Type Coffee Liqueur | Producer Pernod Ricard | Region Mexico > Veracruz | ABV 20% | Volume 700 ml | Price (AUD) ~$40
House notes
Kahlua is the coffee liqueur your parents had on top of the fridge behind the Malibu, and it is better than you remember but not as good as Mr Black. Vanilla, brown sugar, coffee extract, rum base. Sweet-leaning, which matters in a cocktail. It is what every classic Espresso Martini recipe calls for, because Kahlua invented the modern coffee liqueur category and then stayed the same for forty years. In a White Russian it is the classic. In a Mudslide it is the one with the vanilla. In an Espresso Martini it is fine. Mr Black is better.
What it pairs with
White Russian, Black Russian, Mudslide, B-52, Espresso Martini (budget tier), over coffee ice cream, or in a hot coffee with a dash of rum for a late-night Irish-coffee-adjacent situation. Food: cheesecake, brownies, coffee cake, chocolate-hazelnut anything. A bottle that lasts a year in most households and earns its place on the shelf for exactly that reason.
About the producer
Kahlua has been made in Veracruz, Mexico, since 1936, using Arabica beans grown locally. The recipe has stayed almost unchanged. It is the largest-selling coffee liqueur in the world by a considerable margin.