{"id":2013260,"date":"2024-07-10T20:07:06","date_gmt":"2024-07-11T05:07:06","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/?post_type=recipe&p=2013260"},"modified":"2024-09-11T02:35:18","modified_gmt":"2024-09-11T07:35:18","slug":"homemade-kahlua","status":"publish","type":"recipe","link":"https:\/\/www.tasteofhome.com\/recipes\/homemade-kahlua\/","title":{"rendered":"Homemade Kahlua"},"content":{"rendered":"

Whether you enjoy it as a sipper on the rocks or as part of a decadent cocktail, Kahlua’s rich flavor is surprisingly versatile. But its flavor is deeper and more nuanced when you make the coffee liqueur at home. Our homemade Kahlua recipe is less syrupy than the name brand, with a sweet (but not too sweet) character, some notes of vanilla and a buttery, caramelized flavor from dark rum. It’s one of the best\u00a0food gift ideas<\/a>\u00a0when the holidays roll around.<\/p>\n

Some coffee liqueur recipes require several weeks of steeping, or call for shortcut ingredients like instant coffee. Our easy Kahlua recipe falls somewhere in between. We start with real brewed coffee from our favorite coffee brands<\/a> for the purest coffee flavor. But instead of steeping, we turn the brew into coffee syrup so the liqueur is ready to drink as soon as the syrup cools. Of course, the flavors really round out if you can wait a week (or longer), so feel free to let it age before enjoying it.<\/p>\n

What Is Kahlua?<\/h2>\n

Kahlua is a brand of coffee liqueur founded in 1936 in Veracruz, Mexico, by four friends who wanted to infuse rum with coffee (specifically, Arabica coffee). Years later, the liqueur was used to create the black Russian<\/a> cocktail (and later, the lighter and creamier white Russian<\/a>). Its name\u00a0derives from an Arabic slang word for “coffee.”<\/p>\n

The key to crafting a truly great homemade Kahlua comes down to the quality of the ingredients used. You can make it with instant coffee granules, but we prefer to make our homemade coffee liqueur the old-fashioned way: with fresh-brewed espresso, sugar, vanilla and rum. The liqueur shines in everything from classic cocktails to desserts and boozy milkshakes like mudslides<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Homemade Kahlua Ingredients<\/h2>\n