Homemade Kahlua Using Your Favorite Coffee ~ Cupcake Project

Wednesday, December 23, 2009

Homemade Kahlua Using Your Favorite Coffee

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Making homemade Kahlua gives you the flexibility to choose which coffee you would like in your coffee liqueur. Better yet, making homemade Kahlua is easy! You may even have the homemade Kahlua ingredients sitting around your house: coffee, vodka, light brown sugar, and vanilla extract. I can guarantee that you will impress your peeps when you show up to your New Year's Eve party with a bottle of homemade Kahlua rather than a six-pack of Bud Light. The only thing that might be more impressive would be a bottle of homemade Baileys Irish Cream.

Homemade Kahlua Recipe

A Google search for Kahlua recipes will reveal that there are several different ways to make homemade Kahlua. Many of the recipes call for instant coffee. I rejected those because I wanted to be able to use good quality freshly ground coffee. Others call for letting the recipe steep for several weeks; I rejected those because I don't have the patience. I ended up using a variation of a recipe that I found on a forum about Orchids. What do orchid growers know about Kahlua? Apparently, a lot. The end result of this Kahlua recipe is blissful. It has a sweet yet strong coffee flavor and it goes down super smooth.

Makes about 1.5 liters

  • 6 cups brewed coffee (Use your favorite kind! I used Goshen coffee since I know that Bride and Groom 3.0 and many of my coffee connoisseur friends love it.)
  • 1 lb light brown sugar
  • 3 1/2 T vanilla extract
  • 1/2 liter of vodka (If you have access to a pure grain alcohol like Everclear, you may want to use that. I simply used SVEDKA Vodka and it worked just fine.)
  1. While the coffee is still hot, mix in the brown sugar.
  2. Let cool.
  3. Mix in vanilla and vodka.
  4. Serve over ice, in mixed drinks like a frozen mudslide, or use to make a cupcake (post coming soon).

18 comments:

Julia said...

sounds yummy! my dad makes his own Limoncello (a lemon liqueur) and Amaretto. I'll try the coffee one some time for sure!

Little Miss Cupcake said...

wow! who knew it could be so simple? thanks for posting this. looking forward to your kahlua cupcakes! Happy Holidays!

Cooking Foodie said...

And I thought making Kahlua was this massive project... I will certainly be making a few gallons. Thanks for the recipe(?)... Looking forward to Irish Cream. Its another favorite...

Andrea said...

Oh, can't wait for the Irish Cream recipe!

Diana said...

I made it yesterday and it turned out great!

Memória said...

Cool! Now, I can make a virgin Kahlua! haha

Jessica said...

This sounds good. Do you know how long it will keep and should it be refrigerated?
Thanks!

Stef said...

Jess - It does not need to be kept refrigerated. I think it should last several months at least. But, I haven't had it that long enough to report.

Claire said...

Yum! I'll make this as soon as I finish with the Kahlua in my liquor cabinet (I'll go work on that in just a minute.)

I made homemade Irish cream just before Christmas. I used a recipe my sister gave me, but substituted to make it vegan. I'm going to make it again for New Year's Eve guests. Can't wait to see what you come up with.

Lori said...

Who knew you could make it yourself? Thanks for the recipe!

deb said...

sounds good and easy. However I am going to try to reduce the coffee and sugar to make it thicker. And I will brew that coffee harsh strong!

deb said...

Well I did what I said. I actually reduced the coffee/brown sugar for a bit to make it thicker,(about 10 minutes in high simmer) I splurged and ground, in the store, some Starbucks coffee beans (on very fine) and brewed it strong. I used Stollichnaya Vodka, yet another splurge and the result kicks butt over the original. Serious! very bright flavor, cuts right through any mixes an stands on it's own!

deb said...

This recipe is so easy. You got a finished batch in under 30 minutes! I got em buzzin on facebook about this post. Thanks for the info!

deb said...

I made the Kaluah and Irish Cream recipes and had them available New Year's Day. All of the guests raved about them. Said they were better than the original blend you can buy in the store. I did use the best ingredients I could afford. I fresh ground the coffee beans the day of and used Stollichnaya vodka and Bushmills Irish whiskey. I brewed the coffee extra strong and reduced the coffee and brown sugar for about 10 minutes. Came out so fantastic.

Craig said...

Made this with Golden Grain (an Everclear analog) instead of vodka and only used 375 mL. Still a bit strong on the alcohol flavor, but it is truly delicious.

MP said...

Oh yum!!! (Profound, I know, but fitting...)

Kristina said...

I made it exactly as you've described, down to the vodka brand (coincidentally) with some chocolate truffle flavored coffee, and it was just perfect. Thanks!

Margaret V said...

This is so cheap! I think this ended up costing me around $8 for $20-30 worth of Kaluha! and it's GOOOOOOD. It actually gets better over time if you can resist for a month or so.