How to Make Blue Curacao at Home

Blue Curaçao is one of the best known and most recognizable liqueurs thanks to its electric blue color. And while it's technically impossible to make authentic curaçao at home if you don't have access to laraha oranges, it is possible to make a delicious orange flavored liqueur that looks and tastes just the same (if not better!)

I'm going to run through some curaçao basics before we get into the recipe and talk about the different cocktails you can make with it.

If you're here from my viral Instagram video and just need the ingredients list, here goes:

• 1 ½ cups orange peels (approximately 10-11 small oranges)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup alcohol of choice (I used white rum)
• Blue food coloring or blue spirulina

Full recipe instructions and video are below. But first, let's go over what blue curacao is and why I chose this particular method and type of alcohol.

What is blue curaçao?

Blue curaçao is a bright blue-colored, orange flavored liqueur. It has a relatively low alcohol percentage, usually around 20% ABV. Some of the best known brands include Bols Blue Curaçao, DeKuyper Blue Curaçao, and Senior & Co The Genuine Blue Curaçao. A premium option is Giffard Blue Curaçao, which is apparently made with a natural blue color (from spirulina, a type of blue-green algae) rather than artificial dyes.

Orange curacao

Traditional orange curaçao is a liqueur made in Curaçao from the rare laraha orange, which is native to the island. The liqueur is made from the very bitter orange peels, alcohol, sugar, and sometimes spices.

High quality, uncolored orange curacaos like Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao are made with brandy or cognac. Blue curacaos, however, are most often made with cane sugar-derived spirits (like rum). I'm not aware of any blue curaçao that is made with brandy or cognac, and it's likely because of the price point. Darker colored spirits would also interfere with the liqueur's bright blue color. It's for these reasons that I've chosen to make my DIY liqueur with white rum.

Types of orange liqueurs

Curaçao is just one type of orange liqueur. In general, there are the clear orange liqueurs (triple sec), and the more robust orange liqueurs that are fortified with aged spirits. Blue curaçao is a bit confusing because although it's name would imply that it's made like orange curaçao, it actually has more in common with triple sec.

Of all the liqueurs used in cocktails over the past hundred or so years, orange liqueur in its various forms has been a bar staple. It's used in the classic Margarita, the Sidecar, the Lemon Drop, and so many more.

Triple sec

The most common orange liqueur is triple sec, a clear liqueur made with neutral spirits and flavored with both bitter and sweet orange peels. These liqueurs originated in France and can be thought of as lighter and less sweet ("sec" = dry) than curaçao liqueurs. Triple sec is a super popular cocktail ingredient that's used in classics like the Cosmopolitan, the Corpse Reviver No.2, the Mai Tai, the classic Margarita, and many, many more.

Grand Marnier and Grand Gala

Grand Marnier is a popular orange liqueur that is noted for its use of cognac and its higher alcohol content (at 40% ABV). Grand Marnier is made with both bitter and sweet oranges. While not technically a curaçao, it's quite similar with its use of brandy, Caribbean oranges, and its intense, sweet flavor.

Gran Gala is similar in taste to Grand Marnier. Unlike the French Grand Marnier, Gran Gala is an Italian orange liqueur and it's made with Italian brandy and Sicilian oranges.

Three ways to add orange flavor

The very best way to add orange flavor to a syrup or DIY liqueur is by making an oleo saccharum. This fancy-sounding word just means oil-sugar, and that's exactly what it is. Combine citrus peels with granulated sugar and the sugars will pull out the flavorful oils and make a luxurious, concentrated syrup.

Other ways to add orange flavor are by steeping your orange peels in your alcohol, or by using natural orange extract. By far the quickest and easiest method to make a blue curacao syrup or liqueur is to just add blue food coloring and orange extract to simple syrup, and then make it a liqueur by adding alcohol. This is great if you just want a quick result with decent flavor to whip up some blue drinks for a party.

However, if you want your DIY blue curacao to have the rich flavor of real orange oils, spend the extra time making the oleo saccharum syrup. If opting to infuse your alcohol with orange peels, it's a considerably longer process. Here's a recipe from Liquor.com that uses that method.

