While it might be too late for you to make Kahlua and gift it next week on Christmas — it takes three weeks for the coffee beans to infuse the vodka and rum mixture — I highly recommend you make this and give it to someone as a hostess gift in early January.
People are always surprised that liquors can be homemade, so it makes for an unexpected gift. What most don't realize is that the best bartenders are busy mixing up everything from homemade Baileys to fresh grenadine. The techniques they use to make these superior mixers are easily adaptable for the home.
A few weeks ago when I decided to make this, I spoke with friend and master mixologist Scott Baird of 15 Romolo in San Francisco. Although most recipes call for simply a clear spirit like vodka or light rum, Baird insists on a mixture of vodka and dark rum for a rich flavor and thick syrup-like liquid. To look at his recipe, read more.
From Scott Baird of 15 Romolo
Ingredients
1 750 ml bottle vodka or white rum (I used Stoli)
1 1/4 cups dark rum (Scott recommended Pampero, but I couldn't find it)
1 1/2 cups sugar
3/4 pound whole coffee beans
1 tablespoon cocoa nib (optional)
1 vanilla bean
cinnamon stick, slice of orange peel (optional)
Directions
- Combine all of the ingredients in a sealable container. Shake hard to combine.
- Label with the date and let sit in a cool, dark place for three weeks. Shake or stir the mixture several times of week.
- Strain through cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer into a clean vessel. Use like you would Kahlua or any other coffee liquor.
Makes 1 bottle of Kahlua.
Print recipe with images | without images
Jerome Dreyfuss
Tom Tailor
Acne Jeans
Very cool!
1I'm a little confused after looking at the pics --- are you supposed to put the items in a saucepan and heat or did you just use a saucepan as a "mixing bowl"
2I just used the saucepan as a mixing bowl. No heating — you don't want to boil off the alcohol!
3My husband made his own Kahlua once in college, but I think he did it the "frat boy" way...I think he dumped a bunch of coffee beans and sugar and a bottle of cheap vodka into a container and let it steep. He said it tasted OK, but it wasn't great. This recipe looks like it would work out a lot better, lol. I'll have to try it.
4Ha! Didn't think so. Just wanted to make sure!
5My husband and I are going to be the "favorite" relatives when we put this into the gift baskets for the family reunion gift basket exchange on New Year's Day! LOL
I also need to start planning the contents of our goodie gift bags and baskets for next year
because there are way too many wonderful ideas on this website! 
6So it comes out kind of syrupy like commercial Kahlua?
Do the beans retain their shape or do they start breaking up from sitting in liquid so long?
7I am going to make this over the weekend!
8Yum...I like Kahlua.
9Where can I find an empty bottle like this?
10MaggietheCat: I am suck a dork and save bottles. Any time I have a nice olive oil that runs out, I simply wash the bottle and reuse it. The homemade grenadine was packaged in another old olive oil bottle.
11sorry, what is a cocoa nib?
12My ex made his own Absinth once. I'll never forget the stomach churning hangover.
Homemade kahlua sounds cool though. I might make this for my partner.
13I can't find my original recipe. It has been awhile because then end of my last recipe is almost 2 years old. I thought I used water to dissolve the sugar and heated and stirred it until it totally dissolved then added the coffee cooled a bit added the vodka and cut the vanilla bean into 1/2" pieces and out them into bottles. Then added the coffee mixture and sealed the bottles. I lightly shook the bottles to keep the it from settling. I remember the recipe said store for 5 weeks but the longer it sits the smoother it gets. This last bottle is 2 years old and very good. If this recipe sounds familiar I need the amounts of each ingredient. I have forgotten and would like to make more.
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