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.
Colleen says
How does the swerve stay dissolved? I’ve had trouble with it recrystallizing. I’ve made this before and it’s delicious but I end up with random small sugar bits. What can I do and/or what am I doing wrong?
Carolyn says
In this much liquid, the Swerve will not recrystallize. It will settle out a bit to the bottom but you can shake it up to redistribute it before pouring.
Yvonne says
Regular coffee grounds or instant coffee?
Thanks for all of your fabulous recipes ❤️❤️❤️❤️
Carolyn says
Regular grounds. I would specify instant if that’s what I wanted you to use. 🙂
Sari Gehr says
Does the liqueur need to be refrigerated when ready to use or just tightly sealed? I haven’t made it in a few years and am so looking forward to this!
Carolyn says
Tightly sealed is great for up to a month or so. The alcohol preserves it!
Marie says
This was very good. Im not a huge coffee liquor fan but wanted to make some to add to my coffee to make adult iced coffee on a camping trip. It was great. A huge hit and I should have doubled the recipe considering the time it takes and how quick we drank it. When mixed with coffee it didnt taste like liquor. Really a nice job
Dianne says
Question—which of the monk fruit extracts did you use—the liquid or the powder?
Carolyn says
The powder but it shouldn’t matter. You can sweeten to taste with it.
Holly says
Carolyn, this is a brilliant recipe! We cannot wait to make it for the holidays. We’ve been using your recipes all season long so far. Yummm!
Do you recommend keeping this refrigerated and do you know how long it will keep? I’m assuming a while because of the alcohol but there’s only two of us lol
PennyC says
You know Dana Carpender came up with this about 15 years ago, right?
Carolyn says
I did not. You can see from my blog post that I got the idea from another blogger friend who isn’t sugar-free. You know that I don’t copy anyone’s recipe, right? 😉
Carolyn says
FYI, my recipe was written in 2013. You can go back through all of the comments and see that for yourself.
Holly says
Just my two cents here but I’ve been following this site for a while as well as a small number of other low carb and Paleo sites.
There are several very unique and ‘first ever’ recipes that originated here and most sites give her credit but there are always a few that don’t.
The reason I know this is I read ALL of The comments if I’m interested in a recipe. I’ve done this for well over a decade because in my opinion that’s what you get the best feedback and information. That said, the reason I found this site and decided to subscribe is because of the amount of people in the comments on different sites that referred to Carolyn as one of THE TOP experts in this genre. There were three names that continuously came up over the years in the hundreds and thousands of comments I read and hers has always been one of them. I’m very picky where I subscribe because I don’t like a crowded inbox and I don’t like to waste my time.
If you make her recipes on a regular basis you’ll understand. Caroline is the OG. We all need it be so incredibly grateful that we get this type of content for FREE. God bless you and all of your continued efforts Carolyn.
Sharon Webb says
You hit Carolyn’s description right on the nail! We have never been disappointed with ANY of her recipes!
Melanie says
Hello, so if I use instant coffee do i still need to wait 3 weeks and do I use granular for the swerve? Thank you, can’t wait to try this!
Carolyn says
I’ve never made it with instant coffee so I can’t really advise. I think it would take less time. Yes, the Swerve is granular but it doesn’t really matter.
Leslie says
did you try with instant coffee?
Susan says
Ooh, Carolyn!! I am not a diehard coffee drinker, but I do enjoy a good coffee liqueur. We’ve been mourning the fact that the pandemic kept us from returning to the island of St. Helena (in the south Atlantic), where they have a distillery that makes a wonderful coffee liqueur (they also make one from prickly pears, called Tungi). We had planned to restock our supply. Thanks to you we can now make something that might be comparable. We’ve made our own limoncello before, so the process won’t be totally new. THANK YOU for doing the experiments and posting this recipe.
Judy says
The only vodka I have is Salted Caramel flavor – would that work? This sounds amazing!
Carolyn says
Interesting! Well it will work, but you will end up with caramel coffee liqueur… which sounds pretty great to me!
Judy Higgins says
Thanks, Carolyn. I’m on it!
Elaine says
Tomorrow is the end of my 3 week waiting period, and I’ll start the straining process! I’m so excited to reach the final week of waiting ????
