We have a much more indepth article on triple sec if you'd like to sink your teeth into this subject, but the short answer is triple sec is a dry orange liqueur made using a neutral beet sugar distillate. Dried orange peels are steeped into this neutral spirit, which is then redistilled. The result is a very intense orange flavoured spirit that's blended with more neutral spirit, sugar and water to give us triple sec. All triple secs are not the same. Read the ingredients list on the label so you know just what is in that bottle of triple sec. You might be surprised at finding extra sugar or sweeteners and a few ingredients that you can't pronounce. Fun fact: the bottle was originally named Curaçao Marnier because of its high brandy content, but after Cesar Ritz, the founder of the Ritz Hotel, dubbed it a "grand liqueur," the name was changed. The flavor of Triple Sec is very orange-forward and citrusy. Its strong orange aroma comes from the essential oils in the peel of premature oranges.

Curaçao, in turn, is best known for its vibrant blue version, Blue Curaçao. Dry Curaçao usually has an orange shade - some more intense, some less. Rarely do you come across a colorless Curaçao, too, but that's truly an exception. ABV Overall, both types of liqueurs have a tangy, tart, dry, and somewhat sharp taste. However, Curaçao has a more pronounced sweetness and bitterness. Triple Sec, on the other side, has a cleaner palate and is significantly drier. We believe that the Dutch trading companies made orange liqueur popular in the 17th century. They found fruits and herbs all over the world during their voyages, and used some to make essentialoils. But one was special: the Laraha Orange, which was only found on the Caribbean island of Curaçao. However, many established producers of Triple Sec can are at the upper end of the scale. For instance, Combier, Cointreau, and the closely related Grand Marnierall have an alcohol content of 40%.The different ingredients in Triple Sec and Curacao lead to slight variations in taste and smell. Both liqueurs have a very fragrant aroma and a distinct orange note. Grand Marnier orange liqueur is a strong, but smooth liqueur that effortlessly blends citrus notes with that of tons of Cognac,” says Juan Fernandez, beverage director at The Ballantyne Hotel in Charlotte, North Carolina. Like many other spirits and liqueurs, Curaçao and Triple Sec have alternative uses. For once, you can use stronger, higher-proof bottles as antiseptics in an emergency. However, they both are better when used for cooking or making desserts. This triple distillation, most likely, is also the reason for the name of the liqueur: Triple Sec - three times dry. It once was a quality indication rather than a product name. Cointreau (since 1875) claims to have invented the name Triple Sec, based on the 3 different types of oranges they use. However, Jean Baptiste Combier also claims to have invented the term Triple Sec (triple distilled). But we’ll leave that battle to them. Is the difference between Curaçao Liqueur and Triple Sec marketing driven?

Triple Sec usually is see-through, while Curaçao is mostly sold as colored versions (blue and orange). Even the market leader in the Triple Sec category, Cointreau, is colorless despite many thinking otherwise due to the iconic orange-colored bottle. The Dutchgave the orange a Latin name that includes the Latin name for Curaçao: “Citrus Aurantium Currassuviensis”. They decided to make orange liqueur with the extract and the Curaçao Liqueur was born. Bols claims they used the Laraha at that time, or at least, an extract based on the Laraha. It is unknown if they also invented the name Curaçao Liqueur, but they sure helped to make it popular. Bols no longer uses the Laraha Orange in their distillation process.Depending on the other flavors in your drink, sometimes you can get away with this. A bold or aged tequila might play well with brandy based curacao like Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao in a Margarita. While something more subtle though, might require the use of a neutral spirit like Cointreau – which is our go to recommendation as it will work regardless. The terms Triple Sec, Curaçao, and orange liqueur are often used interchangeably. All three are fruit liqueurs with Orange liqueurdescribing the general subcategory of sweet liqueurs with orange flavor.

Long Island Iced Tea: This boozy drink is a concoction of five different liquors, one of them being Triple Sec. The other ingredients are lemon juice, syrup, and cola. Curaçao liqueur is traditionally made with the dried peels of the laraha ( Citrus × aurantium subsp. currassuviencis), a bitter orange that developed on Curaçao. [4] Spanish explorers had brought the progenitor of the laraha, the bitter Seville orange, to the island in 1527. [5] [6] Although the bitter flesh of the laraha is unpalatable, the peels are pleasantly aromatic. [7] Even classic desserts like Crêpes Suzetteuse a Triple Sec like Cointreau to bring a complex orange taste to the dish. Other dessert ideas are stuffed French Toastor Mango Flambe. Notable brands The aroma of orange peel wafting up from the bottle of triple sec after opening it can be quite pleasant. You might also catch a whiff of spices or fresh-cut grass, among other smells. Make sure that the aroma is pleasing to you and whoever else is partaking with you.

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The spirit base for cordials is often neutral, but it certainly doesn't have to be. A robust spirit like whiskey, for example, can mix beautifully with other flavoring agents. Common flavors include fruits ranging from stone fruit to citrus and berries to nuts, as well as coffee and chocolate and even aromatic spices and seeds. Some liqueurs include a touch of cream to round out the other tasty elements. The Story of Blue Curaçao: Which Is, Strangely, the Other Orange Liqueur—The 9-Bottle Bar". Kitchn.

Typically ranges from 15% to 40%, usually below 28% for popular brands like Bols, Drillaud, and DeKuyper's Blue Curaçao. Curaçao: A sweet digestive liqueur made wine or grain spirit-sugar and orange peel. It was first made by the Dutch, who used as a flavoring agent the Citrus Aurantium Curassuviensis, a bitter orange first discovered in Curaçao, a Dutch West India Island. Colors, red, white, blue, green and orange The liqueur is mentioned several times under the spelling "curaçoa" in William Thakeray'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." [11] Triple Sec and Curaçao are produced with a neutral spirit base that gets infused with the peels from oranges. Triple sec is a very similar type of liqueur to curacao only it uses both sweet and bitter oranges. when the original curacao was brought to Europe by the Dutch, everyone was impressed.However, the sun was too intense, and the oranges turned bitter and inedible. But the skins of the fruit were very aromatic. One thing led to another, and the result was Curaçao, a slightly bitter orange liqueur produced in the Netherlands. The difference between Curaçao Liqueur and Triple Sec is a widely discussed topic in the bartender world. It is almost impossible to define Orange Liqueur without getting into a heated discussion. Like many things in the bartender world, not much is set in stone and almost everything is up for discussion. To make things clear, we decided to break it all down in one article. This article is what we, Senior Curaçao Liqueur, believe to be true after research. Facts are not easily found, so if anybody has interesting and reliable sources we can use, please let us know. The difference between Curaçao Liqueur and Triple Sec: asimple explanation