I've been browsing the forum looking for a good coffee mead recipe. What I've been finding is not much flavor or worse. I did see someone posted a knockoff of Kahula which had positive reviews and was considering looking at that in a mead. My idea is clover honey in primary. Into the secondary, add coffee grounds (amount???), brown sugar (I saw this in all the Kahula recipies), Vanilla bean (in one of the Kahula recipes), and Orange zest (in a different Kahula recipe). I decided that before I make an unpalatable brew of mess, I would ask the experts of this forum for their advice/additions/corrections from their years of experience. I have 6 good batches of mead under my belt with less than a year of experience. I don't want to break that record on a bad idea.
Coffee or Kahula type mead
- Thread starter flyboy
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bernardsmith
Well-Known Member
The thing about Kahlua and its knock-offs (AKA "clones") is that it is sweet. That sweetness balances both the alcohol and the coffee. Coffee mead is, IMO, a real challenge to make because unless the coffee is made superbly it can become very bitter in the alcohol. Adding beans to the secondary may be the best way to go. (although adding beans to vodka and then adding that extract may be an alternative route).
What not to do (again, this is my opinion) is add as much coffee as you would add if your goal was to make the same volume of coffee for drinking. Use about 25% of that amount. But that means you are not going to be making a low alcohol version of Kahlua. I would ditch the brown sugar. And I would add vanilla. I would recommend you experiment with gallon volumes rather than make 5 gallons of unpalatable coffee mead.
What not to do (again, this is my opinion) is add as much coffee as you would add if your goal was to make the same volume of coffee for drinking. Use about 25% of that amount. But that means you are not going to be making a low alcohol version of Kahlua. I would ditch the brown sugar. And I would add vanilla. I would recommend you experiment with gallon volumes rather than make 5 gallons of unpalatable coffee mead.
Thanks, Bernardsmith. That helps a lot. I'm planning on a one gallon batch so I don't toss too much if it comes out tasting like butt. I'm not aiming for a low alcohol version of Kahula but more reminiscent of it with a distinct mead taste and feel. Ditching the brown sugar is a good idea as Kahula is too sweet anyway and I don't want my mead that sweet as well. A few years ago, I made an Imperial Stout and put molasses in it giving it a nice round taste and feel although the alcohol was through the roof at 12.9%. I was thinking the brown sugar would do that but maybe I'll stick with a LITTLE molasses for body instead. I'll let you know when I make it. I'm still in the planning stages and I have about three meads I've got to start to keep SWMBO happy. Maybe this fall?
I don't have any experience with mead, but I know someone that tried a coffee mead with beans in the must. Came out really nasty. The beans for some reason turned it rancid. I did brew a stout that I added cold brew coffee to and it turned out great. I think that the cold brew route would be a good choice. Cold brew does not have the oils that are associated with coffee beans. Good luck. Can't wait to see how this turns out so I can tell my buddy.
Before I make this, I'm going to go visit Superstition Meadery in Prescott and try their Coffee Fig mead and see if I like theirs. If I do, I can ask questions and get some ideas. Usually, they like to talk about how they make their meads. 
imasickboy
Drinkasaurus extraordinarius
I've been meaning to go to our local meadery again lately, but haven't quite gotten around to it. When I do, I'll ask him how he handles coffee.
