Homemade Kahlua Coffee Liqueur
Homemade Kahlua Coffee Liqueur is totally within your reach. Make a splash at your office or for your neighbors by delivering a little treat for them to enjoy.
Homemade Kahlua Coffee Liqueur
The secret to getting a great coffee kick in this is to cold brew your coffee...in vodka.
Yup. You read that right.
You are going to be essentially making a coffee extract, and its well worth the 24 hours it takes to get that done. You are left with a smooth, strong coffee flavor with none of the bitter coffee aftertastes. Use good liquor, 100 proof if you can find it, and good coffee too. It makes a difference!
You only need about 2 days to get this from an idea in your head to a gift on your best friend's doorstep. After you cold brew the coffee, strain it through a coffee strainer and start whipping up your simple syrup.
However much coffee extract you end up with, you need about 2x's as much simple syrup. This will allow you to adjust your batch size if you want to get really gifty with a lot of different people and not just a couple.
This homemade coffee liqueur, or "Kahlua" as it's known by its brand name, is way easier to make than you think. Plus? It contains NO INSTANT COFFEE, which is an instant deal-breaker for me when I'm making anything coffee-related.
I am from the land of the coffee snob. No instant coffee comes around this house! There's also no drip brewed coffee in this that's then been chilled, which is probably worse tasting than instant coffee.
But, isn't Kahlua made with rum?
Good catch! Traditional Kahlua IS made with rum. You can sub in rum in this recipe if you prefer. I like vodka best, but both options are delicious!
Why You'll Love This Recipe
- Bold Coffee Flavor - Fresh ground coffee infuses right into the vodka.
- Better Than Store-Bought - Customizable, cleaner-tasting, and less sugary.
- Easy Homemade Gift - Bottle it up and add a tag for a thoughtful DIY present.
- Simple Ingredients - No additives, just good vodka, coffee, sugar, and vanilla.
- Great In Cocktails - Perfect for White Russians, espresso martinis, or boozy desserts.
Try a splash in this Hazelnut Latte Recipe!
Recipe Shopping List
Wondering if you have to hit the store? Here's the list of items you'll need to make this recipe. For specific amounts, please refer to the printable recipe card at the bottom of the post.
- Coffee
- Vodka or Rum
- Vanilla bean
- Water
- Brown sugar
Put some in my Slow Cooker Hot Chocolate!
How To Make This Recipe
This is just the overview so you can see what you're actually getting into here. When you are cooking, you'll want to use the full recipe at the bottom of the page.
- Combine Ingredients: Add vodka, ground coffee, and vanilla to a large glass jar with a lid. Shake and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Strain The Coffee: Use a coffee filter to strain out the grounds. Discard them.
- Make The Syrup: Simmer water and brown sugar in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring for 5 minutes until dissolved.
- Mix It Together: Stir the syrup into the strained vodka mixture. Mix well.
- Bottle & Chill: Pour into bottles or jars, seal tightly, and refrigerate. Ready to drink in 24 hours, better after a week.
Try this incredible Carajillo Cocktail recipe too!
What can you make with homemade Kahlua?
These make awesome cocktails. Like my mudslide. Or White Russians. I'd love to have a shot of this in one of my homemade vanilla sweet cream cold brew coffees, too. Or add some of my homemade vanilla sweet cream for an iced coffee with a kick!
No matter what you make with this, the coffee lover in your family or friends group is going to love you a little more after you gift them a bottle of this!
Pin For Later
Homemade Coffee Liqueur
This homemade coffee liqueur is like a kahlua lover's dream. Great for homemade Christmas gifts or thank you presents!
Ingredients
- ½ cup freshly ground coffee
- 2 cups 100 proof vodka
- 1 vanilla bean, split (or 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract)
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups brown sugar
Instructions
- Place the vodka, coffee, and vanilla in a large covered glass jar. Shake to combine, and place in fridge for 24 hours.
- Strain the coffee through a coffee filter, and throw away grounds.
- Make simple syrup by placing the water and brown sugar into a large sauce pan. Simmer over medium heat, stirring frequently, for 5 minutes.
- Combine the simple syrup and the vodka coffee. Place into individual containers, and chill.
Nutrition Information:
Yield:
48Serving Size:
1Amount Per Serving: Calories: 231Total Fat: 0gSaturated Fat: 0gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 0gCholesterol: 0mgSodium: 4mgCarbohydrates: 7gFiber: 0gSugar: 7gProtein: 0g
Nutrition data provided here is only an estimate. If you are tracking these things for medical purposes please consult an outside, trusted source. Thanks!
question about the vanilla extract - 2 what? tsp, tbsp?
