Easy Homemade Kahlua
Submitted by Jen_Jen910
Homemade Kahlua: a five-ingredient DIY coffee liqueur with instant coffee, sugar, water, vodka, and vanilla. Simmered and bottled for cocktails, coffee drinks, and gift-giving.
YIELD
36 servingsPREP
10 minCOOK
1 hrsREADY
1 hrsThis is the easiest way to make your own coffee liqueur at home, and it tastes remarkably close to commercial Kahlua at a fraction of the cost. Five ingredients (sugar, instant coffee, water, vodka, vanilla), one hour of simmering, and you have seven cups of dark, sweet, coffee-flavored liqueur ready to use immediately. No aging required.
The simmer is doing real work. Sugar and instant coffee dissolved in water and gently simmered for an hour produces a concentrated coffee syrup with deep caramel notes (the sugar starts to lightly caramelize) and a smooth coffee bite. Without that hour of low heat, the syrup tastes one-note and harsh.
Vodka goes in only after the syrup has cooled, which keeps the alcohol from evaporating off. A fifth (750ml) is the standard amount, and three teaspoons of vanilla extract round out the flavor with a soft warmth that mirrors what real Kahlua does with its Mexican vanilla.
Bottle it in two empty 750ml bottles and label them. The liqueur keeps essentially forever; the high sugar and alcohol content acts as a preservative. Use it in White Russians, Mudslides, drizzled over ice cream, or stirred into coffee.
Pro Tips
- Use a quality instant coffee for the best flavor; cheap freeze-dried granules can taste burnt.
- Simmer gently the full hour; high heat boils off too much water and concentrates the syrup too much.
- Cool the syrup completely before adding vodka; warm syrup boils off the alcohol.
- Let the liqueur rest a week before serving for noticeably smoother flavor (the recipe says it is ready immediately but it does mellow).
Variations
- Use spiced rum or dark rum in place of vodka for a richer, more caramel-leaning liqueur.
- Add half a vanilla bean (split lengthwise) to the bottle for slow infusion and more vanilla character.
- Stir in a tablespoon of cocoa powder during the simmer for a chocolate-coffee liqueur.
Ingredients
Directions
Bring sugar, instant coffee and water to boil.
Simmer gently for one hour. Cool.
Stir in Vodka and Vanilla.
Bottle in two empty Fifths.
Ready to use immedietly.
Makes 7 cups.
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