The name ORANGE is around 300 years old and means "PERFUME WITHIN". The Chinese were cultivating oranges 500 years before the birth of Christ. Up until the 9th century only bitter oranges were grown, which may have contributed to a general dislike of what was then a new fruit. It took four centuries before the sweet strain was developed, and from that time on they were sought after as a much -prized delicacy.

From Valencia to Curacao
Shortly after their discovery of the island in 1499 the Spaniards planned for, amongst others, the agricultural development of Curacao. One of the plants they carried with care on their long sea voyages from Spain was the so-called "Valencia" orange. The different climate and soil conditions, however, changed this juicy fruit to a kind of bitter, almost inedible produce. In short the project was forgotten and the "misfits" of the once proud "Valencia" oranges grew wild and abandoned, not even touched by our infamous roaming goats. It was not till decades later, the exact date is lost in history, that someone discovered that the peels of this orange, thoroughly dried by the sun, contained an etheric oil with an extraordinary pleasing fragrance.

It was Edouard Contreau's son (also named Edouard) who discovered this unique citrus fruit in Curacao while on a business trip for his father during the 19th century. He took the dried Laraha peels back to France and used its oil to experiment with liqueurs.

In Curacao, there are several plantations that grow the indigenous Laraha. Most of these plantations are located in the eastern part of the Island in two regions known as Fuik and Choloma. The largest plantation has approximately 35 Laraha trees. Each tree produces approximately 150 to 200 fruit, which result in 15 to 20 kilograms of dried peels. The trees are harvested twice a year.

The harvesting procedure is rather unique, as the Laraha trees are quite tall (3 meters).
Long ladders are used to pull the fruit from the trees, when they are green, because if they become ripe, the peel becomes too thin and is not useable for producing the liqueur. Each fruit is pulled with a piece of the sprig of the tree, because if you pull the fruit only, the knot of the tree dries up and it will not yield any more fruit. If you pull a piece of the "sprig" then the tree will continue to "sprout" and yield many more fruits.
The peel of each fruit is cut into 4 sections, which are roughly triangular. For this process, a wooden knife is used. A metal knife will stain the peels. The sections of peel are put on a metal plate under the sun to dry.

This process takes approximately 5 days. Under no circumstances can the peels become wet, so great care must be taken
to cover the peels at night or if it is raining. The rest of the fruit itself is used as food for the "cabritos" (goats).
The dried peels are put into "jute" bags, which are hung inside the still with alcohol and water during 4 days.
Afterwards the jute bags are taken out and the other secret ingredients are put into the still for an additional
2 days. The clear "Curaçao of Curaçao" liqueur is the end result.