Homemade Kalauha
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Ingredients
3 cups white sugar
10 teaspoons instant coffee
2 cups distilled water
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups vodka

Directions
1) Mix sugar, coffee and water in a large pot and bring to a boil.
2) Immediately reduce heat and simmer uncovered for 1 hour, stir every now and then.
3) Cool to room temperature.
4) Pour into a clean glass bottle.
5) Add 1 TBS vanilla and 2 cups vodka
6) Shake like crazy to mix
7) Allow to sit for one to two weeks to allow flavors to meld.

Notes from my experiences with this:
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- Any instant coffee will do, if it is a lighter bodied coffee, like a decaf (which is actually what I use for this, then you want to use a bit more. I use 15 teaspoons. I don't see any reason why you couldn't use a flavored instant coffee like a hazelnut if that's what you wanted, although I do think that coffees with creamer in them (like the general foods international flavors) are probably best avoided, that artificial creamer might get really wonky after being simmered for an hour.
- If you don't have distilled water, use bottled water. If you have a good RO purifier, that would be fine too. I would avoid Britta filter pitchers and the like, as they don't completely clean the water and it might result in a muddy taste after the long simmer.
- Be careful when simmering the sugar mix down, use the tallest pot you can find to prevent boil over.
- When you stir the simmering mixture, remove it from the heat source before stirring and wait a moment or you might experience some serious boil over.
- You should have about 2 cups of liquid after simmering is complete, so with 80 proof vodka the final liqueur will be about 40 proof give or take a few.
- If you want some kick in it, swap out the vodka for Everclear 190 proof alcohol (or Everclear 151 for those of you in restrictive states like California). (this is the best part)
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Why instant coffee and not something like expresso?
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Hurm...

Might work. Need to think about it a bit though...

Besides the obvious of "that's how I received the recipe" and "not everyone has access to a decent espresso machine, but anyone can pick up some instant coffee for a few dollars"

Most instant coffee is supposed to be used at 1 teaspoon per 6oz water, 2 cups = 16oz. 10 teaspoons into 16oz = over three times more concentrated, 15 teaspoons = about 5 times more concentrated.

I don't know how many teaspoons of instant coffee one would use to make a faux or pseudo espresso shot, but I think 3 to 5 sounds reasonable.

So, I guess one could make up 2 cups (16 oz) worth of strong espresso and try it in place of the instant coffee and the water.

It might even work out better with espresso, I dunno, but it would definitely open up a new set of flavors one could get from the greater selection of beans to choose from.

One thing I would wonder about is the little bit of ground coffee that ends up in every cup of espresso. You would probably not want this added to the pot to simmer as a one hour long simmer might cause this bit of grinds to turn the entire batch very bitter. I would think that pouring the espresso through a coffee filter would probably solve that issue though.

But, I don't have an espresso machine, so I can't try it.
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This sounds pretty good and fairly simple!

If you want something like Patron XO Cafe you could use Tequila instead of Vodka, although the Patron is still 80 proof while the best you could do at home would be much less than that.
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My wife would probally make it even though we dont drink. She loves doing things like this.
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/tagging this for later!
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1 cup tequila (80 proof) + 1 cup everclear (191 proof) = 135.5 proof mixture

Alcohol : reduced coffee syrup is about 1:1 so, if you use the above combo, you're at about 67-68 proof after mixing.

I've never tried Patron XO, so I don't know how prominent the tequila taste is and if the above would even work as a substitute.
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Love me some kalauha!!! +1
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I have made this before and it comes out good.
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Been tinkering with this recipe over the time period since I posted it, and have made some adjustments:

-Increase simmer time to 2 hours. You will have to turn the heat down towards the end of the simmer or it will burn and/or boil over. This will yield a heavy caramel mixture - allow to cool. It will be thick, possibly even plastic like in texture. Just add the vodka and vanilla to the pot over the top of the cooled mixture. Cover with a lid, allow to sit for about an hour - stir. If there are still undissolved lumps or patches of the sugar caramel mixture, just allow to sit longer until they dissolve. End result is a richer, more caramely tasting liqueur.

- Optional: add 1 TBS orange extract along with the vanilla and vodka. This yields a nice orange note to the final product. You can use less if you want, but using more might take over the mixture and destroy the flavors.
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I see someone posted about Patron XO Cafe, it's good stuff. From what I remember I'd say it tastes like 65% coffee liquor and 35% tequila. So the tequila taste isn't too foward.
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Black Russians (Kalahua) and Patron XO Cafe are two of my favorite drinks with cigars. :-)
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How come you bastages cannot spell Kahlua?

I'm not too much of a fan of regular Patron as Tom already knows, but the Cafe XO and Citronge are very good mixers.
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I just spelled it from Adam's thread title...your spelling looks right, Bill. :-)
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Tom is wise, my spelling is correct. I've drank a good number of Kahlua bottles making Russian Quaaludes. :-)
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I didn't want to get nailed for trademark infringement.


































Nah, seriously - it was a cut and paste recipe that I received from someone a long time ago and I never noticed the misspelling.
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I've made it with espresso before, comes out OK, but my latest go to for "fauxluha" is:

1/2 lb Dark Sumatra (or any dark roasted, OILY bean)
2 large cinnamon sticks
1 whole clove
1 vanilla bean, split down the center
Everclear or any neutral grain alcohol of at least 150 proof (can only get 150 proof here in Michigan.)

Put the whole works in a glass container and seal, agitate every couple days for at least two weeks, a month is better.

Strain the solids out.

make a simple syrup of 2 cups water, 2 cups sugar, heat until the sugar is completely dissolved, but DO NOT BOIL. Cool and add to the booze mixture, stir well, taste, adjust for sweetness.

If you like it a bit thicker, like the real stuff, add some food grade Glycerin (that's how the distilleries do it), about 2 Tb per fifth to start. Mix well, check the consistency, add more in 1 tsp increments.

You can add more water to bring the alcohol content down of course....but why would you want to? Hehehe

Also, anyone who has had Sheridan's Liqueur on a cruise only to come back to America and find it isn't available anywhere (other than the web). (BTW, you can get it in Canada for those of you near the border).

The wife was wanting some more, so I did some experimenting, and came damn close if I do say so...

To 1 Cup of your homemade Kahlua, add 3 Tb Torani Caramel syrup and squeeze the oil out of the skin of half an orange into it, mix well.
To 1 Cup Half & Half add 2 Tb Torani Hazlenut syrup, and 2 shots good Brandy.

If you saved your Sheridan's bottle, you can re-use that to do the mixing, which is pretty cool. Otherwise, just mix equal portions of the modified Kahlua and the spiffed up cream.

This stuff will keep about a week in the fridge (yeah, right ....it will be around for a whole week :-))



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started with the 1st post recipe years ago.....now use this revised recipe

1/2 gal of strong coffee
1/2 gal of Vodka x2
7 cups sugar
2 cap full of Vanilla Extract (caps off the vodka bottles)

bring coffee & sugar to a boil, then simmer 20 min
add vanilla extract to vodka while watching coffee boil
let coffee cool to room temp then add vodka
mix well then bottle and let rest for at least 3 days

I have found a few hidden bottles with a year or two aging on them :-)
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That recipe sounds good.

Do you grind the beans at all or they just go in whole (which is what it sounds like)?
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Whole beans! :-)
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