Friday the second of November, I went to Landhuis Chobolobo Liqueur Factory to experience their Chobolobo’s Cocktail Workshop! What a fantastic way to spend your Friday afternoon. Arriving in the sunny hot afternoon at the lively Landhuis Chobolobo with its yellow walls and white trimmings. Before our tour began, we were given a bubbly blue cocktail to start our journey into the 19th-century mansion. In this mansion, the genuine Curaçao Liqueur, famously known for its Blue Curaçao, and Glacial is produced.

Glacial Factory

The first part of the factory we saw was the production process for Glacial. Glacial is a mentholated splash lotion, which is produced on the island and integrated part of the local culture. Glacial has many uses, the top ten of them are, refresh when hot, relieve a headache, relieve a fever, relieve stuffed nose, relieve itching from mosquito bites, relieve stomach ache, soothe muscles, massage lotion, clean parts of the body, and aftershave lotion.

From there on we saw the Laraha which is the main ingredient needed to create the Curaçao Liqueur. Laraha is the “golden orange of Curaçao”, with its green colored skin, is peeled with a wooden knife and these peels are then sun-dried for five days. This is just the start of the process of creating this Liqueur.

Curaçao Liqueur

Eli, our guide, told us the history of the Senior Corporation and the production process used today is the same as when the Liqueur was first produced. This means that the taste of the Liqueur and the way its produced is the same as it was in 1896. The copper still machine that is used to distill the Liqueur has been standing there for over 120 years. This Copper machine is the heart in the production of the Liqueur and the key to the distillery is sugar, lots of sugar.

In a year 85,000 bottles of the clear Liqueur are produced. From there the four colors are created: Orange, Red, Green, and the famous Blue. These are the standard colors, including clear, of the Curaçao Liqueur and surprisingly they are all the same flavor. Flowers are used in tinting the Clear Liqueur. I held one of the bottles in my hands, there is a distinctive feel the bottles, the authentic Curaçao Liqueur bottles feel like an orange peel, with its groves. Next, was the samples! The taste of the day was Orange Curaçao, Tamaréin, and Chocolate. As you can imagine Orange Curaçao has an orangey smell and taste, while Tamaréin is a pretty sweet flavor. Eli calls this the dangerous Liqueur and I must agree with him since it is so sweet its like drinking lemonade. This could be said for the Rum Raisin, which is a sweet and interesting flavor.