How to make delicious coffee liqueur

Sure you can get reasonable coffee liqueur (liquor) at vons for $30.00, but this instructable shows one way of making it for dubiously less cost and with much more personality! Making liqueurs takes patience and a devotion to the final product. There will be many opportunities to take short cuts, but if all you wanted to do is get drunk, then don't bother reading any further...Well read the part about Everclear

I should warn you that not only is the drink you're going to make extremely alcoholic (50-80 proof), but the base alcohol is so much more. Grain alcohol is also highly flammable, but I'm not going to get into that...

Edit*: Another instructable for some info
http://www.instructables.com/id/A-Tasty-Coffee-Liqueur/?ALLSTEPS

Step 1 Ingredients and equipment

The following is sufficient to fill a 750 bottle.

Coffee, grounded just before making the coffee, enough to make 1 pint - Dark Roast
1 cup Grain Alcohol, 190 proof alcohol or 151 proof - typically goes by the name Everclear in the states. For our international friends this shouldn't be too hard to find as 190 proof, for Americans you typically will only get 151.
1/2- cup of raw Sugar or turbinado sugar, or if you want white boring sugar.
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

I will be using a Moka pot (Bialletti). Its typically an Italian coffee maker that makes something in between strong french coffee and espresso. Ideally you want your coffee as strong and as flavored as possible. Moka pots are fairly cheap ($20-$30) if you can find them. Bialletti makes sizes from 1 cup to 6. You'll be waiting awhile if you go with a 1 cup coffee maker, but a 6 cup coffee maker is tough to use for your morning shot.

You'll also need a large mixing pot, a pot for caramelizing sugar, and a coffee filter of some sort. Paper coffee filters don't seem to work well because the flow stops after awhile, so I found a reusable coffee filter that seems to work alright. The mesh may have been a bit too big though.

Comments

[diegot]

I wonder how this recipe would come out using a "cold brew" coffee.
Cold brew coffee does not have the somewhat acidic aftertaste that some hot brewed coffee can have.

[diegot]

I think the correct name for a 50/50 mixture of water and sugar (no matter what kind) is called simple syrup.

[hoffmakd]

Caramelizing sugar and making actual caramels are two totally different things. That might be where you got tripped up. As far as I know, you're doing just fine with your method!

[hixfixit]

You can also caramelise sugar in the microwave, be careful as the sugar holds a lot (A LOT!) of heat so will continue cooking for at least 30 seconds after removing from the microwave. 

Nothing usually happens for the first  minute or two, then pow, it's burnt.  you have been warned.

[moonchildmeli]

I could have not said it better myself!

[aryding]

Yes, you can get it in Oregon.

[anthony41]

Good stuff! Thanks for the informative thread. I made some and it turned out very nice.

[brawns214]

Fantastic!

[anthony51]

A friend of mine has a still that makes a nice clear booze, if I get him to brew up some it should work well with this recipe. We always dissolved the sugar and added glycerine to thicken. Your trick of caramelizing and adding vanilla sounds to me like it would make a veery smooothe drink( extra letters intentional for the spelling nazi's).Some of the filtering comments have shown me where I've been messing up. Distilling alcohol is lawful in Qld Australia so long as no sales are made, sell it & the law lands on you like a ton of bricks. But there is a large community of brewers & distillers here. Thanx fer the ible

[brawns214]

You're welcome, and I'm curious how it will turn out with home-distilled alcohol. What sort of alcohol percentage can you get?

[illdoyourdrugs]

Not bad but all this...? There's plenty of quality coffee liquor for cheap. 8 bux and tasted delicious.

[brawns214]

I had a much longer rant about this, but the little box below says be nice, so I had to erase it. Heh, not really. I just like doing things on my own. Making my own beverages certainly falls in that same pattern. Learning how to do something like this is half the fun, and the other half is refining the process until you can make something that is superior to what the industry makes. I guess another half is enjoying the homemade product.

[illdoyourdrugs]

i love coffee liquor but it just seemed like an expensive process and i thought i saw the word cheap in the title so thats why i commented. Why not sell your product if you feel its worthy?

[brawns214]

Because I would have to go through all sorts issues getting permits to sell and distribute an alcoholic product. Really I just want to sit back, relax and enjoy a nice cup of liqueur with some whole milk made in my own kitchen. It does make great gifts though. Try it out, see how it compares to what you've got sitting at home.

