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Orange Liquor Throwdown Challenge |
Scottes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 490
From: A Little North Of Boston
|  Posted: 2007-06-07 7:42 pm Permalink
Reviving an old thread here, but I just tried Clément Créole Shrubb. I was expecting rum, but it's closer to an orange liqueur like Senior Curacao. It's not a rum, but it is a very good - though extremely sweet - orange liqueur.
If you're interested, my review is here: http://scottesrum.com/2007/06/07/clement-creole-shrubb/
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Chip and Andy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 2176
From: Corner table, Molokai Lounge, Mai-Kai.
| Posted: 2007-06-25 8:30 pm Permalink
Well, sorry to be gone from this discussion so long. I just went back through the conversation and realized that Scottes summed it up best on page 4. His descriptions of each of the liquors I found to be spot-on, at least on the ones that I too have tasted.
I still think the Bols Curacao tastes like orange flavored Gasoline, but that is just my taste.
I will have to think for a bit on a cocktail suggestion to further this quest, anybody else got a suggestion?
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Scottes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 490
From: A Little North Of Boston
| Posted: 2007-06-26 12:29 pm Permalink
I did a bit of searching and couldn't find any Tiki drink where the Orange Curacao was predominant enough to noticeably change the taste. The Mai Tai is so finicky that it comes out, but I wasn't able to decisively pick one.
Is it allowed if we change this to a non-Tiki drink, like a Sidecar? Yum....
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Chip and Andy
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Jul 13, 2004
Posts: 2176
From: Corner table, Molokai Lounge, Mai-Kai.
| Posted: 2007-06-26 12:49 pm Permalink
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On 2007-06-26 12:29, Scottes wrote:
I did a bit of searching and couldn't find any Tiki drink where the Orange Curacao was predominant enough to noticeably change the taste. The Mai Tai is so finicky that it comes out, but I wasn't able to decisively pick one.
Is it allowed if we change this to a non-Tiki drink, like a Sidecar? Yum....
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Certainly! In the name of cocktails and mixology we should use any recipe that showcases the ingredient under discussion.
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Scottes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 490
From: A Little North Of Boston
| Posted: 2007-06-26 12:54 pm Permalink
Yum... Sidecars with various Orange Curacaos... I'm drooling here...
So, Cointreau is the normal choice, and with this high-quality one used as a starting point I would immediately drop the cheaper choices (Leroux, Arrow). But would the "cognac-based" ones be too much? That is, Cognac + Orange + cognac? Or would that heighten the cognac used in the drink?? You'd probably need to choose correctly.
So I'd break this down into 2 choices - the better-quality Orange Curacaos for one test, and for the other test I'd use the cognac-based orange liqueurs. The latter would be very picky to correctly match the orange liqueur to the base cognac, I would think.
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Krakatowa
Tiki Centralite
Joined: May 16, 2006
Posts: 67
From: Baltimore
| Posted: 2007-07-12 4:49 pm Permalink
Speaking of Senior Curacao, does anyone know where I can get it in Baltimore? My last two "minis" from the Island are all but gone.
Thanks
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TikiJosh
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 01, 2005
Posts: 735 | Posted: 2007-07-17 1:11 pm Permalink
I made a Mai Tai with Grand Marnier the other night. Makes for a much sweeter drink than Curacao. At least, I think it did. I was drinking, see, so I don't really remember......
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The Gnomon
Grand Member (7 years) 
Joined: May 01, 2007
Posts: 1290
From: MD-DC-VA
| Posted: 2007-11-29 12:44 pm Permalink
Just getting around to this topic. Sorry.
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On 2007-03-12 06:00, Scottes wrote:
PS: Which is better: DeKuyper's Curacao or Bols Curacao?
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The main brands of Curaçao that we have here in Mongomery County, MD are Hiram Walker, DeKuyper, and Bols. Bols is the only good one IMO. The other two shouldn't be allowed on a store shelf. I'll have to check over in VA where I work. They might have others.
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On 2007-03-29 04:01, Scottes wrote:
Given that Vic used such quality ingredients in the original Mai Tai, I'd have to wonder if the DeKuyper was the same - or if the DeKuyper quality has suffered over the years.