Elaine says
OMG…….this is AMAZING!! I wish I could give it more stars!! I finished straining it this morning, made a Mexican coffee this afternoon with decaf fresh brew coffee……Yummy, Yummy, Yummy ????. I’m going to start another jar brewing!
Carolyn says
Wonderful!
Elaine’ says
Made this today…..I’m so excited!! It’s going to be ready before the holidays….hope I can make it last!! I’ll check back in when it’s ready????
Diane says
I really want to make this Kahlua today so it will be ready for the holidays…can’t wait. I have Lakanto Monkfruit granular and gold as well as Swerve confectioners. Can I use a combination of these for the sweeterners and how much of which do I use. Thanks so much. I love every recipe I’ve tried of yours and I appreciate all the hard work you put into coming up with them!
Carolyn says
You can but they may settle out a bit as it sits so it needs to be shaken up before serving.
Diane says
Thanks so much for your quick reply Carolyn. So looking forward to making this!
robin leclerc says
ty for sharing this….every christmas for the last 20 or more years i have made homemade kahlua for friends and family….i have my own following at my husbands christmas party…lol….but last year i was keto and couldnt get behind making anything with that much sugar in it…i now know how bad sugar is for our body and i felt guilty giving my kahlua to friends….so i will make a personal batch of your kahlua and possibly share the healthier version with my friends
Susan-Rae Bell says
I’m surprised that you haven’t updated this recipe with Bocha Sweet. I use it and Real vanilla beans. But like the idea of filtering…. will have to add that step after the 3 weeks or so….
Also … as this is made with vodka, I’m assuming shelf life is not an issue?
How about a blog on liquors and flavored syrups.????????. I’m assuming the Bocha or Alluose are best for those? I have a batch of Meyer lemons to transform. Have made orange liquor in the past that crystallized so I think I made it with Swerve….. And I keep keto Irish Cream in the fridge as a staple, it’s an excellent fast way to sweeten whipped cream
Carolyn says
I have so many recipes, it takes a LOOOOONG time to update everything. But I would use half Swerve and have Bocha now. Self life is quite long on this, probably 3 months or so. But coffee can mold a bit so keep your eye on it or store it in the fridge.
Anne says
Thanks – I was just wondering about bocha sweet or allulose. That’s what I’ll try.
Michele says
So I started this recipe, had the stove going, then saw the “3 weeks” part! ????. So I threw it (along with a vanilla bean) in a mason jar in an instant Pot. No 3 weeks needed! I did add some salt (to bring out the flavors) . I had a delicious White Russian. Thank you for this!
Adel says
How long do you put in the instapot?
Michelle says
I just made this 2 days ago using Swerve sweetener. I have been shaking it daily and noticed that there are crystals forming on the sides on the jar! I am going to continue as directed but wondering how I can avoid this next time. I am hoping it still turns out yummy!
Carolyn says
Oh boy, that has never happened to me and I’ve made this 4 or 5 times. I wish I had advice!
Michelle Partin says
I just reread the article (prior to recipe) and the author mentions the re-crystaliztion that can happen with Swerve… I didn’t notice that before! Anyway, it looks like it has redissolved. Oh well, I’ll continue shaking and hope for the best.
Thank you!
Debra says
i am very excited to go home and try this, but instead of straining, and straining some more….can you use instant coffee instead of grounds?!
Carolyn says
No idea… worth experimenting!
Leanne Long says
I have made my own “Kahlua” before and this is just my thing!! But – I have always used a really good quality instant coffee (no grounds to filter out) and I always used a vanilla bean. This is my new project for the week!
Linda A says
I’ve got to make this. Although full disclosure, I have store bought Kahlua and made White Russians (for me and my new hubby), except I doubled it which effectively was 4 shots of alcohol in one drink. Oh my gosh, I was so drunk!!! Now I know why it’s so small when you order them out. Equal parts of Kahlua, Vodka and heavy cream…everything was 2 shots. What was I thinking!!! I wasn’t after a while. haha He was ok, probably because he’s 6’3″ and I’m 5’2″. Live and learn!
Carolyn says
Whoa! Well at least you had fun. 😉