If you love coffee and cocktails, you’re sure to enjoy a homemade coffee liqueur. And while you can certainly purchase yourself a bottle of Kahlua to enjoy at the ready, making your own DIY Kahlua tastes better and may even turn out cheaper, depending on the brand of vodka you use for the base.

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Don’t go using Grey Goose for this stuff. Stick to a cheaper brand or go for my personal favorite, Tito’s. I always buy the jumbo jug when I run out– it’s more cost-effective to get the 1.75L bottle, trust me. Vodka is my go-to liquor for jam cocktails and for making my own infusions, like vanilla bean vodka and cinnamon vodka. If you have more on hand, you’ll be more likely to experiment with it. Or drink it. Or both.

Coffee liqueur historically is made with rum but I prefer using vodka. Rum, in my opinion, makes it a touch too sweet. And you’ll see from the recipe that there’s already plenty of sugar. I don’t want the sweetness totally masking the taste of the coffee. Many homemade coffee liqueur recipes also call for instant coffee. Sorry. Can’t abide coffee granules. I’ve gotta use the real deal.

As with all recipes, using fresh vanilla beans is always best. But, they’re a bit expensive. And, using fresh vanilla bean means you’ll have to wait at least 2 weeks before you can enjoy your homemade coffee liqueur. I opted to use vanilla extract that a friend brought me back from Haiti. It’s pretty dang good.

Coffee liqueur can be enjoyed by itself over ice, in a White Russian, a Colorado Bulldog, in your coffee, etc. There are even some amazing banana bread recipes out there that call for Kahlua, although I’ve never made any myself. I doubled the recipe when I made it yesterday so my home is overflowing with this intoxicating coffee nectar. Looks like I’ll be trying all these recipes. OH. Brilliant idea. Bananas foster with coffee liqueur! Oh my gosh. Yes. Gonna be making that.

The Ingredients for Homemade Coffee Liqueur

• 1 cup of STRONG freshly-brewed coffee — I should’ve added an extra scoop or two of grounds when I made the coffee but alas, I was using what I had leftover in the pot from my afternoon pick-me-up
• 1 cup of vodka
• 2 cups of sugar
• 1 Tablespoon of vanilla extract OR a 1-inch section of fresh vanilla bean (must age for 2-4 weeks)

The How-To

Add all ingredients to a saucepan and heat until all the sugar is dissolved. Let it cool slightly before pouring it into a container. If you don’t have a funnel, invest it one. It will make your life so much easier & cleaner. I used an old glass juice bottle. You could also use mason jars. Just make sure it’s something that can seal tightly. You don’t need to refrigerate it. Your coffee liqueur will last a looong time (thanks to the alcohol and all that sugar). But really, don’t drink it after like, 2 years. Just to be safe.