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If you search the web for homemade Kahlua recipes, you’ll find tons of variations. Some are made with instant coffee or espresso powder, while others are made using freshly ground coffee beans. Some incorporate vanilla by way of vanilla extract, while others will scrape whole vanilla beans and infuse finished bottles with the pods. Some are made using a base of rum, and others are made using vodka. In other words, there’s a lot of wiggle room for experimenting with different techniques. A lot of it comes down to personal preference.
Today we’re sharing our own variation on the recipe, which we’re making a few weeks ahead of time for the holidays. We want each bottle to have plenty of time to infuse before we package them up and gift them out for Christmas.
- 4 cups water
- 2 cups dark brown sugar
- 2 cups sugar (we used vanilla sugar)
- ½ cup instant espresso powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 3 cups vodka
- whole coffee beans or vanilla bean for garnish (optional)
- sterile glass bottles
- In a medium saucepan, combine the water, sugar and espresso powder. Heat until sugar has dissolved, and remove from heat to let cool.
- Once mixture has returned to room temperature, add the vanilla extract and coffee. Pour into sterile glass bottles and garnish each bottle with a vanilla bean or whole coffee bean (optional).
Used In This Project:
- Fancy Square Labels • The “Modern Museo” style in cappuccino.
- Circle Hang Tags • The “Winter Cheer” style in mint.
SHOP OUR ENTIRE HOLIDAY COLLECTION >
Josephine Guicciardi is the nom de plume of our creative Evermine blogger. With romantic connections to Ludwig van Beethoven’s “Immortal Beloved” love letters, it is in keeping with the blog’s themes of love and joy. The great composer writes the famous words “ever thine, ever mine, ever ours” to a woman who remains a mystery to this day. Two of the most likely objects of his adoration are Josephine Brunsvik and Guilietta Guicciardi, and it’s from these two women that Josephine Guicciardi draws her persona.
How much coffee should be used in this recipe?
Your instructions say to add vanilla extract and coffee but there’s no coffee in the ingredients?
Hi Lovie, the “coffee” is the water, expresso and sugar mixture— so you will simply add the vanilla to that once it’s cooled 🙂