Homemade Kahlúa Recipe
This homemade kahlua recipe is like a little kitchen magic trick: combine simple ingredients for under 30 minutes, and suddenly you have a rich, aromatic coffee liqueur, ready for gifting.
🔍 Recipe At-A-Glance: Kahlua Recipe
- 🕰️ Prep Time: 10 minutes
- ⏰ Cook Time: 15 minutes
- ☕️ Flavor Profile: Sweet coffee with a one-two punch of alcohol.
- 🎉 Good For: An after dinner sip, mixing into evening cocktails, and making a pretty fabulous (and last-minute) homemade food gift.
- 🧡 Difficulty: If you can make a cup of strong coffee and stir, you can make coffee liqueur at home.
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🧡 Why You'll Love This Recipe
Hi friend: A few years ago, we gave all the grown-ups on our Christmas list bottles of our homemade kahlúa (AKA: coffee liqueur) and it was a HIT! The best part? No one knew that we made all the bottles in less than 30 minutes. Let us show you how to make the best holiday gifts ever.
Here's why you'll love this recipe:
- Customizable: Because you are in control, you can completely customize your homemade kahlúa to your tastes. More or less sugar, decaf or caf, bold roast or light roast, high alcohol or light-it's all up to you!
- Ready immediately: Unlike other infusions, like homemade vanilla extract, homemade limoncello, or even my strawberry wine recipe, this coffee liqueur recipe doesn't need to infuse for weeks or months. It is ready to drink right away, making it a great last-minute gift.
- Great gifting: You know I love a homemade food gift (I even wrote the book on gifts in jars), and this kahlua recipe is no exception. Gift it on its own or paired with some cocktail glasses and Christmas cookies or buckeye balls for a complete package.
☕️ The Ingredients You Need
- Everclear or rum: Ideally, you'll want to use grain alcohol (usually known as Everclear)...it is almost pure alcohol, so it has the cleanest flavor. That means you can let the coffee flavor shine on through. I also use it when making limoncello! Just be careful when using it-Everclear should never be used undiluted!
- Strong coffee: I like to use a dark roast to get the strongest flavor, but you choose your favorite. If you're concerned about caffeine, you can make it decaf. Just brew up some decaf coffee, and use that to make your kahlúa.
Make sure to check the recipe card below for the full ingredients list, along with quantities and my expert tips and tricks.
🔁 Variations & Substitutions
- Use vodka (highest proof you can find): In some states, Everclear isn't legal at all. In that case, you can use a strong vodka, but your final kahlua will not be nearly as strong.
- Mix it up: While kahlua is great for sipping straight, it is even better in a cocktail like an espresso martini or white Russian!
🥣 Kahlua Recipe How-To
Step 1: This is going to be oh-so-easy. Brew up that coffee, and remember to make it super-strong. Warm it with the brown sugar in a big pot until the sugar is dissolved.
Step 2: Let your new coffee syrup cool to room temperature, then stir in the vanilla and grain alcohol.
Step 3: Decant your new coffee liqueur into bottles. A funnel will make this so much easier (and reduce your clean-up time). That's it-you're already done!
💛 How Much Alcohol Is There?
How much alcohol is in each serving of your coffee liqueur depends on what proof alcohol you mix in. While we can't give you the exact percentage of alcohol of your kahlúa, we can give you some ballpark estimates:
| Starting Alcohol | Estimated ABV |
| Everclear 190 proof | 20% |
| Everclear 151 proof | 14% |
| Everclear 120 proof | 11% |
| Vodka 80 proof | 7% |
🙋🏻♀️ Kahlua Recipe FAQs
The classic way to drink kahlua is in a white Russian-that's a combo of cream, vodka, and kahlua! You can also use it to spike your coffee (it's great in a peppermint mocha!) or my hot chocolate mix recipe.
You can also drink it straight! There is nearly four times as much coffee as Everclear in this kahlua, plus a generous amount of brown sugar and vanilla extract, so it is plenty diluted and sweetened to be enjoyable on its own.
If you're using 190 proof grain alcohol, it doesn't have to be refrigerated to keep, because, with an alcohol content of 20%, it inhibits microbial growth pretty darn well. If you are using any other kind of alcohol to make this, please keep it in the fridge. In fact, since you use kahlua cold in a lot of drinks, it's a great place to store it.
If you're short on space or packing it up as a gift, it will be fine at room temperature for a few days.
👩🏻🍳 My Expert Tips & Tricks
- The stronger, the better: The stronger your coffee, the better your coffee liqueur! I recommend a dark roast or espresso, brewed stronger than you'd typically drink it straight.
- Stay safe: Always treat Everclear as an unfinished ingredient-never drink it undiluted. If you are using fully-leaded Everclear 190, make sure to use at least 3 ½ cups of water in your simple syrup and you'll be good to go!
- Bottle it up: I used these 12 ounce bottles, but any pretty food-safe bottle or jar will work well here!
📥 Download the Free Labels
I've made you some free labels for your Kahlua jars or bottles that you can print off at home. Just fill out the form below to get them delivered straight to your inbox.
🎁 More Homemade Food Gift Recipes:
If you tried this kahlua recipe or any other recipe on my blog, please leave a 🌟 star rating and let me know how it went in the comments!
📖 Recipe
Homemade Kahlúa Recipe
Ingredients
- 12 cups strong dark brewed coffee
- 2 pounds light brown sugar
- ⅓ cup vanilla extract
- 750 ml Everclear 190/189 Proof grain alcohol preferable or Everclear 151, Everclear 120, see post for more information
Instructions
- Pour 12 cups strong dark brewed coffee into a large soup pot, add in 2 pounds light brown sugar, and heat over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the sugar is dissolved, about 5 minutes.
- Remove from the heat and let cool to room temperature.
- Add in ⅓ cup vanilla extract and 750 ml Everclear 190/189 Proof grain alcohol. Pour into glass bottles, label, and store in a cool, dark place.
Video
Notes
- You want a very strong cup of coffee here! I recommend going with a dark roast and brewing it stronger than you would normally drink it.
- Never ever drink Everclear straight. It must be diluted!
Nutrition
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