I love a good Caucasian... (*)

The mason jar didn't work out: too many coffee beans in my glass

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It was hot-as-hell in Quincy today, So I decided to make myself some iced coffee.

Given that it was after noon on a weekend when I was alone around the house, I decided that I should make that iced coffee a bit more memorable. Unfortunately a quick survey of the liquor Cabinet suggested that I didn't have anything that would pair well with coffee. (Scotch, gin, vodka,) except some Brazillian Rum, but I wanted to save that for caipirinhas when Sioux got home. . .



So what to do? I ended up random clicking a bunch of Google links and wound up here:
http://www.homebrewtalk.com/f56/kahlua-anyone-61109/

I didn't fall in love with any of those particular recipes, but I did decide to punt and whip up a batch of "instant Kahlua" -- er coffee liquor . . . I'm not sure about the Trademark.

My recipe ended up being:

• 1 cup of 2x strength coffee left over from the iced coffee
• 1 cup of lightly packed brown sugar
• 4 tbl spoons of molasses poured over the brown sugar (it kinda super-packs it)
• a dusting of white sugar to bring the brown sugar back up to 1 cup. 
• 6 tablespoons of whole coffee beans.
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 cups of vodka

I simmered the beans in the coffee for about 10 minutes, then added the sugar/sugar/molasses mix and cranked the heat until it boiled.  I had added half of the vodka into 2 pint sized mason jars (cause they were handy) and put 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract in each.

Then I poured the coffee syrup mixture into the jars on top of the vodka and sealed. A quick shake, a cool water bath, and I popped them into the freezer to cool down.

Of course by the time I finished this prep, it was way too late to be drinking coffee, so I switched over to a White Russian:

• 2 oz Vodka
• 2oz Kahlua
• 4 Icecubes
• 1/2 oz 1/2&1/2 floated on the top. Stir slowly.

Final thoughts:
Don't use a mason jar. It's a real pain in the ass to pour out of them.
After 90 min in the fridge the coffee liquor is "kinda" incorporated, but the drink felt fusel and a bit hard.
I want to try this again, but I want to cold steep the coffee, and use vanilla bean rather than extract. It'll take a month or so, but I think it will be worth it.


(*) This is a reference to The Big Lebowski . . . I may be a large man who grew up in New Hampshire, with a shaved head and a goatee, but I'm no racist.