Homebrew Underground

There are many recipes for homemade Kahlua® on the Internet. Some are simple and can be made very quickly using instant coffee and others require more time to make. I decided to make Kahlua (coffee liqueur) and tried a few of the available recipes. I discovered in a very short time that in order to make a good quality coffee liqueur I would have to figure out how to add the coffee flavor without the coffee becoming bitter or without the liqueur becoming too watery. These were the first obstacles to overcome.

The finished liqueur must be of a certain viscosity and alcohol content. If coffee is brewed in water, then the liqueur will be watery and will have a low alcohol content. You can get around this problem by using instant coffee. I tried several different instant coffees – some freeze dried and others heat dried – and I found that all instant coffee is bitter. There is just no way around it.

I had the idea that I could simply infuse ground coffee directly into spirit – totally cold – and that was the breakthrough. It worked. By infusing ground coffee directly into the spirits I was able to use any commercially available coffee. Real Kahlua is made from 100% gourmet Arabica coffee beans. I felt that it was necessary to use 100% gourmet Arabica coffee in my recipe as well so I found an online source at Dr. Soda.

Real Kahlua also has a unique aroma that comes from cane spirit, which is a cousin of rum. You don’t find cane spirit in too many liquor stores, but Bacardi rum is widely available. I found that Bacardi Superior rum does impart an aroma and flavor that is very close to real Kahlua so that is my first choice for the spirit used to make this liqueur.

Real Kahlua is also made with some caramel so my recipe uses standard caramel syrup along with some standard sugar syrup. Real Kahlua is a fairly viscous liqueur so it is necessary to boil down the standard sugar syrup to 90% of its original volume to obtain the desired viscosity. If you use too much caramel, the liqueur will have an undesirable, lingering aftertaste. This recipe calls for the making of a blending stock with the right combination of caramel and sugar syrups to obtain a smooth tasting finished product.

Part I – Infusing the Coffee

Shown below is a shot of the ingredients and 2 Qt. Mason jar. Bacardi rum will impart a better aroma (shown below: back row, middle), but you can use a cheaper brand of rum (e.g. Ron Caballero – shown below: back row, right).

Measure and add the coffee to the jar, then measure and add the rum.

Here is a shot of all the ingredients shaken up and ready to set aside for maceration. The ratio of rum to coffee is 4 to 1. In this case I added 5 cups rum and 1 1/4 cups of coffee.

Continue to Homemade Kahlua Recipe – Part II

Final Step – Blending and Bottling

Shown below is a shot of the blending ingredients (left to right starting in the back): 1 jar (2 batches) of clarified infused spirits, standard caramel syrup, standard sugar syrup, Smirnoff No. 57 100 Proof Vodka, vanilla extract and measuring cup.

Boil down the standard sugar syrup to 90% of its original voume to thicken it. Start with 10 oz, then boil for about 5 minutes then check it.

Pour the boiled down sugar syrup into a measuring cup You should have 9 oz when done. Then add 5 oz of caramel syrup. Allow to cool completely. Tip: pour the mixture into a Mason jar and put it in a sink or basin filled with ice water. This will cool it down within about 20 minutes.

Allow the mixture of syrups to completely cool down. This will be your blending stock. I use Smirnoff No. 57 for blending because it is very smooth.

Finally, blend it with the infused spirits and the proportionate amount of Smirnoff No. 57 100 proof Vodka according to the recipe, then add the vanilla extract. In the shot below the finished liqueur was made with 2 batches of the recipe. In other words, I started with 10 cups of vodka (in two Mason jars). I combined the two batches into one jar after the second infusion.

Shown below is a shot of the finished, bottled Tropical Coffee Liqueur.

Third Infusion – Add Cocoa

Shown below is a shot of the ingredients for the 3rd pass: infused spirits and cocoa. Proceed to this step immediately after filtering with the metal coffee filter at the end of the second infusion.

Add the measured proprtion of cocoa to the jar of infused spirits and shake thoroughtly. Set aside for 2 weeks.

At the end of 2 weeks, it is time to filter and clarify the infused sprits. Tip: do not shake the jar one week before filtering the third pass. It will help to separate the clarified part from the cocoa sediments.

