Coffee liqueur

[Dawgluver]

We're out of cheap Kahlua from Mexico which is about half the price of what we pay for it here, and I was craving a white russian. We had a bunch of powdered coffee packets from various hotels, so I figured why not make my own? This is a compilation of several recipes I found on the interwebs.

Emptied the coffee packets into about 4 cups of water (about 3/4 cup of ground coffee), snipped up a vanilla bean, added a couple T of cocoa powder, and will let it steep until tomorrow. Then will strain, and boil the stuff with some brown sugar. After that, some vodka.

 

[taxlady]

Let us know how it turns out.

 

[Dawgluver]

I will! I'm quite excited, Kahlua is ridiculously expensive here. I used to make a good Bailey's back in the day, used a raw egg.

 

[taxlady]

I will! I'm quite excited, Kahlua is ridiculously expensive here. I used to make a good Bailey's back in the day, used a raw egg.

I want to make crème de cacao. The only stuff we get here contains soya. Time to Google.

 

[Dawgluver]

Well, the patient person that I am, I had to nuke the mixture instead of waiting for an all-night steep. Had a taste. Holy moly, I may be up all night!

 

[taxlady]

Well, the patient person that I am, I had to nuke the mixture instead of waiting for an all-night steep. Had a taste. Holy moly, I may be up all night!

Shoulda used decaf. How's it taste?

 

[Dawgluver]

Right now it tastes like REALLY strong coffee. I'll strain and boil it tomorrow. Then I'll add in the sugar, cool it, and add the booze. Holy crap, right now the minute amount I sampled really awakens me!

 

[Cooking Goddess]

We have a bottle of Kapali. We first bought one back in the days when we would have the entire street over for a post-holiday party around the second Saturday of January. We supplied beer, wine and some liquors, the neighbors brought apps and nibbles. After we started to run out of our first stash of liquors we looked for the economy versions. Our next door neighbor said he actually liked Kapali better than our Kahlua, which he had just finished off the previous year! Since we've always mixed it with something else it doesn't have to be spot-on to Kahlua for us to appreciate the value. The Kapali is about half the price!

I found two different reviews of coffee liquor on line. Just in case you want to read yourself to sleep, here they are!

Drinking the Bottom Shelf: Kapali Coffee Liqueur | Serious Eats

Thirsty Thursday: Coffee Liqueurs | Feaston

 

[Dawgluver]

Great articles, CG, thanks! I'll look for them.

Back when I tended bar, in college, the boss would pour the cheapest Kahlua knockoff into the Kahlua bottle to sell as the real deal. One of our regulars drank black russians, and knew something wasn't right.

 

[bakechef]

My mom used to make her own coffee liquor, and she just called it Kahlua, it was cheaper than the real deal. I remember her cooking it on the stove with the sugar.

We had an elderly lady across the street, she liked her after dinner cocktail of either Wild Irish Rose wine or Kahlua, so my mom would make her a half gallon every so often. She would call and ask my mom "When are you making Ka-loo-la again"

Yeah Kahlua is about twice as much here as it is in Mexico!

 

[menumaker]

Can I suggest that you try brandy or cognac as your base instead of vodka? I make my own liqueurs, coffee, orange, pear ( my personal favorite) and have tried both spirits. I find that vodka never gives that same refined finish and is harsher than the brandy, even if it is a cheaper brand. Just a thought, Cheers!

 

[taxlady]

Can I suggest that you try brandy or cognac as your base instead of vodka? I make my own liqueurs, coffee, orange, pear ( my personal favorite) and have tried both spirits. I find that vodka never gives that same refined finish and is harsher than the brandy, even if it is a cheaper brand. Just a thought, Cheers!

Do you have a recipe for chocolate liqueur?

 

[Dawgluver]

Thanks for the hint, MM. I too would love to see some of your liqueur recipes. Also BC's mom's Kahlua recipe.

 

[bakechef]

I'll have to see if she still has it. It's possible that it's packed up, she's getting ready to move south soon. She set her mind on Summerville SC (Charleston suburb). So she might not know where anything is!

 

[Dawgluver]

Thanks!

 

[menumaker]

Well, I am lucky here to be able to 'acquire ' eau de vie which is local unrefined brandy. ( yes, you have to know a man who knows a man etc. etc. but i have used shop bought cheap brandy, You need a big jar/ pot to start off.
.For coffee liqueur
To 1 litre of spirit add 1 large orange studded with 44 coffee beans, then add
22 brown sugar cubes. Stir each day until sugar has dissolved.
now the hard part......... leave for minimum of 44 days
I promise you that the longer you can keep your mitts off of it, the better it is.
for cherry, drop a pannet into the spirit with the sugar, stir and leave until you can bear it no longer, try 6 months upwards ,the same...........
For the pear, cut 2-3 good, peeled and deseeded pears into quarters, drop into the spirit with WHITE sugar this time, add 1 star anise, stir as above and leave. Eventually, when you have the bottles of your choice, strain, bottle, cheat-and-sip,( Hic! ) and leave in the cool and dark to work it's magic. Keep going like this a couple of extra times and you will have a constant supply .Hic!

 

[Dawgluver]

Fascinating! Thanks MM!

I used to make wild raspberry cordial, wonderful stuff, but hard to keep mitts off until it was ready.

 

[taxlady]

Copied and pasted. Thank you MM.

 

[Dawgluver]

So far so good. I strained the coffee (which took forever), added brown and white sugar, another vanilla bean and some molasses. The mix is reducing on the stove now. The molasses really provided that nice rummy flavor. Upon tasting, DH proclaimed,"That's Kahlua!" And I haven't even added the booze yet.

 

[PrincessFiona60]

Hmm...considering trying to make coffee liqueur with some dark rum...