Hazelnut Wine, or Frangelico knock-off

[torilen]

I wanted to see if it was possible to make something that tasted like Frangelico at home. Sure enough, it is. I only made 3 cups worth. It was basically like making a hard root beer.

I should have written it down, but if I remember correctly, it was something like this.
2 cups of water with 1 cups of sugar - bring it to a boil, add the hazelnut extract, let it cool, and ferment it like you would a wine.

It has been fermenting for almost a full 2 weeks, and doesn't seem to be slowing much. It is a slow fermentation, but it is still going good. Because it was only 2 cups of water, I believe the possible ABV is up around 18% or 20%, if the yeast will let it go that high (I used ec-1118 - so in theory, yes).

Does it taste like Frangelico? Yes. It does not have that creaminess that real Frangelico has, but the taste is pretty spot on. Can you mix it with anything? I do not know yet. I would assume you can mix it with hard liquor, but as for putting in milk or something like that...I don't know, and I don't think so. I tried putting milk into a coffee wine I made one time, and it curdled immediately. Too much acid, I think. Though, you can add Irish Cream to coffee wine...it gets thick, but doesn't curdle completely, so it is still drinkable.

 

[bernardsmith]

I wonder if it tastes like Frangelico because there is still a fair amount of residual sugar. If the yeast does rip through all the sugar and your are left with the hazelnut extract I wonder if the wine will taste as good. As to the potential ABV, if I assume that 2 cups = 1 pint and that 1 cup of sugar = 7 oz then you have the equivalent of about 3.5 lbs of sugar in 1 gallon or about 18.5% ABV.
If you are interested in "cloning" Frangelico you might want to soak hazelnuts (or the extract) in vodka with some coffee, cocoa (or roasted chocolate nibs) and vanilla (see the Frangelico website). If you were using say a quart or more of vodka I would add about a pound of sugar dissolved in a little water and allow everything to steep for about a month, perhaps agitating the mixture daily. That is how I make "kahlua" and Genepi.

 

[torilen]

Hey, bernardsmith, thanks. I'll give that a try. I've tried looking up how to make "kahlua" and never could find an actual recipe, aside from mixing brewed coffee with alcohol, usually vodka. I may just have to try soaking hazelnuts.

Honestly - I didn't look up making frangelico mainly because I had so little luck finding kahlua and amaretto. So, I figured I would do a hazelnut wine. It's quite cheap, to be honest. And like I said..it does taste quite nice. I could maybe add some lactose (is that the right additive? Or is it dextrose?) to it to give it a bit of that creamy mouthfeel.

 

[bernardsmith]

I suspect that it is the sugar itself that gives the richer mouthfeel. Your version is really water and alcohol so it won't coat your tongue and throat as you drink it much as wet them
For Kahlua - I would get about 1/2 lb of the best roasted coffee beans you like and grind them as if you were going to make a French press coffee. Pour a bottle of inexpensive vodka over the beans. To this add a lengthwise sliced vanilla bean and about one pound of sugar (2 cups). If you are going to dissolve the sugar in some water (I prefer to) then boil the water and add coffee, and vanilla and sugar to the boiling water and allow to cool before adding to the vodka. Shake to combine everything and keep in a dark location for a month - shaking the mixture for a few seconds every day. After 30 days or so, filter out all the solids and enjoy. You might add roasted and ground cocoa nibs (a quarter cup, perhaps) to this and you might use rum rather than vodka. It's all good.

 

[torilen]

Yeah, I think that's what kahlua is - it uses rum, from what I have read.
I'm curious though...maybe you can answer this for me. Some brands of coffee liquor...they say on the bottle that they use coffee liquor and rum. What exactly is that coffee liquor? Do you know? I've seen lots of cooking and production type shows, and I know what chocolate liquor is, a byproduct of making chocolate from the beans. Is that same thing for coffee? Is that all kahlua is? I was always wondering if I was missing something...did they have a way of distilling the coffee somehow?

 

[bernardsmith]

I know next to nothing about distillation - or what is involved in making chocolate from cocoa beans but I assume that all liqueurs start off as wines - (I have made wine from coffee and from cocoa (chocolate) ) and the makers of those liqueurs simply distill the wines but I suspect that a great deal of the unique flavors are lost in the distillation process - so perhaps they then steep more of the nuts and beans in the distillate and add sugar OR they collect the material that is left from the distillation process and simply add it to the distillate... I just don't know

 

[buMbLeB]

I'm curious though...maybe you can answer this for me. Some brands of coffee liquor...they say on the bottle that they use coffee liquor and rum. What exactly is that coffee liquor? Do you know? I've seen lots of cooking and production type shows, and I know what chocolate liquor is, a byproduct of making chocolate from the beans. Is that same thing for coffee? Is that all kahlua is? I was always wondering if I was missing something...did they have a way of distilling the coffee somehow?

I think your first instinct is the right one, it's analogous to chocolate - they're concentrating the coffee essence, but not fermenting it to produce an alcoholic liquor. Then they just add it to rum. I think Kahlua has cream added to it, but that's it.

 

[bernardsmith]

I think your first instinct is the right one, it's analogous to chocolate - they're concentrating the coffee essence, but not fermenting it to produce an alcoholic liquor. Then they just add it to rum. I think Kahlua has cream added to it, but that's it.

I don't think Kahlua has milk or cream in it. That's Bailey's, I think.

 

[buMbLeB]

I don't think Kahlua has milk or cream in it. That's Bailey's, I think.

As soon as I saw this I realized you're right.