Liquor making question

[BettyJ]

liquor making question
Hi there I have just made a bottle of Kahlua (?sp) which is incredibly great I think it's better than the real thing. But am curious is I should add preservatives to it in case I don't drink it for a while. I did use K meta on the equipment / bottle.

here's the recipe I used (except I used dark chocolate chips)


Ingredients
6 cups coffee (48 oz total)
4 1/2 cups sugar
1/8 cup milk chocolate chips
1/8 cup real vanilla extract (accept no substitute)
750 ml of cheapest 80 proof vodka or rum (one "fifth")
Directions
1
Mix coffee, sugar and chocolate in a saucepan. Over medium high heat, bring mix to a boil, making sure to dissolve all of the sugar into the liquid.
2
Then reduce to medium low or low heat… simmer, just below a boil.
3
Periodically raise heat long enough for the mix to boil, then reduce heat. Stir frequently, making sure to loosen all sediment, especially in the "corners" of your pan. I start at thirty minutes and let the intervals between stirring become shorter as the cooking process lengthens. Towards the end, remember that a watched pot never boils over, and with as much sugar as this mix has, that's a good thing.
4
Reduce liquid level until bubbles do not want to break when raised to a boil. Droplets falling off spoon should be like thick syrup. The mix should be reduced by approximately 50% from its original level in your pan.
5
Remove from heat.
6
About a half hour later and before liquid cools completely, add vanilla to mix.
7
After liquid has cooled, roughly another half hour later, add vodka and mix to an even consistency. I have found that a whisk works best.
8
You should yield about 1½ liters, just short of filling a ½-gallon liquor bottle.

 

[Sacalait]

That sounds delicious, I'll have to try it. I've made liqueres in the past and never did add sulfites to any. In fact for all the recipes I have none call for preservatives. With an alcohol content in the 20-25% range and the fact that most of the ingredients were brought to a boil that is likely all the preservative needed.
I just made a batch of creme de menth and am waiting for all my citrus fruits to ripen as I intend to make some cointreau.

 

[BettyJ]

cointreau

Thanks! Would love to have your recipe for the cointreau (my husband loves Grand Marnier). Most of the recipes I have seen call for vodka and I am pretty limited to using rum as it is the only affordable (and decent tasting) alcohol here in Belize. I have also played around with infused tropical fruits (mango, pineapples, red plums, etc) with the white rum and it is wonderful and a beautiful presentation - especially the plum liquor.

Many of the recipes for this advise on keeping it cool while making it, so I wondered how would it fare at room temp here (which is 80 - 90). Most of the sites do require sterilizing the bottles and keeping air out. Just wondering how to store it after opening...

 

[manku007]

nice recipe but I have read somewere in the site when I was searching that we should not mix any alcohol in the must, hope u can understand as u said that u have mixted rum, but I will say that plz first check all the things on internet and then go for it. As sometime experiments can go wrong ......

 

[BettyJ]

liquor verses wine

Hi there - let me try to explain this. My question is not about wine making, but about mixing up a type of flavored liquor out of commercially available plain vodka or rum and how to store it. These are typically used for "after dinner" drinks or making specialty cocktails.

However, wine can be mixed with alcohol as in the case of some ports (to stop the fermentation early in order to maintain a high flavor and sweetness) or a fortified wine and in my case of making Sangria out of wine and rum and fruit juices. Hope I didn't confuse everyone!

Betty

 

[St Allie]

I have a tree with branches bending to the ground under the weight of mandarins..

Assuming I could make a type of cointreu out of those?.. If so, would you share the recipe David?

Allie

 

[Sacalait]

Cointreau recipe #1-
Pour a quart of 180 proof in a wide mouth jar. Suspend an orange from a string about 1/4" above the alcohol and cap tightly. Let stand quietly for 14 days. Oils from orange will drip into alcohol. In 16oz water add equal amount of sugar and boil slowly until syrup will almost thread when poured from a spoon. Pour this hot syrup into the orange treated alcohol and stir to mix.
Cointreau recipe #2-
Dissolve 3 cups sugar in 3 cups water, mix well and add a qt. of 180 proof. Add the zest of 2 oranges and 1/2 lemon with a little pulp from both. Allow to set for 2 weeks shaking every other day.
Both recipes yield about 1 1/2qt.

I've only tried the second recipe and it turned out well. For my next attempt I plan to use the zest from oranges, tangerines, lemons, mandarins and limes, taking it easy on the lemons and limes since these can easily over power the concoction.

Enjoy!

 

[BettyJ]

very cool

Thanks so much!

 

[St Allie]

Thanks David!