Monday, December 2, 2013

Homemade Holiday Gift Idea: Coffee Liqueur


I love the idea of homemade holiday gifts, but usually I don't get around to them in time. This year, though, I decided to turn my good intentions into great gifts and busted out a recipe I tried a few years ago: homemade coffee liqueur. It's like Kahlúa, but better. I compared it, over ice, to the store-bought stuff, and I had a hard time stomaching how syrupy and artificial the Kahlúa tasted after drinking my homemade version.

Most "homemade Kahlúa" recipes I've found online call for instant coffee, but I don't touch that stuff, so I wasn't about to include it in my labor of coffee-flavored boozy love. I figured a way around it: I made a stock pot of super-strong coffee (more of a coffee sludge) with freshly-ground beans, and manually filtered it. I mixed the filtered coffee with vanilla extract and sugar, then mixed that with an equal amount of vodka, and let it sit for 30 days.

This recipe takes a little work, and a lot of patience, but the result is an amazing, easy-to-sip coffee liqueur that will last indefinitely — I mean, if you don't drink it all right away.

Homemade Coffee Liqueur 
active time: 1 hour 30 minutes
total time: 1 month, 1 hour and 30 minutes
yield: 128 ounces (16 cups)

Ingredients
12 ounces of a quality dark roast, whole bean coffee
9 cups water
3 cups granulated sugar
3 tablespoons vanilla extract (I prefer Madagascar bourbon vanilla)
64 ounces (8 cups) vodka

Grind the coffee (if you have the option to choose the grind, choose the coarsest possible). Add the coffee grounds and water to a large pot, and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. As soon as the coffee begins to boil, reduce the heat to low and let the mixture (the “coffee sludge”) simmer for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Meanwhile, fashion some sort of filter system over a french press or other tall container. I used a ceramic drip cone used for pour overs that I picked up at a thrift store for $2 (you can buy them online and at many box stores and coffee shops). These cones are meant to sit on top of a coffee mug and require paper a paper filter. Since we don’t use paper filters, and I didn't want to go back to the store at 10 pm, I cut an unbleached flour sack towel, and used the pieces as my filter.


Ladle the coffee sludge into the filter. Depending on what you use, it may take a while to filter through, and you'll need to clear or replace your filter a few times before you get through the entire batch. 


You should have muddy grounds stuck in your filter. If not, it's probably getting into your mixture, and you don't want that.


Add the filtered coffee back to the (rinsed!) pot over low heat. Add the sugar and stir until all of the sugar is dissolved. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla and stir well. At this point, you should have about 8 cups of coffee syrup. Let the syrup cool for about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.


Now, you can do one of two things: 1. Add 8 cups of vodka and the syrup to a large jar or bottle. 2. If you’re adding this to individual bottles for gifts, go ahead and fill each bottle halfway with the coffee syrup, then fill the rest of the way with vodka. Either way, use a funnel.


Let your boozy concoction sit in a cool, dark place for 30 days. In the meantime, make tags or labels for your gifts. Give it a shake every few days, when you remember.


I know what you're thinking: "Hey! There aren't 30 days left until Christmas. Why didn't you post this earlier?"

No problem! Just write "Enjoy After ____" on your label or tag. Believe me, people will be happy to drink this on a cold January night or save it until Valentine's Day.

A word of warning: This homemade coffee liqueur is hard to put down, and pretty strong. I drank it the night Kyle proposed to me, and let's just say I'm really glad there's a video of the whole thing.


Have you made holiday gifts?

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