Orange Liquor Throwdown Challenge - Tiki Drinks and Food

H heylownine Grand Member (1 year) Agoura Hills, CA Joined: Oct 05, 2008 Posts: 978	H heylownine Posted posted on Mon, Mar 11, 2013 12:26 AM Ok, I don't want to bury the lede (or lead, if you prefer): Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao has taken the place of Senior Curaçao as my house Curaçao for a Mai Tai. How did I get there? In my home bar I typically stock Senior Curaçao and Creole Shrubb. I also have other curaçaos for mixing in larger quantities (or for 5th/6th drinks). For this post, I've not pitted Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao against Creole Shrubb. It's simply Senior Curaçao vs. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. I'll compare it to the Shrubb in another post. Served neat and side-by-side, the differences between the 2 are obvious. The Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is a much lighter color, almost golden, in the glass. It smells of fresh orange peel. The Senior Curaçao is a brighter orange in the glass and has a strong scent of, primarily, orange soda. Don't let that discourage you; it merely has a pronounced orange scent, mixed with sugar. I'm quite sure it's as intended. Senior Curaçao's taste is a thick orange taste with little to no finish. It's sweeter than the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao, but not cloying. While I would not drink it neat, it's a good curaçao, and it still has a home in my bar. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is true to it's name: dry, orange, and bright. It has a subtle, slow, but lingering finish that lingers on the back of the throat. Perhaps this is attributable to it being 80 proof, compared to 62 for the Senior. So look, that's great and all, but none of us are coming here to drink curaçao straight. How does it work in a Mai Tai? I made 2 (to start) Mai Tais, exactly the same except for the curaçao. Mai Tai recipes are like opinions, and here's the one I used tonight, knowing what I was trying to test (no need to go top shelf): 1 oz Appleton V/X 1 oz Saint James Royal Ambre 3/4 oz lime juice 1/2 oz curaçao 1/2 oz homemade orgeat 1/4 oz simply syrup (approximately 1.5-1) Shake with ice, strain into a double old-fashioned filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mint. I made the 2 cocktails at the same time to compare them side-by-side. Starting with the Senior, the aroma was primarily mint, as expected. The orange flavor was near the front, mixed with the agricole. The orgeat was very subtle and in the background. The cocktail was quite good, but with a thin mouthfeel. The Appleton faded into the background. I got the feeling as I tasted it that Senior Curaçao was made to mingle with more assertive rums. The Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Mai Tai had the same nose (mint garnish doing its job there) but right off the bat I thought this version was more boozy and the orange flavor was more subtle. This in turn allowed the distinct characteristics of the rums to stand out more. I sensed the Appleton this time, as opposed to the Senior version. The cocktail was better balanced overall, as the orange was dialed down. My conclusion was that depending on the rums selected for a Mai Tai, this may be a better choice, but not always. I thought that in the presence of a stronger pair of rums, the Senior would still stand out by virtue of holding its own via the stronger orange flavor. How would Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao fair against rums like Smith & Cross, JM, and Neisson? Assumptions are bad. Almost as bad as a 3rd Mai Tai test on a Sunday night. So naturally I next tried a Mai Tai that used rums with a much stronger profile alongside the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. Recipe 3 swapped Smith & Cross in for the Appleton V/X and Rhum Barbancourt 8 year in place of the Saint James Royal Ambre. Right off the bat, the Smith & Cross stood alongside the mint and made itself known on aroma alone. This carried over to the first sip, where again the Smith & Cross asserted itself right up front. But it then gave way to the curaçao, orgeat, and lime. I was wrong about the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao's ability to hold up to strong rums, it wasn't lost at all and again helped balance the overall cocktail. The finish was primarily Barbancourt, lingering a bit and leaving a warm impression. I'd make this version again (and again) am very interested to try it with some stronger agricoles. I really like the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao and plan to keep it in stock at home as much as possible. kevin I'm not sure it's a direct comparison anyway, given that Creole Shrubb isn't, by definition, a curaçao product. But you can argue that either way I suppose. * While the individual rums vary, I almost always base a Mai Tai with 1 oz Jamaican rum and I oz Martinique rum.

