DeKuyper Blue Curaçao
USA
The cheapest way into the category and the weakest at 20%, which means the most sugar per drink. Flavoured rather than redistilled on real peel.
- Congeners
- Low
- Histamines
- Low
- Polyphenols
- Low
- Sulfites
- Low
- Tannins
- Low
- Sugar
- High
- Additives
- High
In its favor
- ✓Cheap and everywhere
What to watch
- !20%, the worst sugar-to-alcohol ratio in the category
- !Flavouring rather than peel redistillation
- !Colouring and flavouring both added
- !Sugar per serving is not published
Factor by factor
Congeners Low ▾
Byproducts of fermentation (methanol, acetaldehyde, fusel alcohols). Strongly linked to hangover severity; darker, less-distilled spirits carry more.
Histamines Low ▾
Produced by bacteria during fermentation/aging. Trigger flushing, headaches, congestion in sensitive drinkers. High in red wine, beer, aged spirits.
Polyphenols Low ▾
Plant compounds with antioxidant activity. Slightly protective at low doses but at high concentrations may worsen hangover via tannin/quercetin reactions.
Sulfites Low ▾
Preservatives (SO₂) added to wine and some beers. Common trigger of headaches, asthma, and allergic-type reactions.
Tannins Low ▾
Astringent polyphenols from skins, seeds, barrels. Bind proteins, slow alcohol clearance, and aggravate dehydration-style symptoms.
Sugar High ▾
Residual sugar amplifies hangover via blood-sugar swings and dehydration. Liqueurs and cocktails are the main offenders.
Additives High ▾
Colorants, flavorings, glycerin, propylene glycol, sorbates. Cheap spirits and ready-to-drinks often hide these in trade-secret formulas.
DeKuyper’s US cordial range is built to a price, and this is what that means in practice: 20% ABV, colour added, and orange flavouring rather than the peel redistillation that the Dutch and island bottlings use. It is the bottle most people’s first blue cocktail was made with.
At 20% it has the worst ratio in the category. Every axis this site measures is fine on its own here, the congeners are low, there is nothing aged in it, but you have to pour the most of it to get anywhere, and sugar comes along at the same rate. It rates a 7, matching the liqueur category baseline, where the 40% dry bottling rates a 5. The difference between those two is not the orange. It is how much liquid you have to drink to get the same amount of alcohol.