CAREFULLY rack off the clarified part through a paper towel filter. This will allow most of the liquid to pass through the filter before becoming clogged.

Allow the remaining liquid to pass through the paper towel filter. This can take an hour or so … maybe less. Tip: you can save the filtered cocoa paste from this step and use it to make "fortified cocoa".

Allow the filtered spirits to settle for about a week, then begin racking off the clarified part through a paper coffee filter into a clean jar. CAREFULLY pour the clarified part into the paper filter. Discard any remaining sludge. Allow to settle for several more days and repeat this step. Continue racking off the clarified spirits into a clean jar until the spirits are completely clarified. This step can take several rackings over a period of about a month.

Shown below is a shot of the paper coffee filter after the infused spirits have been filtered through it.

After about a month of periodic rackings with paper coffee filters, the infused spirits will be completely clarified and ready to blend. Note: In the shot below I combined 2 batches into one jar.

Continue to Tropical Coffee Liqueur Recipe – Part IV

Second Infusion – Add Coffee and Peppermint

Shown below is a shot of the ingredients for the second infusion: infused spirits, coffee and peppermint leaves.

Shown below is a shot of the ingredients for the 2nd infusion measured out and ready to add to the jar. Note: Set aside the peppermint leaves for now. Only add the coffee, then wait for 3 weeks to allow the coffee to macerate, then add the peppermint leaves, then macerate for an additional week. If peppermint leaves are macerated too long, then they can get bitter.

Shown below is a shot of the ingredients that have been added and shaken for the second pass.

After 4 weeks, the second pass is ready to filter. Shown below is a shot of the infused spirits being strainined through a metal coffee filter.

Continue to Tropical Coffee Liqueur Recipe – Part III

This is a recipe I worked out while trying to make homemade Kahlua. It is a vodka based coffee liqueur with tropical flavorings. I have since worked out a better recipe for homemade Kahlua but this one came out pretty good, so I decided to bottle it.

This is a complex recipe because it is made in three infusions. You could make something similar with one infusion like most homemade liqueurs, but there is simply too much volume of fruit, coffee and other botanicals in proportion to the volume of vodka to obtain a decent result with any kind of intensity. You really have to do it in three infusions.

This liqueur has coconut, banana, coffee, peppermint and cocoa flavorings. First you infuse the coconut and banana, then you strain it, filter it and clarify it. Then you infuse coffee and peppermint, then filter it. Then you infuse the cocoa flavor, then filter it and clarify it, then blend and bottle it. Do you see what I mean? It is a complex recipe, but it is worth it.

Unfortunately, in the process you will lose about 40% of the infused spirits. If you make a double batch and start out with 10 cups of vodka, then by the time you are finished, you will have about 6 cups of infused spirits. The blending step will raise the volume by about 2 1/3 times the amount of infused spirits for the final amount.

You can make Black Russians and White Russians and other mixed drinks that use Kahlua with this liqueur. This was the recipe I used for the coffee liqueur brownies. I think that this tropical coffee liqueur recipe is better than Kahlua or homemade Kahlua for the brownie recipe.

Most coffee liqueur recipes on the Internet use instant coffee or brewed coffee. Both of these methods will impart a bitter flavor to the liqueur so I had to find a better method. I figured I could try infusing coffee into the vodka like any other botanical and it worked well without imparting any bitterness or without making the liqueur watery.

Once I figured out how to add the coffee flavor to the liqueur, I wanted to work out the best way to add the tropical flavorings (coconut, banana, peppermint and cocoa). In order to achieve the right intensity of all of the flavors I would have to macerate the ingredients in progressive passes (infusions). There is just too much volume of ingredients to be infused in one pass.

After all the flavors have been infused, the final step is sweetening and blending. This recipe uses standard caramel syrup and standard sugar syrup. I wanted the finished liqueur to be fairly viscous so I came up with the idea to boil down the standard sugar syrup to 90% of its volume to thicken it slightly. This recipe calls for a blending stock to be made from boiled down sugar syrup plus caramel syrup plus 100 proof vodka. It is necessary to combine the boiled down sugar syrup with the other ingredients as a blending stock to keep the boiled down sugar syrup from crystallizing.