Ok, I don't want to bury the lede (or lead, if you prefer): Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao has taken the place of Senior Curaçao as my house Curaçao for a Mai Tai.

How did I get there? In my home bar I typically stock Senior Curaçao and Creole Shrubb. I also have other curaçaos for mixing in larger quantities (or for 5th/6th drinks). For this post, I've not pitted Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao against Creole Shrubb*. It's simply Senior Curaçao vs. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. I'll compare it to the Shrubb in another post.

Served neat and side-by-side, the differences between the 2 are obvious. The Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is a much lighter color, almost golden, in the glass. It smells of fresh orange peel. The Senior Curaçao is a brighter orange in the glass and has a strong scent of, primarily, orange soda. Don't let that discourage you; it merely has a pronounced orange scent, mixed with sugar. I'm quite sure it's as intended. Senior Curaçao's taste is a thick orange taste with little to no finish. It's sweeter than the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao, but not cloying. While I would not drink it neat, it's a good curaçao, and it still has a home in my bar. Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao is true to it's name: dry, orange, and bright. It has a subtle, slow, but lingering finish that lingers on the back of the throat. Perhaps this is attributable to it being 80 proof, compared to 62 for the Senior.

So look, that's great and all, but none of us are coming here to drink curaçao straight. How does it work in a Mai Tai?

I made 2 (to start) Mai Tais, exactly the same except for the curaçao. Mai Tai recipes are like opinions**, and here's the one I used tonight, knowing what I was trying to test (no need to go top shelf):

1 oz Appleton V/X
1 oz Saint James Royal Ambre
3/4 oz lime juice
1/2 oz curaçao
1/2 oz homemade orgeat
1/4 oz simply syrup (approximately 1.5-1)

Shake with ice, strain into a double old-fashioned filled with crushed ice. Garnish with mint.

I made the 2 cocktails at the same time to compare them side-by-side.

Starting with the Senior, the aroma was primarily mint, as expected. The orange flavor was near the front, mixed with the agricole. The orgeat was very subtle and in the background. The cocktail was quite good, but with a thin mouthfeel. The Appleton faded into the background. I got the feeling as I tasted it that Senior Curaçao was made to mingle with more assertive rums.

The Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao Mai Tai had the same nose (mint garnish doing its job there) but right off the bat I thought this version was more boozy and the orange flavor was more subtle. This in turn allowed the distinct characteristics of the rums to stand out more. I sensed the Appleton this time, as opposed to the Senior version. The cocktail was better balanced overall, as the orange was dialed down. My conclusion was that depending on the rums selected for a Mai Tai, this may be a better choice, but not always. I thought that in the presence of a stronger pair of rums, the Senior would still stand out by virtue of holding its own via the stronger orange flavor. How would Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao fair against rums like Smith & Cross, JM, and Neisson?

Assumptions are bad. Almost as bad as a 3rd Mai Tai test on a Sunday night. So naturally I next tried a Mai Tai that used rums with a much stronger profile alongside the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao. Recipe 3 swapped Smith & Cross in for the Appleton V/X and Rhum Barbancourt 8 year in place of the Saint James Royal Ambre. Right off the bat, the Smith & Cross stood alongside the mint and made itself known on aroma alone. This carried over to the first sip, where again the Smith & Cross asserted itself right up front. But it then gave way to the curaçao, orgeat, and lime. I was wrong about the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao's ability to hold up to strong rums, it wasn't lost at all and again helped balance the overall cocktail. The finish was primarily Barbancourt, lingering a bit and leaving a warm impression. I'd make this version again (and again) am very interested to try it with some stronger agricoles.

I really like the Pierre Ferrand Dry Curaçao and plan to keep it in stock at home as much as possible.

kevin

I'm not sure it's a direct comparison anyway, given that Creole Shrubb isn't, by definition, a curaçao product. But you can argue that either way I suppose.

** While the individual rums vary, I almost always base a Mai Tai with 1 oz Jamaican rum and I oz Martinique rum.

Post #670592 by heylownine on Mon, Mar 11, 2013 12:26 AM