Kahlua Anyone?

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Okay, found my recipe:

Mine yields roughly 5 750 mL bottles @ about 40 proof, (same as store bought).

Ingredients and recipe are for either using instant coffee, or fresh ground.

6 cups sugar
9 cups water
1 cup instant, or 3 1/2 cups whole bean, ground, (wrapped in a few tied bundles of cheesecloth), coffee
1/2 tsp salt
4 tbls vanilla extract
750 ml grain alcohol, (I use Everclear, 190 proof)

Boil 6 1/2 cups of water, add coffee, cover and let steep. Stir occasionally, "fluffing" the coffee bundles as well. If you are using instant coffee, disregard the next 2 steps.

1 - Let stand until cool, line a colander with coffee filters, remove coffee bundles, and strain through colander into large pot.
2 - Warm slightly

In separate pot, make syrup of remaining water, (2 1/2 cups), and the 6 cups of sugar, boiling 1 minute.
Add sugar syrup to the coffee mix. Stir well, add salt. If your sugar crystallizes, warm the pot, stirring regularly until the sugar dissolves again. (This is a big pain in the ass trying to do this without it crystallizing, expect it to happen if your coffee is too cool.)

Allow to cool for about two hours if warmed, add vanilla and grain, stir well, and bottle. Store unrefrigerated in dark bottles for a minimum of 30 days before drinking. Ages incredibly well. I've had some 2 1/2 years old, and it was excellent.

DO NOT, no matter what, decide to taste the stuff if it is slightly warm and the grain has been added. I did so once and I thought I was going to die. Warm grain alcohol is deadly. Once cooled it is a bit more safe, but still tastes like **** until it has sat for a month.
 
For something along the same lines, how about coffee infused vodka? I've read about infused vodkas before, and it seems that you can use nearly anything to flavor the stuff. This link describes a no-heat method using cracked coffee beans. I'd add some vanilla and perhaps a little extra sugar.
 
imasickboy said:
DO NOT, no matter what, decide to taste the stuff if it is slightly warm and the grain has been added. I did so once and I thought I was going to die. Warm grain alcohol is deadly. Once cooled it is a bit more safe, but still tastes like **** until it has sat for a month.
That doesn't make any sense.
 
What doesn't make sense? My recipe uses 190 proof grain alcohol. Drinking it warm, even diluted with sugar, water, coffee, and vanilla, is HORRIBLE. Burns everything on the way down, makes the eyes water, etc.

As far as sitting for a month before drinking, it's rather simple. Fresh, it seems thin, and flavors are not well blended. It even seems a bit astringent, if I recall correctly. After it ages, it thickens, flavors blend, and it becomes much more like real Kahlua.

Does that clarify things a bit better, or is there something else that you want to know that I'm not seeing?
 
It sounded like you were saying warm ethyl alcohol is poisonous. I use the same stuff while the Kahlua is still warm, and mixed with milk over ice it's perfect. I get nothing from letting it age. It's better than real Kahlua straight off the stove.
 
Just had some, compared it to some Kahlua I had at the house, not the same but pretty dang close and taste great. Next time I am gonna up the coffee amount.
 
Just did a side by side tonight. And well I have to say the homemade stuff kicks the real stuffs butt. Now the bottle of Kahlua I have is pretty old. But, the homemade stuff is awesome.
 
I've got a batch of infused vodka going right now. I used medium roast Arabica beans (whole, not cracked), about 1 tsp vanilla extract, 3 oz simple syrup, and UV Vodka. I'll let you know how it turns out in a week or so. This picture was taken after 24 hours:

infused_vodka.jpg
 
Gahhh, yuri, you need to crush those beans! It'll take a while for it to finish if you leave it as is...Simply not enough surface area. I keep a mortar and pestle around for just such an occasion.

