How to Make Homemade Kahlua. An Easy Coffee Liqueur Recipe
By John D Lee
All you need...
Shaken or Stirred?
 | Amazon Price: $9.90 List Price: $19.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $5.13 List Price: $9.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $1.98 List Price: $19.95 |
 | Amazon Price: $18.14 List Price: $35.00 |
In much of the world, Kahlua is sold as a very premium liqueur. Were I to walk to my local wine and liquor store for a bottle of Kahlua I'd pay almost 40$! Which, although I do like an occasional Mexican coffee, is steep indeed…
Fortunately, a friend recently showed me the trick to making my own, very Kahlua like, coffee liqueur, and it can be made for a fraction of the cost of the original – I figure it costs me about 6$ a bottle.
It is very easy to do, only takes about 10 minutes of active work, and the patience to wait a few weeks to let the flavors meld. Once made, your coffee liqueur will keep safely on the shelf for at least 6 months - and probably for much longer.
As with anything, the quality of the ingredients does impact on the eventual taste, but the recipe as follows is for a pretty quick and easy and affordable concoction – after all, if you're going to spend a fortune on ingredients…why not just buy the original in the first place!
Homemade Coffee Liqueur (Kahlua-ish)
This won’t be an exact replica of the original, but it will be pretty close.
- ½ cup of instant coffee (Not decaffeinated)
- 11/2 cup of sugar
- 2 cup of water
- 2 Tbls vanilla extract (imitation is fine)
- 1 750 ml (26 oz…a fifth) bottle of generic vodka
- Mix the coffee the sugar, the water and the vanilla together in a saucepan and bring to a simmer, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Let it all simmer together for about 10 minutes before removing from the heat.
- You want to have about 3 cups of coffee "syrup" at this point. Measure, and if you’re short, add a bit of water in to top it off.
- Mix in the entire bottle of vodka (40% alcohol)
- Store in clean bottles (old wine bottles or water bottles will work just fine – make sure to sterilize them by rinsing them out in boiling water first.)
The liqueur is drinkable immediately, but will get far better after about a month of aging. Serve as a substitute for Kahlua in cocktails such as the mudslide, in Mexican coffees or Monte Cristo coffees or enjoy straight up over ice cubes.
This does not need to be refrigerated and will keep for many months at room temperature. The alcohol content of the coffee liqueur is approximately 20%.
 | Amazon Price: $8.20 |
 | Amazon Price: $8.20 |
Comments
Brings back memories for me, too. I haven't made this in years, and have no idea what happened to my recipe. Thanks for publishing, and for the storage tips, too!
I have never made coffee liquor. I have made most everything else, down to peppermint schnapps. This will be a great project for the party season soon to be coming up. Thanks for sharing.
regards Zsuzsy
First time i ever made liquor. This tastes like the real thing. Thanks so much for sharing.
Vi Brock, you are very welcome, and I know I was excited too when I first made this and found how closely it tasted like real Kahlua!
That's a great recipe! Funny that it never occurred to me before to simply make coffee liqueur at home. Thanks for breaking it down.
Using brandy and a real vanilla bean, make this much tastier.
Just made this this afternoon.
So delicious and couldn't have been simpler.
Thank you tons for this.
Thanks everyone for the comments and compliments - Kayce, using brandy and real vanilla sounds like a great variation!
How many bottles did you use for the made kahlua approx?
I use a full bottle of vodka and I end up with about 2 full bottles of kahlua
This sounds awesome, could one use Splenda instead of sugar - this if for the diabetics out there:) Also, would you have a peach snapps recipe?
Hi Gertrude:
I think you could use splenda - although i don't know how it would age? But the texture would be compromised, as it is the sugar in the mixture that gives kahlua its rather syrupy finish.
Could you remove the water and instant coffee and just add the same amount of real, fresh-brewed coffee?
Could you remove the water and instant coffee and just add the same amount of real, fresh-brewed coffee?
This is great, I made it with Pinnacle whipped and man it's good. I will always have this on hand.
Kahlua is the best coffee liquor ever. My favourite kahlua drink is b52. Have you ever tried it? ( http://kahluadrinks.com/recipe/b52 )
Although I also like cafe kahlua, kiss recipe but b52 is simply exotic. Try it once!
Wow, what recipe did all these comments make? Not thinking it was this one. OMG this was horrible. The coffee taste was so stronge and overwhelming. I am now making extra 2 cups of simple syrup with 2 tsp. vanilla and 2 cups of vanilla vodka, to mix into this recipe, hope it helps. Otherwise I am out 4 cups of vodka plus every other ingredients. Don't know what ya'll made but I think that coffee should be cut into 1/3 this was way to coffee taste stronge. Horrible is all I can say, sure hope I can salvage it. Ewwwww!!! Ewwwww!!! Ewwwww!!!
Is that 1/2 cup pure coffee or 1/2 cup coffee blend with the water?
Where would be a good place to buy glass bottles for this?
Where would be a good place to buy glass bottles for this?
i saw bottles (decanters) at both cost plus world market and at sur la table.
can u use splenda instead of sugar?! thanks!
can you use ground coffee instead of instant? I hate instant. Going to try it
what are you thinking. instant coffee? people use real coffee or espresso. and not vodka. use clear springs.
this I am going to try! I have many recipes calling for Kahlua, but I cannot make them because they are too expensive. Now I can.
Going to try this today.
White Russians yea....
Tried making this with rum instead of vodka and it came out a little better. Quick and easy
Can't really tell you used instant coffee. If you don't like instant, try this: Add 1/2 cup instant coffee to an 8oz cup of brewed coffee. Need strong heavy flavored coffee because this stuff is strong.
Find a store that sells supplies for home brewing and they usually sell the bottle and corks or caps. There are places online that sell brewing supplies also. Am going to try the Kahlua recipe but need to find an affordable vanilla bean first. I heard that really helps with the kahlua recipe.
- The Webtender - Cocktail & Mixed Drink Recipes and Bartending Guide
Collection of cocktail and drink recipes. Search, vote and browse for drinks and cocktails. A bartender guide, web site index and forums are also included.
Katherine Baldwin 3 years ago
Hi John, boy, this brings back memories. I haven't made this since the '70's, but I just thought about it the other day, lol. I'm trying to get back to making everything from scratch like bread, potato chips, mayonnaise (loved your hub on making mayonnaise). With potato chips at almost $4.00 per bag, which is only half full to begin with, I have decided to take a stand and fight! I'll have to look around for some glass bottles to sterilize and make a batch of this. I think I also had a recipe for Bailey's Irish Cream, but haven't looked for it yet. If you've got one, maybe you could do a hub on that also.
Katherine