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Suffered. That's my guess. Every time I've used DeKuyper, I've suffered.
This is from the TV site in the "Real Story" section:
During this period {mid-1950's} Trader Vic had also changed the original Orange Curacao to one produced by Bols which was more to his liking.
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Scottes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 490
From: A Little North Of Boston
| Posted: 2007-11-29 1:42 pm Permalink
I found the DeKuyper to to be the best of the cheap crap that I had.
However, that wasn't much of a fight, since the Leroux was the only other cheap Curacao, and the Allen's was the last of the cheap crap I had. DeKuyper vs either, it's no contest.
I recently purchased the Marie Brizard and Bols curacaos. I really need to re-visit this comparison. Bols vs DeKuyper, and MB vs Senior.
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The Gnomon
Grand Member (7 years)
Joined: May 01, 2007
Posts: 1290
From: MD-DC-VA
| Posted: 2007-11-30 06:26 am Permalink
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On 2007-11-29 13:42, Scottes wrote:
I recently purchased the Marie Brizard and Bols curacaos. I really need to re-visit this comparison. Bols vs DeKuyper, and MB vs Senior.
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I've poured the majority of a bottle of DeKuper down the drain so it wouldn't waste space in my cabinet. I'd rather have nothing than have DeKuyper Curaçao. Instead, if I'm out of Bols, I'll hike up the RCS proportion and use a few drops of pure orange extract. Don't know anything about MB or Senior.
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Scottes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 490
From: A Little North Of Boston
| Posted: 2007-11-30 11:33 am Permalink
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Don't know anything about MB or Senior.
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If DeKuyper were Bacardi Silver, Senior Curacao would be Ron Zacapa 15-year-old. Absolutely much better, but not necessarily in every cocktail.
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Jamulous
Member
Joined: May 20, 2007
Posts: 1 | Posted: 2008-01-03 10:22 am Permalink
One major differnce in Grand Marnier is that is a base of 50% premium Cognac with 50% Orange liquor not just orange liquor such as Curacao, Triple Sec or Cointreau. This gives the drink more layers of complexity.
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Tiki_Cincy_Craig
Tiki Centralite
Joined: Nov 05, 2007
Posts: 14
From: Cincinnati, Ohio
| Posted: 2008-01-31 10:43 pm Permalink
I used to sell both DeKuyper & Bols when working for different distributors over the past several years. I thought that some of you might find a few things interesting:
-Both brands are made here in the USA under licence from the European owners.
-DeKuyper is made in both Bardstown, KY & Cincinnati, Oh by Jim Beam.
-Bols is distilled in Louisville, KY under licence by Brown-Forman.
-DeKuyper distills one basic liqueur, and adds purchased flavourings and colourings to make each specific product. The flavourings for all of the American DeKuyper products are all made by Givaudan (www.givaudan.com ) in Cincinnati, OH.
-Bols imports the concentrated base essences for their liqueurs from The Netherlands, which are actually made from whole fruit maceration.
IMHO, the Bols products are of higher quality than their DeKuyper counterparts. Bols' use of real fruit bases makes their flavour superior to DeKuyper, whose use of artificial flavourings detracts from their flavour. Having said that, DeKuyper outsells Bols by a wide margin, so go figure.
As a side note, some of the Marie Brizard line is imported from France, and some are made under licence in Kentucky by Jim Beam. Regardless of their point of origin, the MB liqueurs are of much higher quality than Bols, DeKuyper, Hiram Walker, etc. My main beef with MB/Jim Beam is that they charge the same (high) price for all of their items, regardless of whether they are the more expensive imported line (due to import taxes, shipping costs, Dollar/Euro exchange rate, etc.) or the cheaper domestic products. It's a dishonest practise on their part.
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Scottes
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Feb 18, 2007
Posts: 490
From: A Little North Of Boston
| Posted: 2008-02-01 03:29 am Permalink
That is interesting. Thanks for the info.
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Little fragrant Tiare
Tiki Socialite
Joined: Oct 12, 2007
Posts: 198 | Posted: 2008-02-01 04:15 am Permalink
I agree with Scottes, very interesting info!
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