If you’re feeling a little tired after the excitement of Christmas and New Year, treat yourself to a small tot of our coffee-infused vodka as the perfect pick-me-up.
Vodka is a particularly good partner for the strong flavouring of coffee, as it’s not strongly flavoured itself. You’ll need:
Start by cracking the coffee beans. This is most easily done in a pestle and mortar, or you can put the beans in a plastic bag and gently crush them with a rolling pin or the back of a spoon. You’re not trying to make coffee grounds, only to open the beans enough to let the flavour infuse.
Place the beans and the sugar in a clean, sterilised bottle or jar (you can re-use the empty vodka bottle if you decant the liquid into a secondary container first. Make sure it’s thoroughly clean, though.) Pour the vodka over the beans until they float on top of the liquid. Seal the bottle tightly, and shake it vigorously for 30 seconds.
Put the bottle in a cool dark place, and every day for five days shake it vigorously.
When the five days are up, the liquid should look a uniform clear brown colour. The final stage is to filter out the coffee beans.
Please a clean muslin cloth or tea towel over a large bowl to make a filter, and tape it round so that it’s taut. Very slowly, pour the vodka over the filter. The coffee beans may come out in a rush, so be ready! Once all the vodka has gone through the filter, remove the cloth, wash out and sterilise the original bottle and pour the vodka back in.
Taste the vodka. If the coffee flavour isn’t as strong as you’d like, you can start the process again by adding more crushed beans. If it’s a little too strong, dilute the liquid with some plain vodka.
For great quality coffee beans at wholesale prices, visit our coffee beans page.