Homemade Coffee Liqueur

A while ago, we reported on the blog that we made coffee liqueur with used coffee grounds. The result was a strong coffee liqueur. We used it in several mixed drinks, but the flavor was not quite like most coffee liqueurs. It may be due in part to the fact that I used vodka to make the liqueur rather than rum.

A few weeks ago, we ran out of coffee liqueur and wanted to either get or make some more. We have a friend who makes a wonderful homemade coffee liqueur, so we asked him for the recipe and gave it a try. This was a more mild liqueur that makes a better mixer than the previous recipe we tried. 

What are the benefits of making your own liqueur? First, you know what the ingredients are. Second, you control of the quality. Third, it is more economical than purchasing a brand name liqueur, especially if you use an economical brand of rum. Just remember, though, that the quality of your ingredients will affect the quality of the results!

Here is the recipe we used:

Coffee Liqueur

Ingredients:

4 c. of coffee

4 c. of sugar

4 c. of rum (spiced rum is recommended)

3 T vanilla

Directions:

Make a pot of coffee. While still warm, pour 4 cups into a pot and add the sugar. Heat and stir constantly until the sugar dissolves completely. This will make a nice coffee syrup. Set aside and let cool to room temperature. 

Once the coffee and sugar syrup is cooled, stir in the rum and vanilla. Mix well. Pour into a glass container (or several containers) with a tightly fitting lid. Store in a cool, dark place.

*The liqueur can be used immediately, but the flavor is best after it sits for 3 months. 

Notes from Our Experience:

You can store your liqueur in canning jars if that is what you have. We purchased these taller dark bottles at a thrift store last year. The shorter ones were a gift from a friend. These were the perfect bottles to store our liqueur!


We have already tried the liqueur in the canning jar already. It is really good! We did not have spiced rum on hand when we made this batch, so we used dark rum and a touch of light rum to fill out the four cups of rum. The flavor was nice, but not as good as when it is made with spiced rum. We are looking forward to making another batch with the proper ingredients. 

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