It’s fun to make your own low carb sugar-free coffee liqueur. Better than Kahlua and you can use it so many cocktail recipes, like a healthy sugar-free Mexican Coffee. See just how easy it is with a new instructional video and updated recipe. And it makes a great keto-friendly holiday gift.
Apparently my kitchen has turned into a distillery, with the slow drip of alcohol through a filter, as it drains out of a silty, cloudy mixture. Not to worry, I am not brewing up moonshine from corn cobs or anything illegal like that. But I am making my own sugar-free homemade coffee liqueur and getting quite a kick out of myself in the process. Really, this whole thing was remarkably fun and astonishingly easy, and now I have many ideas for other sugar-free liqueurs. It’s going to be homemade liqueur madness here, so that I can indulge in some fun cocktails, like a low carb Mexican Coffee, without worrying about the added sugars. And homemade liqueurs make wonderful gifts for friends and family. I suspect that this will become the gift de jour in my house. I should probably buy stock in one or two vodka distributors, since I will be using so much of it.
How To Make Sugar-Free Kahlua
I really am on something of a homemade everything kick. I’ve already amazed and astonished my friends (and myself!) with homemade butter, homemade yogurt and homemade cream cheese. I have been saying to my husband for ages that I want to try making my own sausages and he finally took me seriously enough to get the meat grinder and sausage stuffer attachments for my stand mixer. When you grow up in our modern society with our modern conveniences, you tend to forget that people ever did make all these things on the homestead, as it were. You believe that they simply can’t be made at home. Or at least that they can’t be made easily at home. I honestly credit blogging with opening my eyes to the wonders of the experimental homemade kitchen. One of my very first blog posts was for homemade yogurt made in a crockpot…the idea coming, naturally, from someone else’s blog.
The idea of making homemade sugar-free kahlua admittedly also came from someone else’s blog. Or blogs. I kept seeing it pop up in various places and thinking I needed to try it with some sort of alternative sweetener. My only hesitation was that my favourite, Swerve, doesn’t always stay in solution in liquids. But I found myself craving hot drinks made with yummy sweet liqueurs and decided it was worth a try. And I used a combination of erythritol and monk fruit extract, to see if I could counteract the re-crystallization.
I chose to follow a recipe I found on Creative Culinary, but I did change a few things. I only made a half batch and I cut down on the amount of sweetener a little. I didn’t want to add chocolate liqueur, but knowing that a little chocolate intensifies the flavour of coffee, I added a touch of cocoa powder to the mix. I also took the whole distilling process a step further and strained it through a coffee filter to get all the little particles out and create a clear liquid. This actually took several days and several changes of coffee filters because the silty particles were so fine, hence the feeling that I was operating a distillery out of my kitchen. But the final product was more than worth it! The perfect addition to an afternoon cocktail.
And this wonderful sugar-free liqueur makes a fabulous keto friendly Mexican Coffee!
Sugar Free Coffee Liqueur
Ingredients
Coffee Liqueur
- 2 cups water
- ¾ cup Swerve Sweetener
- ⅛ teaspoon monk fruit extract or another ½ cup Swerve
- ¼ cup ground coffee I used decaf
- 1 ½ cup vodka
- 1 tablespoon cocoa powder
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Mexican Coffee:
- 1 oz coffee liqueur
- ½ oz tequila if you’re feeling bold. If not, feel free to add a touch more coffee liqueur or vodka
- 1 cup freshly brewed coffee
- 3 tablespoons whipped cream
- sprinkle of cinnamon
Instructions
- For the liqueur: In a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, combine water, erythritol, monk fruit extract, and coffee grounds.
- Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and simmer for 10 minutes. Let cool.
- Transfer mixture to a glass jar and add vodka, cocoa powder and vanilla extract
- Seal jar and place in a dark, cool spot and wait...and wait...and wait. At least 3 weeks, shaking the jar every few days.
- Strain mixture through a fine mesh sieve. Then strain again through a coffee filter (this will take several day and changes of coffee filter, but it's worth it to get all the coffee "silt" out of the mixture).
- For the Mexican Coffee, mix liqueur, tequila and coffee in a large coffee mug. Top with whipped cream and cinnamon.
Notes
Jolonda says
Making this one today! I love all your recipes! I LOVE Espresso Martinis… this one is going in the rotation for a KETO Espresso Martini! <3
Denise says
Could you use instant coffee to make this instead of using coffee grounds?
Carolyn says
I have not tried.
Sari says
Planning to make this again and can’t remember. Does this need to be kept in the refrigerator? How long will it keep? Trying to plan for company.
Thanks!
Carolyn says
Keeps for at least a month in the fridge!
Sari says
Thank you! So looking forward to this.
Jean says
Oh this turned out s-o-o-o good! I use the pour over method to make my coffee one cup at a time so I have several Melitta plastic cones that sit on top of a coffee cup and use # 2 filters. After pouring through a mesh filter I used 3 cone filters and poured it through 3 separate cones over 3 drinking glasses. I changed the filters twice. It took hours instead of days and turned out perfect!! I am interested in the aeropress method though. Might have to get me one 🙂
Geoffrey de Brito says
Hi, I just discovered your blog and I plan on trying both your keto eggnog recipe and your homemade coffee liquor recipe. I’m diabetic so this could be a godsend. It appreciation, I have a suggestion that might be helpful when straining out the coffee grounds. I suspect it will be much easier and much less time consuming. Get yourself an inexpensive Aeropress coffee maker and some of the paper filters for it. The Aeropress is specifically designed to strain out coffee grounds through the paper filter by applying pressure. It’s easily done and readily available on the net.
I’ve had one for years, I hate even tiny coffee grounds in my coffee and the aeropress works a charm.
Carolyn says
Thanks for the tip!
Kathy Pearson says
Could you use pure stevia e powdered extract in place of monkfruit extract. The sweetness is the same as a serving size is a doonk (1/32 tsp).
Carolyn says
You will need to experiment.
Victoria says
Are you selling these liqueurs? If the price is right, I would consider purchasing one to try. I have a busy schedule and don’t have time to make it. Being keto, this is a new option for me.
Carolyn says
I do not plan on selling these.
Denise says
Is monkfruit extract a liquid or powder? Where do you buy it? I’ve only found monkfruit sweeteners, like Lakanto, which includes erythritol.
Carolyn says
https://amzn.to/3EOhVE8
Peggy Crockett says
This sounds wonderful! Do you think xylitol (granulated) would work?
Carolyn says
It should!
Cheryl Maksymowski says
I have always used instant coffee in my Kahlua. Are you using actual ‘ground coffee’ in yours? I can’t wait to try this! Thank you!
Kristy Dickerson says
How long will this keep?
Carolyn says
It’s alcohol so it keeps for months and months! I’ve successfully had mine on the counter for 3 months. If worried, you can always put it in the fridge.
Cheryl Maksymowski says
I make homemade kahlua every year as gifs. I’ve never had it go bad…. Even after a year. Enjoy!
Jen says
I made this, and I am trying to strain it through a coffee filter, it is not, at all, going through the filter. I have had it sitting in a coffee filter for over an hour and not a single drop has permeated the filter. I already ran it through the mesh also. What do I do?
Alaine says
I would try lining the mesh with multiple layers of cheesecloth.
Kris R says
I love your recipes and can’t wait to try this one! When you say seal the jar, do you mean 1/4 head room like canning? Or can the jar be 1/2 full?
Carolyn says
It doesn’t matter if it’s full or not! YOu aren’t freeze it or canning it so you can leave as much or as little room as you like.
Kris R says
Thank you for replying so quickly! You are awesome!