Post #312167 by Chip and Andy on Mon, Jun 11, 2007 5:04 AM

On 2007-06-10 22:07, johnnyfootballhero wrote:
...a bottle of Marie Brizard curacao eleven years ago and a bottle of Senior & Co. curacao two weeks ago after reading this thread. ... and do not know whether it would help or hurt to put the Senior & Co. curacao in the refrigerator...

Aloha and welcome to TC. It always nice to see new names on the list.

As to keeping in the fridge.... It won't hurt.

It will only help a little bit, ultimately.

Most of the liqueur's have a relatively high sugar content and that is what leads to thier demise. Once you open the bottle, the 'process' has started and you have anywhere from a few months to a few years before the produce turns on you. Some bottles will turn on you in just a few months while others can make it three or more years after opening. There is no real set time on any of them, you just have to keep your eyes and nose on them.

The 'process' works like this: Ingredients have both sugar and alcohol in them. Alcohol keeps stuff from growing and eating the sugar. Bottle is sealed and placed on shelf where you buy it and take it home to put on your shelf, but only after you have broken the seal. Now, with seal broken, alcohol starts to evaporate (so called Angel's Share) and will eventually get to a point that is low enough a concentrate that stuff can now move in and grow in your bottle. End result, bottle 'breaks' and stuff inside goes bad. A 'Break' can look like fine webbing floating in the mix, an unusual color, an unusual head on the mix, bad smells, bad taste, all generally akin to moldy old bread.

Now, for that eleven year old bottle of curacao, I wouldn't trust that bottle. If it still smells like curacao and the color is still bright and clear you are probably fine. But! I would sniff that bottle every time I open it just to make sure. And if it is good, get to making some Mai-Tais so that your ingredients don't sit around neglected so long!