Coffee Rum Liqueur

I decided to make my own Coffee Liqueur because I find the standard supermarket offerings to be grossly over-sweetened to the point where they do not really taste like coffee any more. I wanted to make a liqueur with pure coffee tastiness and just a hint of sugar to soften everything, closer in flavour to a cold brew black Americano than coffee flavoured syrup. This was intended to be served straight over ice, but it can also be used to make cocktails or poured over vanilla ice-cream.

Do not use a bitter, over-roasted coffee bean as that will end up being the dominant flavour in your liqueur. I used beans that I knew made delicious, smooth but robust coffee that I can drink without milk or sugar. If you are lucky enough to have a local coffee roaster then by all means use them - they usually supply local cafés so they know what they are doing. I opted for the Four Bean Blend (my obsession of the minute) from York Emporium for this project.

THINGS YOU WILL NEED

Mortar and Pestle

Sterile Glass Bottle (or mason jar) capable of holding at least 500ml

Funnel

Sieve

Muslin cloth

Filter paper

INGREDIENTS

Stage 1

350ml Dark Rum

30g Brown Sugar (this softens the edges but is not enough to call it a sweet liqueur)

50g Whole Coffee Beans

Stage 2

150-200ml Dark Rum

Vanilla pod

*10g Coffee Beans

*Sugar to taste

1) Crush the coffee beans in a mortar and pestle. They will try to escape so work in a gentle crushing motion rather than wildly stabbing at the beans. Some will be chunkier than others but that's ok, they just need to be cracked open to release their flavours and small enough to get through the funnel neck. Try not to make them too fine because coffee dust will make it murky and tricky to filter later on.

2) With the aid of a funnel, transfer the coffee and sugar into the bottle. Pour over 350ml of dark rum. There should be enough space in the bottle for you to give it a good shake, so do that until the sugar looks like it is well on its way to dissolving. Some of the sugar will settle to the bottom while the coffee beans will float to the top. Leave for 10 days -2 weeks, shaking every day.

3) By the end of the fortnight, the sugar will be completely dissolved and the coffee beans will have sunk to the bottom. Strain your mixture through a sieve lined with a muslin cloth. It should smell like a (spiked) cold brew Americano, much fresher and less sweet smelling than the standard supermarket coffee liqueur. Add 150-200ml dark rum to get the total amount of liqueur to 500ml.

4) Now you need to try some. It should have a fresh coffee bean flavour like a (heavily) spiked cold brew.

• If you want a stronger coffee flavour, repeat Step 1 with 10g coffee beans and leave it for a further 3 days. (I do this. It gives a real coffee whallop but it might not be for everyone.)

• If your liqueur is too bitter for your liking, add some more sugar. Add 1 tsp at a time and shake it until it has dissolved before trying and adding more sugar if needed. Be restrained!

5) Leave the strained liquid in the bottle with half a sliced vanilla pod for another week. This will help to mellow the flavours and knock off any hard edges from the rum without adding overt sweetness.

6) Pour the liqueur through a funnel lined with filter paper to catch any coffee bean remnants and keep the vanilla pod back to bake with. It should be a clear but very dark liquid that clings slightly to the edges of the bottle for a few seconds when you shake it. Serve in a tumbler over ice (try a milk ice cube as shown below!), in cocktails or desserts.