Since writing about my current book selection really can’t happen until after I’ve finished the book, and as I’m being a very slow reader/listener at the moment, I figured I really should post something–anything–to keep this project going. So I present you with…Kalhua!
Back in the day, my grandmother used to make Kalhua. She and one of her friends would gather in the kitchen and brew the black stuff. I can’t say I really remember what all went on during one of these brewing sessions, as I was very small when it did, but I remember it happened. And I know that there is an index card somewhere in my kitchen with her recipe on it. Alas, I haven’t located it. So I did the next best thing–I phoned a friend, or rather, a relative who has made it before. She shared with me my uncle’s recipes for Kalhua and Irish Cream. And since lockdown can be a little boring sometimes (I think we are on week 9), I decided to try one of them out.
Kalhua, anyone?
This recipe came to me from Aunt Marylou and Uncle Moe, and similar to a lot of recipes out there in internet-land. I have modified it a wee bit based on my own trial and error.
INGREDIENTS
- 1 quart water
- 2 1⁄2 cups sugar
- 3 tablespoons instant coffee
- 1 tablespoon vanilla
- 2 1⁄2 cups rum, preferably gold or dark (for flavour), though white works just as well
DIRECTIONS
1. Boil water, coffee, sugar. Simmer for about 2 hours, stirring frequently.
(Simmer is a weird direction for what you’re doing here–due to its thickness, I had to “simmer” it at a fairly high temperature, and I only had to simmer it for 2 hours. The easiest way to tell when it’s simmered enough is that the mixture has roughly reduced by half its volume. Also, if you take a spoonful of the mix and place it in a cup, once it starts to cool if it looks like a thick-ish syrup, it’s done.)
2. Let cool and add vanilla and vodka.
(Don’t’ let it cool all the way–my concern was that since the mixture was thickening significantly upon cooling, if it cooled too much it might never actually combine. So I mixed the vanilla and rum in a separate pitcher, and when the coffee mix was not hot but warm (approximately half an hour after taking it off the stove), I added it to the pitcher.)
3. Bottle and cap tightly.
(Other reviews of similar recipe said that the recipe makes 3-16 oz pint jars; I did a double-batch of the recipe and made just under 3 wine bottles–the kind with attached, hinged stoppers.)
As a note: The original recipe called for vokda rather than rum, which is odd, as a bottle of actual kalhua states that it is a rum-based liqueur…