[illdoyourdrugs]

Possibly i will my friend

[scoochmaroo]

This is the spirit of Instructables! You don't make it just to save money, you make it because you can! Because we take pride in what we make. Because a handmade gift is better than anything mass-produced. Because any extra cost is worth the looks on their faces when they receive. Kudos to you, now where do I find the chocolate liqueur recipe????

[illdoyourdrugs]

i misunderstood. I thought i saw the word cheap in the title so that was what my comment was about. You dont have to tell me about the spirit of instructables. i have been a member since 07 and have been on the site years before that. I love making things as we all do.

[brawns214]

Thanks! You should be able to find it as the top listing in 'related' or under "How to make delicious chocolate liqueur".

[scoochmaroo]

Awesome! You could link to it directly from here in step 6!

[brawns214]

Will do! Since this one has been featured and put in a newsletter, its has 15 times more views. However coffee liqueur is not (!) 15 times better than chocolate liqueur.

[MRubenzahl]

Here's a good way to make the coffee. Better than most espresso makers, in my opinion: http://feedme.typepad.com/my_weblog/2007/07/coffee-contrapt.html

[robot797]

I realy preverer the krups 889. i like its koffie.

[brawns214]

Haven't tried the AeroPress, but I did randomly get that Aerolatte from my mother. It works surprisingly well. The aeropress sounds like a great way to get good espresso quality coffee for this liqueur.

[MRubenzahl]

Regarding caramel, in step 3: What you are doing is caramel, and it is the right way. The wikihow is the same method (they're using less water, which makes little difference). You're doing it right. Just one hint: Watch it very carefully and use a light-colored pot (not dark non-stick). Once it starts to brown, it goes very quickly and burns quickly. Take it to a medium-dark color. Caramel candies are made by adding cream to the caramel.

[brawns214]

Glad to know, it seemed to turn out alright. Though since I was using raw sugar it started out brown to begin with, so its hard to say when it was done.

[weno]

is this some hacks pressure valve?

[brawns214]

No its a safety valve built in to just about every coffee maker of this type. If you were to pack the grounds to tight, it actually may be used. Otherwise, most people don't really notice it being used.

[isaberg]

Great instructable! I can't wait to try it. One question: I can't find the quantity of water anywhere - it just says "fill up the bottom of the container with water," but you also say that this coffee pot comes in different sizes and don't specify the one you're using. Once I know how much water, I'm trying this right away! Thanks -

[brawns214]

The amount of water to use just depends on the size of moka pot you choose. I have a 3 cup and a 1 cup. For both you fill the water until the pressure release valve in the bottom container. I think the picture shows the level pretty well. The cool thing about these types of coffee makers is that the strength is the same as commented below. If you were to add in half the water needed, you get half the coffee at the same strength.

[brawns214]

Cup here means little espresso shot sized cup, not an 8 ounce mug like Americans typically used. Needless to say, it will take quite a bit of coffee to fill up your pint glass.

[AlessandrPru]

if you are talking about how much water to put in the coffee maker, its until the pressure valve/nut in the base. Brawns also has it in the second photo under step two.

[djsc]

it says use enough coffee to make 1 pint, and I think in a moka pot-the device he is using, the strength is basically fixed. I think he is using the smallest size moka pot which makes the espresso 1 or 2 shots at a time, so I guess you fill it up with water multiple times until all the ground coffee is used, irrespective of the size of pot.

[buZztiaan]

looks like he's using a '6 cups' bialetti mocha express :)

[Swishercutter]

I have heard you can buy the 190 proof stuff in Montana and someone said Oregon...as far as Washington and Idaho I personally have never even seen the 151 Proof Everclear in a store.

[Jonny Katana]

I bought the 190 in Arizona.

[brawns214]

Aw man, I just have to go over the border to Arizona??!!

[caustic4]

The only place I've ever seen Everclear is at the exchange on a military base.

[davethegiant]

http://www.everclearalcohol.info/buy-everclear-online/

[djsc]

"dubiously less cost"! LOL. Is coffee liqueur distinct from coffee schnapps? I can't get everclear and I would be more interested in making coffee schnapps- anyone?

[brawns214]

By the time you buy bottles, labels, high quality coffee beans, vanilla extract, sugar and everclear, you could easily spend more the first time around. Once you have the bottles and supplies for making it again, it should about $10/bottle. The problem is, once you make really good stuff, you tend to want to give it out as gifts so you don't get your bottles back. Kahlua is probably the closest thing to what I've made here.