Cooking with the guys: Part Two - Homemade Coffee Liqueur

OK, cooking might not be the perfect term for today’s recipe. There’s no stove involved, no oven, no tears from slicing onions; prep time will be less than 5 minutes. On the other hand, the results will last much longer (not too much longer though, if you love bringing friends little food presents, like I do).

Not only has my friend Claudio released his first book this fall, Stevan Paul, author of the blogs Dem Herrn Paulsen sein Kiosk (sadly now closed) and Nutriculinary has compiled the most charming anecdotes of his culinary life in restaurant kitchens and elsewhere (each garnished with the one or other recipe) and turned this into the a neat little book titled Monsieur, der Hummer and ich. Knowing Stevan, his precise power of observation and his amazing ability to captivate people with stories, both told and written, his book brings all that to the reader and more. What I like best? The chuckle effect, triggered by his wittily expressions and tone, when turning page after page…

091122-coffee04

The first recipe that caught my immediate attention was Stevan’s coffee liqueur for sundayafternoondrinkers ([very] literally translated…). If you invest 5 minutes in its preparation and are patient enough to then let it sit at least for one week on your kitchen shelf, you will be rewarded with the most fragrant golden digestive you can imagine.

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Stevan suggests to spice up your coffee or black tea with it (spot-on for the upcoming winter season), preferably warmed up a little beforehand, simply to intensify its aroma. I think it tastes fantastic on its own, too.

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Below you’ll find Stevan’s original recipe and the small changes I’ve made in brackets – this is my new always-at-the-ready emergency gift for every occasion:

Add the rock sugar, the spices, the coffee beans as well as the grappa to a clean bottle, which is closable [I skipped the allspice, because I had run out].

Let the liqueur infuse at room temperature for at least a week [I let mine infuse for almost two weeks]. As soon as the rock sugar has dissolved and the spices/coffee beans have sunk to the bottom, the liqueur is done [I poured it through a fine-mesh sieve, discarded the spices and distributed it over a couple of small bottles I bought here]. Keeps well for several weeks.

091122-coffee02

Coffee Liqueur

Recipe source: Monsieur, der Hummer und ich von Stevan Paul, p.70

Prep time: 5 minutes, infusing: ~1 week

.

Ingredients (yields ~ 0,5 liter):

150 g brown rock sugar

1 cinnamon stick

2 star anise

5 cloves

5 allspice berries

25 coffee beans

500 ml grappa

Comments

Little pieces of your mind

sounds really tasty and simple!

November 26th, 2009

[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by NutriCulinary, Nicky. Nicky said: Make yourself some coffee liqueur - [new blog post] featuring Stevan Paul's ( @NutriCulinary ) exquisite recipe. http://bit.ly/917lV1 [...]

November 26th, 2009

oooh, das klingt lecker! und entstresst mich etwas beim gedanken an das thema "weihnachtsgeschenke" :-)
und danke für den ladentip, jetzt weiß ich, wo ich unbedingt hinmuß, wenn ich mal wieder in münchen bin...
und das etikett finde ich auch sehr schön!

November 26th, 2009
kat

this sounds perfect for homemade christmas gifts!

November 27th, 2009

Aaah, this looks great! Just in time for Sinterklaas. I'm going to try it out immediately!

November 27th, 2009

This looks wonderful! And easy to make. Great hostess gift too.

November 27th, 2009

I am running right out to buy the goods to make this. What a lovely recipe. I think infused libations are such a smart idea, especially on a Sunday afternoon!

November 27th, 2009

Oh, ja den Laden kenne ich. Der ist wirklich sehr cool!

November 29th, 2009

Oh this makes for such an elegant present! Just gorgeous.

November 29th, 2009

What a great idea for Christmas presents. And what beautiful little tags. I will have to give it a go. Thank you!

November 29th, 2009
Sandra

Where did you find those beautiful containers? And the recipe sounds spot-on delicious for Those Sunday Afternoons (like today...).

November 30th, 2009

I'll be tryng this before christmas, for sure!

Wonderful site you got!

Great work!

e.

November 30th, 2009

Oh how beautiful! I've been trying to figure out what on earth to get friends for Christmas...I think you have solved my problem entirely.

December 1st, 2009
Nine

This sounds delicious and I will definitely be making this for the St. Nikolaus/Christmas season. One question though, would it be alright to infuse the grappa in it's original bottle by adding the spices to that bottle rather than a new one?

Nicky: Hi Nine, Good idea! I don't see a reason why this shouldn't work just fine. Will try it with my next batch :)

December 4th, 2009

this is a lovely idea for a present, i love coffee liqueur and i have made it in the past but i never put spices neither coffee beans, i am definitely going to follow your recipe, thanks, cheers from london

December 4th, 2009

I want to try it!
Question: Do you think it would suite the recipe to sub the allspice for cardamom?
Another question: I'm still looking for brown rock sugar, in case I can't put my hands on some do you think turbinado sugar would work? Thanks!

Nicky: Hi Dania, I think both subs should work just fine! Let me know, how your liqueur turned out :)

December 5th, 2009

Wonderful gift idea! Homemade is just much nicer to give. Your little bottles are beautiful. I seek such a long time.

December 5th, 2009

THIS is a fantastic idea. I made a cherry infused bourbon a few weeks ago.

December 7th, 2009

Hello again,
I just finished my first batch this weekend, and it turned out great! I used cardamum instead of the allspice (3 crushed pods), so that is a good option.
I let it infuse for week, but I think a week and a half might work best. Great recipe Nicky!

December 7th, 2009

What a well timed post for me, I've had a bottle of grappa sitting around forever, and right after reading this I came across the brown rock sugar in the grocery store, it was truly meant to be. Mine is infusing as we speak, and I can't wait to sample it!

December 8th, 2009

This is so simple and festive for the holidays! Won't break the bank for sure :)

December 10th, 2009

so spicy and graet idea. i'll try it. thanks

December 12th, 2009

I just made a batch with dark brown sugar and used the bottle the grappa came in. Eagerly waiting for this week or two to be up!

December 13th, 2009
Sini

Wonderful gift idea. Or just to enjoy all the good stuff yourself ;) But christmas is a time to share things, isn't it?

December 17th, 2009

That is quite possibly the most adorable thing I have ever seen! Such a wonderful idea!

December 17th, 2009
Trolleira

Great idea, I will try with Pitu instead of grappa. No Grappa in Brazil! ;-)

December 22nd, 2009

This would make the cutest hostess gift.

December 29th, 2009
Kwan

If I don't have grappa, is there any other type of alcohol that could be used?

You can use other liquor/schnaps (at least 40% alcohol and neutral in taste) as well :)

January 30th, 2010
David E.

Nice recipe. Perfect for coming February 14. Will make it soon.

February 5th, 2010

I made a batch for my family and friends on Christmas and they liked it though the tast was too spicey after 1.5 weeks. I tried it after one week and it was phantastic back then. Well, another try now with the spices only for 7 days.

What I was wondering: Is it a good idea to try this with vodka?

Nicky: Like I wrote above, you can use other liquor/schnaps (at least 40% alcohol and neutral in taste) as well. I don't see a reason, why vodka shouldn't work. Let me know, how it works out, if you try it!

February 22nd, 2010

Yeah. I´ll do that. I need lots of presents for next weekend and that would be a nice idea and it is easy to make.

February 22nd, 2010

[...] had some ideas of what to make, but felt somewhat stumped. I had recently run into a post on how to make one’s own liqueurs, and had thought that this would be a cool option for Secret Santa. (That’s right, husband, I [...]

February 24th, 2010

I tried it with vodka and it tastes good too.

February 28th, 2010
 

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