I very much enjoy Coffee Liqueur and my vehicle for consumption is a White Russian. I like using Kahlua but it is expensive and it has come to my attention, through YouTube video's that it is quite simple to make your own. This will be a post to evaluate a number of recopies over time to see if one really can make something as good as Kalua and how various different recipes and ingredients do at replicating the flavors
The basic ingredients are Coffee, Sugar, and some type of spirit (rum for Kahlua). Then additional flavorings like chocolate and vanilla can be added for extra complexity. I look forward to exploring the various options.
Attempt #1:
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| Mine (L) and Kahlua (R) |
For my first attempt, I amusing a recipe from the Savidge Kitchen YouTube Channel. I am going to make something close to 1.75 ml to fill an old Kahlua bottle so this will be a double batch of their recipe. This is:
- Recipe:
- 4 Cups of white sugar
- 2 cups of coffee
- I used Folgers Classic which I drink every morning and like
- I make it strong with about 4-5 tbs for 2 cups
- 4 cups of my Oak aged everclear (which was diluted down to "barrel strength" of ~62%)
- 2 tbs of imitation vanilla extract
- Process:
- I combined the sugar and fresh brewed coffee in a 2 quart mason jar and swirled to dissolve the sugar - this got most of it
- I then added the 4 cups of alcohol and shook it to mix
- Vanilla was then added (I think the flavor contribution of this was pretty light compared with the coffee and whiskey flavors)
- I let this sit over night to mix and then transferred into the serving botte
- Flavor Notes:
- Aroma:
- Coffee is most prominent followed by a strong alcohol character and oak. Some vanilla mixed in there as well
- Appearance:
- Dark reddish brown and clear. Leaves legs on the glass
- Flavor:
- Sweet with a chocolatey and coffee flavor up front (no chocolate in this) then followed by a pretty strong boozy character. The oaky bourbon is a very strong contributor here
- Mouthfeel:
- Full bodied and very sticky on the palate
- Overall:
- Rich and syrupy with a pretty nice coffee flavor. It is very boozy and the bourbon flavor contributions are pretty profound
- Comparison to Kahlua:
- I think Kahlua has a much stronger coffee character both in aroma and flavor (also kind of a nicer and stronger chocolate-like component - almost like Hershey's syrup). The Kahlua is a bit sweeter than mine but it is fairly close (even a small amount of either of these is difficult to drink on its own). Mine is much more boozy and I think has a bit more going on in terms of complexity with the bourbon flavors. I like them both but think the stronger coffee flavor makes the Kahlua better than this version I made (I didn't follow the recipe for use of coffee so this is no reflection on the original sorce). This is a good data point for next time