Homemade blue curaçao recipe

There are a few ways you can adjust this recipe to make it your own. You can scale it up or down, use a different type of alcohol, or a different kind of coloring. This is what has worked well for me, without a whole lot of effort, and the finished product tastes better than what I've bought from the store. Here are those ingredients again:

• 1 ½ cups orange peels (approximately 10-11 smaller oranges, washed and dried)
• 1 ½ cups sugar
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup white rum, vodka, or other spirit of choice
• Blue food coloring (approximately 12-15 drops)

What kind of oranges to use

You can use any type of basic sweet oranges for this recipe. Navel or valencia oranges are great. No need to seek out bitter orange peel unless that's something you'd like to experiment with. Blue curaçao is known for its sweet flavor, so I've kept it simple with just fresh, sweet oranges.

Cups, grams - or just eyeball it

I give measurements in cups here because I'm American and it's a common, simple volume measurement.

However, if you prefer to be more precise, you can just use equal parts orange peels and sugar by weight. To be honest, with this step of the process, measurements do not need to be exact. The amount of oil in the orange peels can vary dramatically, so just make sure that you have at least 300 grams of sugar and roughly the same amount of orange peels.

Instructions

To get started, wash and pat dry your oranges. Next, use a vegetable peeler to remove the peels of the fruit. Combine the orange peels and the sugar and mix thoroughly to ensure all the peels are covered with a layer of sugar. You can use a muddler to press on the peels to help speed up the extraction of the oils, but it's not necessary.

Cover your bowl of sugar and orange peels and let it sit on the counter for 12-24 hours. Check it periodically, giving the mixture a stir. Once there's a pool of liquid in the bottle of the bowl and nearly all of the sugar has dissolved, stir in one cup of warm water. It doesn't have to be warm, but the heat will help to quickly dissolve any last bits of sugar. If using spirulina for coloring, try adding it to the water before mixing the water into the oleo saccharum.

Next, remove the peels and strain the liquid through a fine mesh strainer to catch any remaining small orange bits. Now you can add your alcohol to the syrup and then stir in your food coloring. I've found that it takes about 12-15 drops of standard food coloring to get the right hue.

Now that your DIY curaçao is complete, store it in glass bottles in the refrigerator. It will keep in the refrigerator at least one month. My last batch lasted four months before it was used up, so I'd imagine that the roughly 20% alcohol by volume helps to keep it preserved for longer, possibly six months or more. If it begins to look or smell off, toss it and make a fresh batch.

A note on the color

If you look at the image below of my DIY blue curaçao next to a bottle of blue simple syrup flavored with orange extract, you can clearly see a big difference in the shades of blue. This is because the DIY curaçao is a cloudy pale orange before the coloring is added, whereas the blue syrup starts off completely clear.

As a result, there is a warmth to the DIY curaçao's blue color, but thankfully it isn't noticeable in cocktails. Below is a picture of two basic blue Margaritas, the one in the front made with my blue curaçao and the other made with the blue syrup. The drinks look remarkably similar.

Alternatives to blue food coloring

A big issue with blue curaçao for some cocktail (and mocktail) lovers is the use of artificial colors and flavors. The most common, inexpensive brands of blue curaçao at the local liquor store are made with artificial flavorings, rather than the oils of real laraha oranges.

And it's no secret that blue curaçao's color doesn't come from blue oranges - it's food dye. While this recipe uses blue food coloring, you can absolutely use blue spirulina to color yours.

That being said, I have not yet figured out the best way to incorporate the spirulina. With my last attempt, I added it at the very end and it wouldn't mix at all (see picture below). So if trying it with spirulina, try adding it to the water first so that if it doesn't mix well, you haven't lost your beautiful orange oleo saccharum like I did here!

How to make non-alcoholic blue curaçao

Alcohol-free blue curacao syrups have become more and more common. Today, many grocery stores stock blue syrups from brands like Monin or Master of Mixes. This makes it easy to make blue mocktails that everyone can enjoy.

Want to make alcohol-free blue curacao at home? Simply omit the alcohol from the recipe above! It's that easy.

