I thought I better get this posted before we reach the end of winter! For those of you who are in warmer climates, it may be a bit late to infuse this and enjoy it before we hit spring. But for those of you in colder regions, you may still have some time… sorry. When I lived in Maine, I would always take a tropical vacation this time of year to escape the cold weather, as we still had plenty of time for snow before we hit spring (mud season).
Coconut Liqueur
3 c. Vodka (or Rum would work very nicely)
2 c. chopped/shredded coconut
6 Tablespoons Thick Simple Syrup (or to taste)
Crack and drain one coconut, then cut away the brown shell. Place the white coconut flesh in a food processor and pulse until shredded/chopped to a fairly fine grain. If you do not have a food processor you could try grating it.
Place 2 cups of the shredded coconut in the vodka and let infuse for approximately 3 weeks. At that time, add 4 TB thick simple syrup and let infuse for another 2 weeks. After a total of 5 weeks, strain the coconut and add more sweetener to your taste. I added another 2 TB of simple syrup, for a total of 6 TB. At first I thought that this was heavy on the alcohol taste, but after sitting for just a day I think this tastes perfect.
You may be able to infuse in a shorter time if you use more coconut.
The end result for this coconut liqueur is milky white and delicious. It isn’t overly sweet, and tastes strongly of coconut. This will be great by itself, or added to cocktails. (I think it will be perfect for some upcoming cocoa and nut infusions we are working on.)
Unfortunately the color of the liqueur masks the etching on this bottle. This was a gift from my sister, etched with “Boozed + Infused”.
Simple Syrup
In many of my recipes, I list “thick simple syrup”. When I use this term, I typically have used 2/3 c. of sugar and 1/2 c. of water. I bring this to a boil on the stove and let it simmer for a couple of minutes. Remove from the heat and let cool completely before adding to your recipe. If you have extra left over, you can save this in a glass jar in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Boozed + Infused 
March 8, 2012 at 6:05 pm
Ooh, that looks wonderful! I have a cabinetful of different homemade schnappses & liqueurs, but nothing like coconut. Off to experiment…
March 8, 2012 at 7:40 pm
Thanks Eileen, glad to hear you have been inspired. Hope to hear back with the results of your experiments!
March 12, 2012 at 7:39 pm
Have you thought of toasting the coconut? I wonder how that would change the taste?
March 12, 2012 at 7:52 pm
I hadn’t thought of that, but it sounds like it would at least be worth a try!
April 21, 2012 at 9:59 pm
I made my coconut cordials by using coconut milk and coconut cream. you can leave out the simple sugar and get a much stronger flavor that shaved coconut.
April 22, 2012 at 9:06 am
Thanks for the advice. It sounds tasty… coconut milk and coconut cream – yum
May 10, 2012 at 9:59 pm
I had some left over coconut after filling a quart-sized jar, so I toasted the rest and added it to a pint jar then topped it off. It turned out amazing! I’m not finished with doctoring up the raw coconut jar, but so far I much prefer the toasted. Thanks Alicia!
May 10, 2012 at 10:05 pm
thanks for the advice! This was my first coconut infusion, and I am always open to improvements. I will try toasting it next time.
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September 2, 2013 at 6:16 am
Hello,
Could you use dry coconut? x
September 25, 2013 at 7:15 pm
Hi Jem, sorry for the delay in responding. Yes! You could absolutely use dry coconut. I think it would taste great. Let me know how it goes… Cheers~
December 9, 2013 at 8:15 pm
I used rum and lightly toasted the coconut before adding. It is delicious. I will be making another batch soon, I will probably try dried coconut and will you know how that goes.
December 15, 2013 at 5:05 pm
That is great Elena! I’ll look forward to hearing how the toasted coconut tastes! Cheers~
June 13, 2014 at 1:48 pm
I tried again and thoroughly toasted the fresh coconut. I prefer the fresh coconut flavor. It is cleaner and… better. I used the Trader Joe’s brand rum.
January 30, 2014 at 1:51 pm
If you wanted to add cinnamon to this notion, how would you do it? I’m imagining a sort of Irish Potato candy liqueur…
February 11, 2014 at 7:44 pm
Hi Sue,
That is an interesting idea… you could just add 1/2 to 1 whole cinnamon stick to the recipe. Cinnamon has a tendency to overwhelm, so you may want to start with just a 1/2 stick. Or you could use a whole stick and just taste often and pull the cinnamon out when that flavor is strong enough. You can keep infusing the coconut longer if needed.
Good luck! Let me know how it goes! Cheers~
December 5, 2014 at 11:45 am
using dry coconut soaks up too much of the rum. Next time I will rehydrate the dessicatted coconut first with water
December 9, 2014 at 8:35 pm
Thanks for the tip! Cheers~
February 24, 2015 at 1:12 am
Hi Alicia, I love this idea since I’m a big fan of coconut rum but would love to have some less sweet. I just tried my hand at your recipe and ran into some problems with the coconut I was using. I didn’t have a raw coconut available so I used dried. Have you experimented at all with that? I’m trying to figure out the right ratio for this as the 2-3 ratio doesn’t seem to work for dry.
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June 23, 2020 at 1:58 am
Hey wanna know how to get the whole coconut outta the shell without all the drama? Put the whole nut in the freezer and freeze 2 days or so until solid. Take out and tap gently all around shell with hammer. Shell should shatter and leave you with the whole coconut bit with the liquid intact inside. You can use a good, sharp peeler to remove the brown outside if you want. Or buy a good coconut grater from an Asian food supplies store