Hey Vicki! It is 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Thanks for pointing that out! I fixed it in the recipe as well. Happy holidays!
@Nicole Johnson - Be sure to add it to the print version (https://www.orwhateveryoudo.com/wp-json/mv-create/v1/creations/1106/print)as well.
Yeah, that should update automatically, I believe.
How do you store this after made? Fridge? Cupboard? For how long does it keep fresh?
I store it in the fridge just to be on the safe side. It would most likely be fine in the cupboard since it is mostly booze, but I prefer not to risk it if I don't have to.
Good morning, I wonder, do you let the syrup cool before combing?
I usually do, but I don't think it would hurt anything either way.
Where did you find those adorable bottles?
Amazon! I'll add it to the post. Here's a link! https://amzn.to/2oCyYVu
All the other Kahlua recipes I’m seeing call for the mixture to sit at room temp for 4 weeks or longer. Why is this one only required to sit for 24 hours and in the fridge? I would much prefer this shorter time but since I’m giving as a gift, I want to make sure it tastes great!
It is likely because the vodka cold brews the coffee pretty quickly. I'd do a small batch and then taste test to see if you like it before putting any bows on it. I really enjoyed it, but your mileage may vary! Since you only need 24 hours it should be easy to do a test batch.
Hi there! How large is one serving- 8oz?
I doubled the recipe and am thinking of how many bottles I need to buy. Thanks!
1 serving can be as big or as little as you’d like it to be. You’ll wind up with about 6-7 cups of liquid, so if you are dividing into 8oz bottles that’s 6-7 8 ounce bottles, I believe. It has been a minute since I made this though, and I believe I spread out mine in various sized packages (I went through a bit of an, “OMGOSH those little bottles are SO CUTE must order them all on Amazon” phase that year. Lol) So basically, your mileage may vary and I’d over-order and make something else or save the extras for next year!
I’m excited to try your recipe because my old one uses instant coffee. For the coffee in yours, does the grind matter? My cold brew pitcher directions say course grind.
For brown sugar, would you recommend light or dark in your recipe?
Thanks!
That's the exact same reason why I didn't want to use a lot of the existing methods that I was finding online. Instant coffee is not my jam. I did a course grind, I believe, but either should work pretty well. I prefer dark sugar because I like those notes of molasses, but if you don't you could go light! Thanks for visiting!
Hello I just made some of your cold brew coffee liquor and I was wondering how long it will stay good for and dose it have to stay in the fridge or can i put it in my liquor cabinet. Thank u.
I would keep it in the fridge just to be on the safe side, but with the amount of booze in this I'd expect it to last for a fair bit on the shelf. That being said, I haven't tested this myself, and homemade concoctions like this should really be refrigerated for food safety reasons. The stuff that's pre-bottled has been lab tested and had bacteria levels measured in order to determine how it should be stored and for how long. We can make some educated guesses based on the ingredients, but better safe than sorry!
I made this with coconut sugar instead of brown sugar and it turned out delicious! I really appreciate using coffee grounds and brewing it in the vodka,I too am from the land of coffee snobs. Thank you!
This sounds really good! I just have one question. Would rum work in place of the vodka? I'm not a huge fan of vodka.
Yeah, in fact, traditional kahlua IS made of RUM, I just am more of a vodka fan and had some on hand for this and it ended up working well. Rum will get you closer to actual kahlua though!
@Nicole Johnson,
Awesome! Thank you!
Hello there! I remember that simple syrup recepie was 1 cup of sugar and 1 cup of water. Did you chance it into kahlua recepie ? Or my knowladge is not that good.
Yup! This one is slightly different and uses brown sugar. It also waters down the vodka a bit so the end result isn't quite sooooo strong. Hope that helps!
Hi! I am trying to concoct this delicious recipe but have never worked with vanilla bean before. Do I split them and take the seeds out and not use the seed? Or use both? Which parts do I use? Thanks!
Hi Jacqui! You should split the vanilla bean, but leave all the seeds inside. Those are where most of the flavor is, so you want those to intermingle with the alcohol.
Sooo... I added the water to the vodka without reading. Oops. Is it going to be gross now or will it just be a milder version? Should I add extra coffee grounds?
I think it'll be fine. You might want to use a more concentrated simple syrup to sweeten it though, so it doesn't get further diluted, but I think either way it'll be delicious and drinkable.
I'm confused why your recipe doesn't call for rum when Kalhua is made with rum
This is a vodka-based kahlua.