 Bols Blue Curaçao liqueur | |
| Type | Liqueur |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | (various) |
| Introduced | c. 18th century |
| Alcohol by volume | 15–40% |
| Proof (US) | 30–80° US/26+1⁄4–70° UK |
| Color | Colorless, but often artificially colored, with the most popular hues being blue and orange |
| Flavor | Bitter andsweet orange |
Curaçao[1] (/ˈkjʊərəsaʊ,-soʊ/KURE-ə-sow, -soh,Dutch:[kyːraːˈsʌu]ⓘ) is aliqueur flavored with the dried peel of thebitter orange varietylaraha, acitrus fruit grown on the Caribbean island ofCuraçao.
Curaçao can be sold in numerous forms, though the most common are the orange-hueddry curaçao, andblue curaçao which is dyed bright blue.
It is unknown who developed the first curaçao liqueur, or when, to any degree of accuracy. TheDutch West Indies Company took possession of Curaçao in 1634. TheBols distillery, founded in 1575 inAmsterdam, had shares in both the West andEast India Companies to guarantee its access to spices required for their distilled drinks. According to the early nineteenth-century French culinary chroniclerAlexandre Grimod de la Reynière, curaçao originated inFlanders,[2] and proximity to the province ofHolland gave distillers easy access to the necessary peels (since Curaçao was a Dutch colony at the time).[3]
Curaçao liqueur is traditionally made with the dried peels of thelaraha (Citrus ×aurantium subsp.currassuviencis), abitter orange that had selectively adapted to conditions on Curaçao island.[4]Spanish explorers had brought the progenitor of the laraha, the bitterSeville orange, to the island in 1527.[5][6] Although the bitter flesh of the laraha is unpalatable, the peels are pleasantly aromatic.[7]
The Bols company says thatLucas Bols (1652–1719) developed a laraha-based liqueur after the discovery that anaromatic 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,[citation needed] explaining the unlikely addition of a blue coloring. In 1912, Bols sold blue curaçao asCrème de Ciel ("cream of the sky"), most likely a reference to the 1907 musicalMiss Hook of Holland.[8][9]
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 andChumaceiro, started selling their liqueur in 1896 in their pharmacy in small quantities. In 1947 they bought thelandhuis ("country manor") Chobolobo inWillemstad, where the distillery has since been housed. The company states that it is the only one that uses native laraha fruit, and label itGenuine Curaçao Liqueur.[10]
The liqueur is mentioned several times under the spelling "curaçoa" inWilliam Makepeace Thackeray'sVanity 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 curaçao before him."[11]
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 agunny 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.[12] The liqueur has an orange-like flavour with varying degrees of bitterness. It is naturally colourless, but colouring, most commonly blue (oftenE133 brilliant blue) or orange, is often added to confer an exotic appearance tococktails and other mixed drinks.[13][14]
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.[15]