Create the oleo saccharum, add the warm water, strain, then stir in food coloring and you're done. Alternatively, create a simple syrup with equal parts water and sugar, add ½ teaspoon - 1 teaspoon high quality orange extract, then color it with food dye or spirulina. Here's what a non-alcoholic, orange extract-based blue curaçao syrup looks like:

Blue curaçao cocktails

You have your DIY blue curaçao - now what to make with it? There are a few classic tropical drinks to start with, but you can also use it in place of plain triple sec in just about any classic. Blue Margaritas and Blue Lemon Drops are always a good idea, and make them frozen for even more summer fun!

Blue Lagoon

The best known blue cocktail is the Blue Lagoon. It's a very easy mix of vodka, blue curaçao, and lemonade. Some variations use lemon-lime soda in place of the lemonade. You can improve this mediocre-tasting blue sip significantly with your gorgeous homemade curaçao, some fresh lemon juice, and extra chilled, bubbly club soda. Here's how:

• 1.5-2 oz vodka
• 1 oz homemade blue curaçao
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 4-6 oz club soda
• Lemon wheel and cocktail cherry, for garnish

Add the first three ingredients to a cocktail shaker and fill it three quarters with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with a lemon wheel and cocktail cherry.

Make it a mocktail with my Blue Lagoon Mocktail Recipe!

Blue Lagoon Mocktail

• 1 oz homemade blue curaçao syrup
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 4-6 oz club soda
• Lemon wheel and cocktail cherry, for garnish

Combine the first three ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill it three quarters with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a hurricane glass filled with ice and top with club soda. Garnish with a lemon wheel and cocktail cherry.

Blue Hawaii

Not to be confused with the Blue Hawaiian, the Blue Hawaii is a tiki drink dating back to 1957. It was invented by Harry Yee, the head bartender of the Hilton Hawaiian Village in Waikiki. Interestingly, the Blue Hawaii typically turns out a bit more green or turquoise than blue! The amount of pineapple juice used can vary across interpretations of the original recipe, leading to slightly different hues.

• ¾ oz white rum
• ¾ oz vodka
• ½ oz homemade blue curaçao
• 3 oz pineapple juice
• ½ oz lemon juice
• ½ oz simple syrup (optional)

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill it three quarters with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a hurricane glass filled with crushed (or pebble) ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge.

Blue Hawaiian

The Blue Hawaiian is essentially a blue Piña Colada. It's an easy, tropical mix of white rum, pineapple juice, cream of coconut, blue curaçao, and lemon juice.

• 1 ½ oz white rum
• ¾ oz homemade blue curaçao
• 2 oz pineapple juice
• ½-3/4 oz cream of coconut
• ½ oz lemon juice

Drinks with cream of coconut can get too sweet pretty quickly, so I like to start with ½ oz with this recipe. Serving it over crushed or pebble ice adds just enough dilution to temper the sweetness of this tropical treat.

Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker and fill it three quarters with ice. Shake until chilled, then strain into a hurricane glass filled with crushed (or pebble) ice. Garnish with a pineapple wedge and a cocktail cherry or umbrella.

AMF (Blue Long Island Iced Tea)

Few cocktails are as goofy as the AMF, but it's actually pretty refreshing and always fun for parties. This riff on the classic Long Island Iced Tea is made with four liquors, blue curacao, and Sprite. A squeeze of fresh lemon juice is the key to balancing the boozy and sweet flavors.

• ½ oz gin
• ½ oz white rum
• ½ oz tequila
• ½ oz vodka
• ½ oz blue curacao
• 4-6 oz lemon-lime soda (I used Mexican Sprite)
• 1 large lemon wedge

Fill a tall glass with ice and add the first five ingredients. Top with chilled lemon-lime soda, squeeze a lemon wedge over the drink, and garnish with a sprig of mint.

Frozen Blue Lemon Drop

This is one of my favorite fun summer cocktails. It's easy, cute, and so refreshing! Watch the video over on Instagram.

• 2 oz vodka
• 1 oz lemon juice
• 1 oz simple syrup
• ½ oz homemade blue curaçao

Combine all ingredients in a blender with ¾ cup crushed ice and blend until smooth. Pour into a cocktail glass and garnish with a lemon wheel.