First Infusion – Add Coconut and Banana

Shown below is a shot of the ingredients for the first infusion: natural, unsweetened shredded coconut, ripe bananas and vodka. Note: bananas will be just right when dark spots begin to appear on the peels. They should not be too soft or too hard. Use the photo below as a guide.

First, add the shredded coconut to the jar. It should be natural, unsweetened, shredded coconut.

Next, dice the bananas and add them to the jar.

Finally, measure out the vodka and add it to the jar.

Vigorously shake the jar to thoroughly mix all the ingredients and set the jar aside in a cool place. Below is a shot of the batch before maceration:

Pass I – Straining, Filtering and Clarification

After one week, the infused spirits are ready to strain and filter. Shown below is a shot of the first pass after maceration:

Carefully pour the infused spirits through a metal coffee filter into a clean jar.

Pour the remaining solids though a kitchen strainer into a saucepan.

Pour the strained liquid through the metal coffee filter, adding it to the same jar.

Now strain the solids a little at a time through cheesecloth, squeezing out all the juice and add the juice to the jar.

Shown below is a shot of the jar with the strained liquid after the first infusion. Set the jar aside in a cool place for about a week to clarify.

After about 7-8 days, the sediments will have separated. It’s ready to filter. You can see some of the sediments are floating and some of the sediments are on the bottom. The filter will catch it.

After about a week, the infused spirits should be fairly clarified with most of the sediments separated. Pouring very slowly and carefully, filter through a paper towel into a clean jar. Let it stand and filter for about 30 minutes until there is no more liquid coming out.

Here you can see the solids have all been caught by the filter.

The clarified spirits are ready for the next infusion.

Continue to Tropical Coffee Liqueur Recipe – Part II

Step Two: Clarifying or "Racking"

After 4 weeks, the infusion of the almond flavor into the vodka will be complete. If the contents of the jar is allowed to settle in the final week, you will be able to see a partially clarified part at the top of the jar and the bulk of the sediments at the bottom.

CAREFULLY pour off the partially clarified part from the top of the jar into a clean jar through a metal coffee filter. This is the first racking. When the sediments start to flow into the filter, stop pouring and setup a saucepan with a kitchen strainer.

Pour the remaining sediments and "sludge" into the saucepan through the kitchen strainer.

Below is a shot of the saucepan with the strainer and all the solids from the jar. Let it settle for several minutes to allow all the liquid to pass through the strainer.

Tip: Save the chopped almonds from the strainer and put them in the refrigerator and save them for making almond liqueur cookies.

Pour the sludgy part from the saucepan into a separate "sludge jar". Allow the sediments to settle for a few days in this jar, then rack off the top part through a metal coffee filter similar to the first racking done previously.

Repeat the racking steps over and over several times over a period of weeks, allowing the sediments to collect at the bottom of the jar, then racking off the clarified parts into a clean jar. Use two jars – one for the main part that is nearly clarified and one for the cloudy part. As more an more of the infused spirits are cleared up from the cloudy part, you can transfer the clarified part to the other jar. Use paper coffee filters periodically to filter out the sediments. BE PATIENT and do not be in a hurry. Shown below is a shot taken 9 days after the first racking. It’s nearly clarified, but not finished.

After several rackings the infused spirits will be completely clarified. It is ready to sweeten and blend. Shown below is a shot of the clarified spirits 30 days after the first racking. It is completely clear.

Sweetening and Blending

Once the infused spirits are completely clarified, then it is time to add vanilla extract and sweeten the liqueur. Shown below is a shot of the ingredients for sweetening and blending. Starting in the back row, left to right: clarified infused spirits, standard sugar syrup and standard caramel syrup. Front row: vanilla extract and a measuring cup.

One of the secrets to a good homemade liqueur is the sugar syrups used for sweetening. Follow the recipes for standard sugar syrup and standard caramel syrup found here at this blog. Shown below is a shot of the blending stock – 2 parts caramel syrup and 1 part sugar syrup.

