Coffee… many of us can’t imagine a morning without it (I’m certainly one of them). And coffee liqueur… who doesn’t love a good White or Black Russian?
We knew we wanted to do a coffee liqueur, but took some time trying to decide exactly how we would do it. A lot of coffee liqueur recipes call for vodka, lots of sugar, instant coffee or brewed coffee, etc. In general, we like to use less sugar in our recipes and wanted to incorporate a different booze. So, Coffee Bourbon seemed a natural choice!
Coffee Bourbon
1/4 c. Whole Coffee Beans, Smashed (preferably dark, espresso roast)
1/2 vanilla bean, split
1 TB dark brown sugar (packed)
1 1/4 c. Bourbon
First we took the coffee beans and placed them in two plastic bags. We took a metal muddler and smashed the beans until they were gently crushed (see photo). 
Place all ingredients in a small canning jar, and set the jar in a dark, cool location. Every few days, shake the jar lightly.
Infuse for about 3 weeks, or until this reaches your desired taste.
Strain and filter through cheesecloth, jelly bag (if desired) and finally coffee filters.
This coffee liqueur is so rich and delicious. You can taste all the nuances of the bourbon, and the espresso roast coffee gives it such a good flavor.
We are also going to try this same recipe with brandy.
This is a “must try”! If you love coffee, you need to make this.
Enjoy!
Related Posts:
Coffee Bourbon Milkshake: Quite possibly the best milkshake you will ever have!
May 5, 2012 at 11:47 am
white russians are soooo good ~ i’ll have to try this
May 5, 2012 at 11:57 am
please do! It is really good!
May 5, 2012 at 1:23 pm
Ooohhh….Micah and I love coffee, and he loves bourbon! Bookmarked for later!
May 5, 2012 at 3:45 pm
good, you won’t be sorry. Be sure to make this!
May 6, 2012 at 7:18 pm
Absolutely!
May 6, 2012 at 1:38 am
Two of my favourite things. Looks great.
May 6, 2012 at 8:42 am
thanks! Maybe eventually we can inspire you to do an infusion. This was really easy… And delicious!
May 6, 2012 at 9:11 am
Yep. I am inspired. Just busy
May 6, 2012 at 9:13 am
understood!
May 6, 2012 at 9:13 am
You should do a few posts about basic techniques for infusing, liek the one you did about straining – bottling and storing and stuff maybe. That would be cool.
May 6, 2012 at 9:27 am
Ok, thanks for the tip. I’ll see what I can come up with.
May 7, 2012 at 11:01 pm
Looks yum, will try very soon, cheers!
May 8, 2012 at 7:13 am
It is really good. Hope you like it!
May 10, 2012 at 7:39 am
Wow, this looks amazing! Perfect for bourbon chocolate truffles….
~Emilie
May 10, 2012 at 6:20 pm
That is a BRILLIANT idea! Thanks!
June 5, 2012 at 1:40 pm
Made exactly as directed, may have crushed beans a little more, and after 10 days…am thrilled! Have already made another double batch. Not sure that much of the original batch will last a full 3 weeks (due to scientific tastings), but will try for the comparison. Thanks for sharing, GREAT idea.
June 5, 2012 at 6:59 pm
Greg, that’s awesome! I’m so glad you tried it, and even happier that you loved it. I hear you on the scientific tastings – that’s a big part of why infusing is fun. This was a very small recipe to begin with (I always have so many infusions going, I keep a lot of them to a minimum) and I agree that this is worthy of making a double, triple, whatever size batch you can. I’ll be interested to see what you think of the 3-week (if you can last that long) version v. the 10 day. But honestly, as long as you love it, it doesn’t matter what I think the infusion time should be. Cheers! And thanks for the comment.
June 10, 2012 at 4:51 pm
I am so glad you found me and now I found you…. such an awesome post. REALLY yum!
June 11, 2012 at 9:19 pm
Thanks Heidi! I think we will all find a lot of fun stuff on Barfly101!
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September 12, 2012 at 5:53 pm
So I’m considering making this for someone who loves cinnamon in his coffee and I was wondering: would adding cinnamon to this infusion work or would it overpower the coffee? If it would be ok, how much should be added per batch? Thanks!
September 15, 2012 at 9:42 am
Hi Emily, Sorry it took me a little while to get back to you! Cinnamon infuses very quickly and strong into infusions (as does coffee). I would suggest making the coffee infusion as the recipe states, then after you have strained everything else out of it, add a small piece of a cinnamon stick (I would try to either break off a piece of a cinnamon stick or cut one in half) and then just leave the piece of cinnamon in for a day or two, until you feel the cinnamon flavor is strong enough. Alternatively you could use the whole cinnamon stick and just infuse it for a few hours. (Depending on how strong your cinnamon stick is, and how strong of a cinnamon flavor you want, you could leave it in for longer. But I think that adding it after everything else has infused will allow you to isolate that flavor and get the result you want.) Keep in mind that cinnamon flavor can mellow a bit over time as well. I hope that helps! I would love to hear if you try this and if it works out.
September 16, 2012 at 8:18 pm
Why not use ground coffee?
September 16, 2012 at 8:24 pm
Hi Nick, you could absolutely use ground coffee. I chose whole beans that I lightly crushed because I thought the result would be a fresher coffee flavor. But I’m sure if you use a good ground coffee if would also taste good.
