Second Best Curaçao
Okay, Pierre Ferrand is the #1 as far as I can tell. If that's not available, or too expensive, or whatever, what's your second choice?
Posted Sep 7, 2020, 5:55 AM UTC
46
Love me some Pierre Ferrand. After tasting it side-by-side with the other major players in the orange liqueur sector, it's my favorite so far, and available most everywhere.
That said, after I did that tasting and grabbed a bottle, I've still been perfectly happy clearing out my old Cointreau. And most orange liqueurs - unless they're either very bottom shelf (and thus artificial or cloying) or particularly unique (eg. blood orange, yuzu, mandarin) - will serve a very similar role in most cocktails.
If you were to tell me to choose another mass-market option because of availability, I'd say Luxardo's Triplum. Grand Marnier and Cointreau are fine too (seriously) and available everywhere.
Personally, I won't generally use price as the determining factor for liqueurs (unless it's something you're only going to use once). You're generally using very little liqueur in a given drink; for a drink that uses a 30mL / 1 oz pour, you'll get 25 pours from a 750mL bottle. Pierre's $33 where I am, so if every drink I made used 30mL of orange, that part of the drink is ~$1.30 per. But a lot of drinks call for 15mL, so you'd get twice as many pours for half the cost per.
Some others I want to try that've been recommended to me, but haven't yet (mostly availability): Clément Créole Shrubb, Briottet, Royal Combier, Santa Teresa, Marionette
7
This one might be hard to find outside of Missouri but Duckett's Curaçao Noire is fantastic for a maitai. It's my first pick.
3
I have found Gran Gala to be very suitable for mixing and quite affordable, based on the recommendations of local bartenders, but I am only modestly experienced with orange liqueurs.
2
I really like clement orange shrub!
Seconded! In fact, I currently have both. The Creole Shrubb is much sweeter, so the two aren’t completely interchangeable. OP, If you use this in place of Pierre Ferrand, you’ll need to adjust the amount of sugar down somehow. Less simple syrup most likely.
JM Shrubb is great too