ABV 05: Orange Liqueur Tasting/Review -

Senior Curacao of Curacao, Patron Citronage, Grand Marnier, Cointreau and Combier Orange Liqueurs.

ABV 05: Orange Liqueur Tasting/Review

There is no doubt, orange liqueurs help build some of the best cocktails on the planet. In order to find the best orange liqueur in the top-tier and mid-tier price point we’re tasting five unique brands: Senior Curacao of Curacao, Patron Citronage, Grand Marnier, Cointreau and Combier Orange Liqueurs.

This orange liqueur episode was fun, eye opening and covers a lot of awesome brands.

February 8, 2010 by Derrick Schommer
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Filed Under: video

  • That's strange, Cointreau is the only one of these on our market (I don't count GM, 'cause it's so specific), but it's only for 22$ (take or leave)...
  • Nice price on it! We're not so lucky in the US, we got a lot of brands but Cointreau is costly.
  • bacchus
    Great show once again Derrick. Btw, the reason you thought the Grand Marnier smelled/tasted like Cognac, is because Cognac is the base ingredient along with bitter orange and other spices. Which of course, also explains the higher price. I like Grand Marnier, but I agree that the price is cost prohibitive.
  • Thanks! Yes, I saved the reading of the label for the next episode (airing Saturday) which we test them in a cocktail. Cognac is right on the label as part of the "blend." However, it's sold as a "triple orange" liqueur which is a stretch to say the least, compared to Curacao of Curacao which may be my new favorite product.
  • Josh Morgan
    Great Episode, I have one question now that you have tried the different brands of orange liqueur and maybe you will address this in a future episode. Now that you have rated the Curacao of Curacao higher would you still make your Common Man Margarita with Grand Marnier or would you switch?
  • At this point, I'm going to try the margarita recipe with Senior Curacao and, more than likely, switch out Grand Marnier for this product. The biggest reason, Grand Marnier is costly and Senior Curacao isn't (and tastes nice).

    I'd rather spend the extra cash in a good tequila than over-spending for a spirit that's not as good cost for taste.
  • Hey guys. I enjoyed the show. Just FYI, around here, Cointreau is typically more expensive than Grand Marnier, and GM seems to be climbing in price to meet it, over time. Seems like I used to get GM for a bit over $20. I saw GM for $35, and Cointreau for $40 over the weekend. (I'm in Texas, where we don't have state stores, btw.) I bought a locally produced brand called Paula's Texas Orange for $23. It's pretty good.

    If you have a chance to talk to the vendors, I would love to know whether they have had ingredient cost increases, or simply increased their prices because they could get away with it...brands sometimes do that in order to get themselves into a premium category.
  • Paula's Texas Orange!? That was on the back of a bottle of Texas Margarita Mix (along with Cavalino tequila--which I have). We don't have Paul's here unfortunately.
  • If it's red on the inside, it's probably a blood orange.
  • This one wasn't a blood orange, but I wish they had those! The label on the sticker said "pink naval orange." Looked like a normal one on sight! :-)
  • onkelandy
    Congrats for the show! I was somehow surprised that the Cointreau is as highly priced as the Grand Marnier. Looks like the companies don't have global price levels. In Europe we pay something like 34 dollars for the Grand Marnier (and the other rarer stuff like Combier by the way), but only 22 bucks for the Cointreau. Just wanted to let you know ;)
  • That's great information to know. We're obviously very "US-centric" but knowing information like this will make our show better in the long run as we'll be able to talk more towards that with a measure of intelligence rather than assuming it's all the same.

    Please, feel free to comment on pricing difference you see in the future.
  • Wow, 30 minutes, you could turn this into a TV show by now! =P

    But interresting, although i can only find a few of those in my local liquorstore (have never even seen a single patron product, but every store seems to have cointreau and grand marnier), it still gives me a clue what to expect.
    Aka mission accomplished in my opinion.
  • A TV show would be awesome! :-)

    You can get Curacao of Curacao at DrinkUPNY.com - http://www.drinkupny.com/Senior_Curacao_p/s0798...

    Now I know where I'm going to get my next bottle!
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