Homemade Kahlúa

Yields: About 750ml–900ml | Real grounds, 2–4 day spirit steep

Ingredients

Coffee steep

• 1 cup Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans, coarsely ground (dark or espresso roast; grind like French press — too fine gets muddy and bitter)
• 2 cups Vodka (80-proof) or, preferred: 1½ cups vodka + ½ cup dark rum

Finish

• 1½ cups Turbinado or Demerara Sugar
• 1 cup Filtered Water
• 1 Vanilla Bean, split lengthwise or 2 tbsp Pure Vanilla Extract
• Pinch Fine Salt (optional — rounds bitterness)

Instructions

1. Grind: Grind beans coarse. Fresh grind matters more here than brand snobbery — stale grounds make flat liqueur.
2. Steep the grounds: Put coffee in a clean quart jar. Cover with the vodka (and rum, if using). Seal and shake. Store in a cool, dark place 2–4 days, shaking once a day. Taste at 48 hours: you want deep coffee, not ash. Most batches peak around day 3; go to day 4 only if it still tastes thin.
3. Strain hard: Pour through a fine-mesh sieve, then through a coffee filter or paper filter until the liquid runs clear. Squeeze the grounds gently — do not wring mud into the jar. Discard grounds.
4. Syrup: In a saucepan, heat water and turbinado sugar until fully dissolved. Cool completely. If using a vanilla bean, drop it into the warm syrup to steep while cooling.
5. Combine: Stir the coffee infusion into the cooled syrup. Add vanilla extract if you did not use a bean; add the pinch of salt if you like. Mix well.
6. Marry: Rest another 3–7 days in a cool, dark place (remove the vanilla bean before final bottling). Filter once more if any sediment appears, then bottle.