Dry curacao substitutes

French orange liqueur made from both sweet and bitter orange peel, clear and 40 percent alcohol.

Best for

Mai Tai, Sidecar, margarita, Corpse Reviver No. 2, orange desserts

The default swap and a very good one. Cointreau is brighter and zestier, tasting of fresh orange oil where dry curacao tastes of bitter marmalade and barrel. It is also cleaner and slightly sweeter, and it is clear rather than pale amber, so a Sidecar comes out a shade paler. The practical effect is that the drink loses a little depth and bitterness and gains sharpness. In a margarita nobody would notice; in a Mai Tai, where curacao is doing structural work, you will.

Orange liqueur built on a base of cognac, so it is heavier, sweeter and oak-aged.

Best for

Sidecar, Mai Tai, crepes suzette, orange cake, chocolate desserts

Actually the closest match in body, since dry curacao also carries a brandy base and a little barrel character. What changes is sweetness and weight: Grand Marnier is noticeably sweeter and more obviously cognac-driven, so a Sidecar becomes rounder and richer and can tip towards cloying. Trim any syrup in the recipe and add a little extra lemon or lime. In baking it is an outright upgrade.

The inexpensive, clear, sweetened orange liqueur most bars keep on the bottom shelf.

Best for

margarita, Mai Tai, punch, Cosmopolitan, baking

Works, and is what most people will actually reach for. Cheap triple sec is sweeter, thinner and much more one-dimensional than dry curacao, tasting of orange candy rather than bitter peel, and it is often lower in alcohol as well. The bitterness is what curacao contributes to a Mai Tai to stop the drink turning flabby against the orgeat and rum, so put it back: two dashes of orange bitters, or squeeze a wide strip of orange peel over the surface and drop it in.

The same orange liqueur with blue food colouring added.

Best for

Mai Tai, margarita, punch, tiki drinks

Flavour-wise this is genuinely the same family, and if you already own a bottle it is a legitimate 1:1 swap. The obvious catch is colour: a Sidecar or Mai Tai made with blue curacao will come out turquoise, and combined with the yellow of pineapple or lemon juice it can go a murky green. Sweetness varies a lot by brand, with most blue curacao sitting closer to triple sec than to dry curacao, so taste before you add other sugar.

Bitter Seville orange marmalade thinned with brandy, which is close to the original idea.

Best for

glazes, orange cake, duck sauces, bread and butter pudding, cocktails if strained

Chemically this is not far off the real thing, since bitter orange peel is the flavour source in both. It is the best option for cooking and baking, and in a glaze for duck or ham it is arguably better than the liqueur. For a cocktail, shake it hard and double-strain, or you will have shreds of peel in the glass. Sweeter and thicker than the liqueur, so cut any other sugar in the recipe.

The alcohol-free rebuild, covering the sweetness and the orange aroma.

Best for

baking, frostings, mocktails, glazes, alcohol-free cooking

Good in a cake or a frosting, where orange liqueur is contributing aroma and a little liquid. In a drink it is weaker, because the alcohol was carrying the aroma and adding a little bite. What you can do to improve it noticeably is rub a strip of orange zest around the glass or express it over the surface, which supplies the fresh bitter oil that extract cannot. Do not use orange juice as a swap: it is far too dilute and too sweet in the wrong way.