Homemade Orange Liqueur Curacao Style

Published: Feb 18, 2022 · Modified: Aug 17, 2023. This post may contain affiliate links. Please read my disclosure policy.

Recipe Jump to Video

This homemade orange liqueur is very similar to limoncello, it can be served cold at the end of a meal or used in recipes or cocktails that call for orange Curacao, Triple Sec or Cointreau. A perfect edible gift.

Homemade orange liquor in fancy bottles and served in small glasses

Jump to:

What is Orange Liqueur and how to use it
Ingredients
Instructions
Top tips
Use and storage
No risk of botulism
More homemade liqueurs recipes
Setting up a liqueur workshop
Desserts you can serve with orange liqueur
More recipes with oranges
📋Homemade Orange Liqueur Curacao Style

What is Orange Liqueur and how to use it

There are three main types of orange liqueurs: Curacao, Triple Sec and Cointreau. All three are alcoholic drinks flavoured with orange peels, they are interchangeable in recipes, even though their taste is very different.

If you want to know more about the difference between the three liqueur you can read the article: What’s the Difference Between Cointreau, Grand Marnier, and Triple Sec?

Homemade orange liqueur can be served as digestive at the end of the meal with an ice cube or used in cocktails as a substitute for Curacao, Triple Sec and Cointreau. To found out the best ideas for cocktails with Orange Liqueur, I asked my friend and blogger Elaine Benoit from dishesdelish.com and here are her suggestions:

I am looking forward to making her Cadillac Margarita, one of her best performing posts.

Ingredients

The ingredients are very simple:

10 to 12 oranges (peels only)
4 cups - 1 lt of 95% alcohol or vodka
1 teaspoon cinnamon
7 cloves
4 cups - 1 lt water
2 lb - 1 kg of sugar

Instructions

The entire process is the same as the Limoncello and you can watch the video below. It will take about 20 days as first the peels have to infuse in alcohol for 10 days then mixed with the syrup and rest for another 10 days.

Peel the oranges very thinly, trying to avoid the pith of the orange
In a 1 gal - 3 lt bottle with a large bottleneck, insert the orange zest, the cinnamon and the cloves and pour in the alcohol
Let it rest for 10 days, shaking it every second day

process shoots for infusing orange peels

To make the syrup dissolve the sugar in the water by boiling it
Let it cool down completely
Filter the alcohol, discharge the orange peels
Put the alcohol back in the 1 gal - 3 lt bottle after you washed it
Add the cold syrup
Shake well
Let it rest for another 10 days before transferring it into bottles

Top tips

Use bitter orange peels to give a nice contrast with the sugar and a depth of flavour
Let it rest for 10 days each time, no more is necessary

Use and storage

Keep in a dry dark place, it will last for years
Put it in a fancy bottle to give as a gift to friends
Add on the label a link to Elain's cocktail recipes:

No risk of botulism

Since a reader asked, I would like to reassure everyone who has doubts, this liqueur is not at risk of botulism. This recipe uses Alcohol 95% or vodka 50% of ethanol.

A study proves botulism cannot grow in Alcohol: ”The growth and neurotoxin production (botulism) was delayed by an ethanol concentration of 4% ethanol and completely inhibited by a concentration of 6%”.

Effect of Ethanol on the growth of Colstridium botulinum

Botulism concerns home canning… not fermentation or infusions of fruits and vegetables. Here is more information about botulism from the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service:

Clostridium Botulinum

More homemade liqueurs recipes

Homemade liqueurs are such a satisfying project, enjoy them after dinner with your partner on a special day, offer them at the end of a dinner party or package them in fancy bottles as an edible gift.

I already have some published and more will come. Just be ready when the fruits are in season to start your collection:

Check out the category: homemade liquors

You can also check out the web story: 9 Homemade Italian Liqueurs

For those of you who like the thrill of the forbidden fruit, try to make Concord Grape Wine Fragolino.

Banned in Europe for commercial use, you can only try it if you make it for personal consumption.

Setting up a liqueur workshop

You can easily create your liqueur workshop with just a few items. They are not expensive and you can order them online from my Amazon shop: Homemade Liqueur Lab. Those are my favorite and specially selected tools to make the process smooth and easy:

Jars 67 ounce - 2 liters: I use large canning jars to infuse herbs or fruits in the alcohol. They are easily sealed and don't take much room in the cupboard. I usually brew different types of liqueurs at the same time so I need several jars. If you are an occasional liqueur maker, you can just use the bottle below.
1 gallon - 3-liters glass bottle: I use this bottle in the second part of the brewing process, once I add the syrup. It is a transparent glass bottle so I can check how the liqueur is progressing and if it needs a good shake. It is important that this bottle has a large neck so the residuals of the fruits, zests, spices, or herbs can be easily removed without any problem once the liqueur is ready to be bottled. Personally I have 2 of those large bottles.
Funnel with a wide and short stem: When you are pouring the liqueur from one bottle to another during the brewing process, you need to have a funnel with a wide and short stem so it doesn't get clog with the ingredients that are brewing in the alcohol.
Auto-stop funnel: However, once the liqueur is ready, filtered and all the solid particles have been removed, I like to use an auto-stop funnel with a floating system that stops the liquid from flowing once the bottled has been filled.

It is very difficult to gauge how much liquid can fit in a bottle and I often fill the funnel way too much. Instead of overflowing the bottle, the auto-stop funnel locks the stem automatically and the excess liquid remains in the funnel.

The funnel can be easily removed, transferred into another bottle using the handle that keeps the liquid inside the funnel and no liqueur is wasted.

Mix Nocino with syrup and pour into bottles

Fine Mesh Strainer: to remove all solids and particles from the liqueur once it is ready to be filtered.
Measuring mugs: it is very important to use the exact proportion of syrup vs alcohol. Measurements mugs are a must.
Ladle with spout: to easily pour the liquid into the funnels from a large bowl or pan. I always use the ladle with a spout to take the syrup from the pan where I boiled it into the funnel. If you don't have a pan with a spout, this is the easiest way to pour the syrup once it is cold.
Fancy vintage bottles: I love to have my own liqueur assortment into those vintage bottles. It gives my homemade liqueurs an extra wow factor.
Small glass bottles with lids: if you want to store the liqueurs in small bottles or if you want to give it as gifts to friends and family those small bottles are perfect. The lid seals and they can be easily carried. They even come with labels to write the name of the liqueur and the date.
Shot glass set and/or Small liqueur glasses: it is very important to serve the liqueur in small shot glasses so it can be slowly sipped and relished.
Good Grips Bottle Brush: to easily clean all the bottles after each use. Some liqueurs can be very sticky and stain easily like the walnut hull.
If you want to give your liqueur an extra festive look you can also use the Rose Ice Cube Stackable to make rose ices or the ice cube with light to make your liqueur shine at night.

homemade strawberry liqueur in a glass served with ice

Desserts you can serve with orange liqueur

Here is a list of desserts you can serve with orange liqueur:

More recipes with oranges

If you are making this Homemade Orange Liqueur, leave your comment below I would like to hear from you. You can find more delicious ideas if you FOLLOW ME on Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest and Instagram or sign up to my newsletter.