13 Best Dry Curacao Cocktails to Make at Home

The White Lady provides a light and refreshing option if you’re looking for a simple cocktail using liquors you probably have in your cabinet. This cocktail sounds elegant and complicated, but only gin, dry curacao, and lemon juice are needed. Elevate this drink with egg whites which are “dry shaken” without ice before ice is added for the final shake on this ice-cold cocktail.

Dry curacao is often paired with citrusy, poolside drinks, but this versatile orange liqueur is equally at home with warm, fireside cocktails. The Louisville uses its namesake’s signature bourbon for a spicy and flavorful concoction featuring baking spices, dried orange, and vanilla flavors. Break out this cocktail for a creative alternative for holiday parties.

Like pickles and canned meat, the Pegu Club cocktail is another item considered popular food eaten in colonies from America’s earliest history that are still consumed today. The Pegu Club features ingredients similar to The White Lady, using lime juice instead of lemon and adding bitters.

Choose grapefruit juice and the citrusy balance to dry curacao in the Dusk on the Prairie cocktail. This Chicago invention uses gin, seltzer, and bitters to balance this herbaceous and visually stunning drink. A simple cocktail to concoct, serve this drink as a delicious option for late summer and early fall gatherings.

If you enjoy the sharp and bitter flavors of liquor and citrus rind, this curacao rum runner delivers a bracing mixed drink. Only orange bitters, dry curacao, and rum combine for this potent cocktail. Reminiscent of a classic Old-Fashioned, the curacao rum runner can stand up to hearty meals like a steak dinner.

Three different liquors and high-end garnishes take this cocktail to sophisticated heights. Named for a champion racehorse, the Man o’ War will help you feel light on your feet with the combination of bourbon, vermouth, and dry curacao. Finish with a brandied cherry for an elegant martini-like cocktail.

Skip the Guinness for your next St. Patrick’s Day celebration and mix up The Irish Derby instead. Instead of the bourbon and cherries from the Man o’ War, this drink highlights lime and Irish whiskey for this recipe. Add sweet vermouth and dry curacao for a potent and citrusy mixed drink.

Looking for a gin cocktail with dominant orange flavors? The Martinez delivers strong orange tastes with the combination of dry curacao and orange bitters. Sweet vermouth balances this strong drink, served in a chilled martini glass. If you enjoy brandy sidecars, try a Martinez cocktail.

Most of the ingredients in this mixed drink can be found on anyone’s shelf, like gin and dry curacao. But the addition of aromatized wine makes this cocktail a special occasion. Reach for vermouth, an aromatized wine, or Lillet Blanc. This elegant, champagne-colored cocktail looks beautiful at a bridal shower or used for a toast at a retirement party.

Many of the dry curacao cocktails on this list feature a combination of dry curacao with citrus or other fruit juices, bitters, and your liquor of choice. The Londoner is no different, elevating the simple ingredients of dry gin, bitters, sweet vermouth, and dry curacao into a strong stirred cocktail.

Imbibe with this sweet cocktail, named after the state of Missouri’s memorable state slogan. The Show Me State combines several ingredients for a syrupy and smoky dry curacao cocktail. Blend dry curacao with orange juice, heavy lime syrup, simple syrup, and mezcal for this refreshing poolside drink.

Vodka joins the party with this Dutch sour, a spin on the classic whisky sour. Dry curacao, vodka, lemon juice, simple syrup, and both orange and grapefruit bitters. The Dutch sour delivers a flavor explosion, adding a smooth egg white to the top for a balanced and complex mixed drink.

Go full dry martini with the Snyder cocktail. The classic martini ingredients of gin and extra dry vermouth combine with dry curacao for a strong cocktail with a refreshing, citrusy twist. The Snyder cocktail is also often compared to the strength and bitterness of an Old-Fashioned or negroni.