of the otherwise useless bitter oranges. Bols then had this oil exported back to Amsterdam to produce a liqueur similar to current day curaçao. Lucas Bols tended to add an "element of alchemical mystery" to his products, explaining the unlikely addition of a blue coloring. In 1912, Bols sold blue curaçao as ''Crème de Ciel'' ("cream of the sky"), most likely a reference to the 1907 musical ''
Miss Hook of Holland''.
[Joseph Piercy]
''Slippery Tipples: A Guide to Weird and Wonderful Spirits & Liqueurs''
pp. 23–24
Senior & Co, a company started in Curaçao, is the only company that has always produced its liqueur from the peels of the laraha from Curaçao. The family, Senior and
Chumaceiro, started selling their liqueur in 1896 in their pharmacy in small quantities. In 1947 they bought the
landhuis ("country manor") Chobolobo in
Willemstad, where the distillery has since been housed. The company states that it is the only one that uses native laraha fruit, and label it ''Genuine Curaçao Liqueur''.
The liqueur is mentioned several times under the spelling "curaçoa" in
William Makepeace Thackeray's ''Vanity Fair'' of 1847–1848 as a drink taken by dissolute young men. For example, Lady Jane Southdown pays her brother "a furtive visit in his chambers in the Albany; and found him – O the naughty dear abandoned wretch! – smoking a cigar with a bottle of curaçoa before him."
Preparation
To make the liqueur, Senior and Co soak the laraha in alcohol and water for several days, after which the peel is removed and placed in a
gunny bag. Spices are added, and the bag is hung in a heated 120-year-old copper still with 96% alcohol for three days. After one day cooling, water is added and the mixture is distilled for three days. The liqueur has an orange-like flavour with varying degrees of bitterness. It is naturally colourless, but colouring, most commonly blue (often
E133 brilliant blue) or orange, is often added to confer an exotic appearance to
cocktail
A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...
s and other mixed drinks.
Some other liqueurs are also sold as curaçaos with different flavors added, such as coffee, chocolate, rum and raisin. Pierre Ferrand, a cognac and dry Curaçao brand, produced a less sweet "Ancienne Méthode" curaçao using 1800s techniques.
See also
*
List of liqueurs
*
Triple sec
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Curacao (liqueur)
Culture of Curaçao
Orange liqueurs
Dutch liqueurs