September 16, 2012 at 8:48 pm
I am going to give it a try and I imagine it will have a stronger taste/infuse faster.
I’ll let you know the results
September 16, 2012 at 9:18 pm
Great! You may want to shorten the infusion time. Just keep tasting it and filter when you feel it tastes right.
October 9, 2012 at 3:28 pm
What kind/brand of bourbon do you recommend for this recipe?
October 10, 2012 at 7:34 pm
You can really go with anything here, as the coffee flavor will be quite strong. Many people agree that using a top shelf alcohol is a bit of a waste in infusions (especially if they are infused for a long period, and are taking on quite a bit of other flavor). Save the good stuff for sipping straight or your favorite cocktails. I think Jim Beam works great in all of the bourbon infusion recipes on this blog. There are some people who may tell you that your infusion will only be as good as the quality of alcohol. But I think your better bourbons may be enjoyed more on their own. Happy infusing!
November 5, 2012 at 1:16 pm
I have made this recipe twice now. It is currently my favorite infusion!
November 5, 2012 at 9:05 pm
Thanks for the feedback! Do you have a favorite cocktail make with it? This would be a great holiday gift. Cheers!
November 6, 2012 at 10:44 am
We used to make this in my dorm in 6 gallon batches using vodka, but more or less the same recipe letting it steep 2 months. I see some of this in my near future.
November 9, 2012 at 7:34 am
I don’t want to know what you had this infusing in in your dorm room, although you were probably much classier than I was back then. Give this a try with the bourbon and see what you think. It gives a lot more flavor than vodka, in my humble opinion.
November 9, 2012 at 10:14 am
Roommate was a Chemical Engineering student and would liberate 4 liter bottles of USP alcohol from one of the labs…mixed 50-50 with spring water yielded 100 proof vodka. 1 gallon for the fake Kahlua, 1 gallon for the bloody mary’s (got a killer recipe for non-vegetarian bloody mary mix to share closer to New Year).
January 10, 2013 at 10:10 pm
The batch is a success (but I had no doubts). Next time it will be the bourbon version, though…here’s the report: http://1pumplane.wordpress.com/2013/01/10/coffee-liqueur/
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November 22, 2012 at 9:09 am
My grandfather would love this. Is there a specific style of bourbon that you recommend?
November 22, 2012 at 1:17 pm
I just use Jim Beam for most of my bourbon infusions. I think a lot of the higher grade bourbons are a bit of a waste since you would cover up a lot of the flavor. The coffee bourbon in particular has a very strong coffee flavor. But really it is a matter of personal preference. This would turn out great with pretty much any bourbon!
November 30, 2012 at 2:57 pm
Have you ever tried making chocolate covered espresso beans out of this after you strain the beans out (like for your peanut bourbon clusters)? Do you think it would work?
December 2, 2012 at 8:07 pm
Ooh! That sounds awesome! Yes, I think it would work great. I would try to dry out the beans, but probably not as long in the oven as the peanuts. I would use more chocolate, and maybe try to do it like a chocolate bar or bark. Let me know if you try it.
March 11, 2013 at 11:51 pm
Oh I might try this on the next batch!
December 14, 2012 at 8:15 pm
Hi Alicia. I just bottled this fantastic recipe for a Christmas gift. After I strained the solids, I infused some simple syrup with the remains and made a delicious taste, which I tried out with some rum, first a favorite in a simple daiquiri form, then another favorite, then another. Each had a pleasant undertone of the original bourbon, which pleased me each time. Thank you so much for your idea, not only for the gift idea I’m sure will please, but also with the syrup. You are my favorite place to learn new ideas. Merry Christmas Alicia.
February 10, 2013 at 2:03 pm
So I tried this infusion and it came out great! However, of the original 3 cups of Bulleit Bourbon I had started out with, I only got 1.5 cups out! I had used a 1/2 cup of Blue Bottle Decaf Noir, which is a medium roast, along with a whole vanilla bean split down the middle and the brown sugar.
I still have 1/2 cup of bourbon infused coffee beans, which I intend to dry and use in a cake/muffin recipe or coat with chocolate! Will post how they come out.
Thanks for the awesome infusion. Keep em coming…
February 23, 2013 at 10:56 am
Hi Anand, thanks for your comment! That is strange that your infusion soaked into the coffee so much. I do like your idea of using decaf! I am not big on caffeine in the evenings, which means limited use of of this one for a nightcap. I love the idea of using the coffee beans in a cake or coated in chocolate! Sounds fabulous… Cheers~
February 23, 2013 at 11:04 am
I got the idea of using decaf from my attempt at the chamomile bourbon recipe. I didn’t get my hands on any chamomile flowers, so I used chamomile tea instead, which turned out to be caffinated. The taste was good, but trying to sleep after having one measure of that as a nightcap was an exercise in itself! Took me a couple of nights to figure out that it was the caffinated tea in the bourbon that was the cause of my poor sleep patterns on some nights (I was tracking my sleep using the Jawbone Up band… ’twas pretty cool correlating my sleep patterns with my alcohol records
).
March 11, 2013 at 11:55 pm
Made this for my best friend using Bulleit and beans from his daily boutique coffee shop and it turned out brilliantly! Both he and the guys down the coffee shop were impressed
Made a second batch for me but it has come out very strong due to a basic error on my part – I only used 2/3 a bottle of Bulleit, as I also did a test run of the apple pie bourbon, but forgot to adjust the remaining ingredients correctly