⏰ 35 minutes 🍸 Tip 💰 Affordable 🏃‍♀️ Slow

There are many different brands of Coffee Liqueur which you can buy from most supermarkets. Kahula and Tia Maria are the marketing leaders. Did you know you can make it yourself at home and it only takes around 35 minutes to prepare?

Rum or Vodka are the two alcohols commonly used to make coffee liqueur. We recommend using Rum. It’s slightly sweeter and closer to the taste of the popular brands you may be used to.

The liqueur doesn’t take much time to prepare… However, it will take about 10 days for the flavour to fully develop. When it’s done, your coffee liqueur can be enjoyed on its own, over ice, or in your favourite cocktails. Take a look at Black Russian & White Russian for cocktail ideas which use coffee liqueur!

Ingredients

  • 750g of Caster Sugar
  • 450ml of Water
  • 1 piece of Vanilla Bean
  • 8 Tablespoons of Instant Coffee
  • 1 750ml bottle Rum

Method

  1. In a saucepan over medium to high heat, combine the vanilla bean, sugar, and water to create a vanilla sugar syrup. Bring to a boil, stirring until the sugar is completely dissolved and then reduce to a simmer.
  2. When the sugar solution has reduced by half, or after about 30 minutes, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the instant coffee.
  3. Then allow the mixture to cool.
  4. In a glass bottle, combine the coffee syrup with the rum. Then shake well and let it sit in a cool, dark area for 10 days. Every day or two, give the bottle a good shake.
  5. After 10 days, strain the liqueur through a fine mesh strainer to remove all the coffee granules and the vanilla bean.
  6. Store the liqueur in a bottle and it is now ready to use.

Photo credit Harry Still – The Home Cocktail Club member!