I've made a few coffee liquor batches myself, all of which involved soaking a number of beans in high-proof alcohol, then diluting to drinking strength with a touch of vanilla extract and a white/brown sugar mix. There's so many ways to do coffee liqour right that you simply can't screw this stuff up. :D Recently a buddy has encouraged me to try using some "Toddy" coffee...If I try it I'll let you know how it goes
 
RadicalEd said:
Gahhh, yuri, you need to crush those beans!
I figured I'd try whole beans first. I can always add some crushed ones if the flavor is lacking. The vodka has already darkened significantly, so I'm assuming I'm getting some flavor as well.
 
Ok, so it's only been two days, but I just had to try this stuff! All the beans sank, and the coffee aroma was very prominent when I cracked the lid. So, I poured a little. It's VERY good. Smooth, slightly sweet, and the alcohol heat almost gives it a hot cup of coffee feel. I mixed it up into an Albino Communist, and damn, that's a hell of a Caucasian!

I'm just gonna leave the beans in the bottle and let it strengthen as it ages.

No, Ed, you don't have to crush the beans!
 
I made a completely dumb ass mistake last night making this. You all know to never turn your back on a boiling brew pot and the same goes for simmering liquid down to a syrup. I left the kitchen in the later part of the simmer. A few minutes later I walk out of the office I see smoke billowing out from the kitchen door. Run in there to see a giant syrupy mess all over the stove top, syrup on the burner, syrup under the burner, syrup everywhere.

The dumb part about it is that I know very well what sugar does at this temperature. I lost 2/3rds of my double batch that I was making for Christmas as well as wasting some lovely Kona Sunrise coffee beans. Took an hour to clean it up too. :(

Bad, bad Nurmey!
 
Boiled off coffee? Eep. I'm going to try this but I'm going to use a cold brew because I can't imagine boiling being helpful to the flavor.
 
Okay well here's my batch:

6c water
4c dark brown sugar
1.75L vodka
8Tbps Bustello instant espresso
1tbs vanilla extract

Came out really sweet, almost too much, even though it's about 20% abv. I slip 3-4 icecubes in each glass to water it down. after a bit it really mellows out. Next time I'll cut the sugar down to 2c. the *dark* brown sugar really gives the sweetness that molasses-y depth I was going for. I'm happy with it, even though it really tastes exactly how the instant coffee tastes, albeit much sweeter with the ETOH bite. My wife loves it, and she has more discriminatory taste than me.

I filled about 5 1/2 32 oz. mason jars, and am down to my last one. I think I made it about 10 days ago, so it's going fast! I'll definitely try making it again, next time with less sugar and probably "real" coffee. I'll post back results of my second batch.
 
Thanks for bumping this. I might try it. I don't drink much of this stuff, but the description makes it sounds more like what I'd want in a coffee liqueur. And I need to buy a bottle of vodka for my airlocks anyway...
 
I made a Simple Kahlua recipe last night that I am happy with -
Brew a full pot of coffee a little stronger than you normally drink it.
Once brewed pour into a pot on the stove and crank the heat
Add 2 lbs of brown sugar and 1 split and scraped vanilla bean.
Stir until sugar is dissolved and pot just starts to boil, remove from heat
Continue stirring until Room temperature
Add bottle of Everclear (190proof) and stir.
Bottle it and it is ready to go.

This creates a very "fresh" flavor, no OLD or Burnt coffee flavors, no fake vanilla aftertaste.
All of the ingredients cost in the neighborhood of $20-$25 and I ended up with a full handle, plus the full everclear bottle (750 I think).
 
I made a Simple Kahlua recipe last night that I am happy with -
Brew a full pot of coffee a little stronger than you normally drink it.
Once brewed pour into a pot on the stove and crank the heat
Add 2 lbs of brown sugar and 1 split and scraped vanilla bean.
Stir until sugar is dissolved and pot just starts to boil, remove from heat
Continue stirring until Room temperature
Add bottle of Everclear (190proof) and stir.
Bottle it and it is ready to go.

This creates a very "fresh" flavor, no OLD or Burnt coffee flavors, no fake vanilla aftertaste.
All of the ingredients cost in the neighborhood of $20-$25 and I ended up with a full handle, plus the full everclear bottle (750 I think).

How much everclear? 750?
 
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