Add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract for every cup of clarified spirits and sweeten with 1 cup of blending stock for every 2 cups of clarified spirits. You can vary the amount of blending stock to taste. It should be on the sweet side and it needs to be smooth – not too much bite – or people will make a face when they drink it.

This is a variant of the recipe for almond liqueur. The steps are identical up to the point where the clarified spirits are to be sweetened and blended. In this case, instead of sweetening with 100% standard sugar syrup, you will prepare a blending stock of 2 parts standard caramel syrup plus 1 part standard sugar syrup and sweeten the clarified, infused spirits with this combination of syrups.

Homemade almond liqueur is very easy to make and is an ideal liqueur for beginners. The caramel flavor goes well with almonds and it makes an unusually good variety.

Make sure to use raw almonds. Be careful not to buy them roasted or salted. Raw almonds are readily available from Costco or Trader Joes (in Southern California). Most health food stores should carry them.

Use a good quality vodka. It does not have to be expensive, but don’t use such a cheap brand that it will cause your liqueur to have a harsh or bitter taste. Cheap brands of vodka contain impurities (congeners) that are impossible to mask with sugar.

Step One: Infusion

Below is a shot of the ingredients you will need. Starting from the top and going left to right: vodka, raw almonds, granulated sugar, cinnamon sticks, measuring cups. I was able to obtain a bag of cinamon stocks in 1-inch pieces from Herb Products Co, but you can find cinnamon sticks in the spice section of most supermarkets.

Measure out 1 1/2 cups of almonds then grind them up in a coffee grinder. Take care not to grind them too much. If the almonds are too powdery, then it will be difficult to clarify. Don’t try to grind them all at once. The metal cup in the grinder will only hold so much at a time.

Here is a shot of the ground almonds being poured out of the grinder. Pour off the ground almonds and repeat until all the almonds are ground up. After grinding the almonds, use the coffee grinder to grind up the cinnamon sticks.

Add the ground almonds and cinnamon to the 1/2 gal Mason jar, then add 1/2 cup of sugar.

The last step is to add 6 cups of vodka.

Close the lid tightly, then shake all the ingredients to thoroughly mix them together.

Now, set the jar aside and let it macerate for 4 weeks. Every few days, shake the jar up again to keep the ingredients mixed. Do not shake the jar during the last week to allow it to settle and make it easy to rack off the clarified part.

Continue to Almond Caramel Liqueur Recipe – Part II

Costco has some really nice fresh blackberries now. I was just at the store in Burbank, California. They are selling them in 18 oz. containers for $4.99. They are sold under various brand names, today they were selling Sunbelle brand:

These are fresh, ripe and juicy – perfect for making blackberry liqueur. They must be in season because last year almost to the day I made 5 batches from 3 of these 18 oz. containers of Costco blackberries:

If you want to make blackberry liqueur then now would be the perfect time to do it.

Part III – Blending and Bottling

Assemble all the the ingredients for blending and bottling. Shown below clockwise from far left: macerated spirits, caramel syrup, sugar syrup, 100 proof vodka (Smirnoff No. 57), vanilla extract and a glass 2-cup measuing cup. Refer to the recipes for standard sugar syrup and standard caramel syrup here at the website.

It is easiest to make a blending stock of caramel syrup, sugar syrup and 100 proof vodka and use it when you are ready to blend and bottle the liqueur. Blending is simplified this way. Start by adding 1 1/3 cup of caramel syrup to a 2 cup glass measuring cup. Fill to the level of the first line in the photo below. Next, add standard sugar syrup to the 2 cup line. Pour the combined syrups into a clean jar emptying the measuring cup. Next, pour 1 cup of 100 proof vodka into the same cup and stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve all the syrup that clings to the inside of the measuring cup into the vodka. Pour this into the same jar as the syrup mix. Stir the blending stock in the jar thoroughly. Set the jar aside for blending.

When you are ready to blend and bottle, simply pour 1 cup of macerated spirits into a clean jar, then add 3 cups of blending stock plus one teaspoon of vanilla extract. Stir with a wooden spoon until thoroughly mixed. Use a funnel then fill, cork and label each bottle, then seal with a hood.

The photo below shows the clarity and color as compared to DiSaronno Originale.