Flavored liqueurs/cordials to put in tea and coffee?

Yes…? So is Kahlua, except that the latter is Starbucks Ice-a-Creama Coffee (with extra packets) and the former is Damned Good Cuppa Joe.

A waste of good coffee and good bourbon, if ya ast me. Unless it’s a “Cold Duck” thing - blending bad coffee and cheap bourbon to make something drinkable.

(Cold Duck - mixing undrinkable red with cheap, tinny sparkling to get something drinkable. Sort of.)

I have just discovered a wondrous line of cream liqueurs that come in French Vanilla, Buttered caramel, chocolate and their original which is just cream. They are amazing in coffee or hot chocolate.

For fruit flavours I’ve had better luck with Da Vinci syrups rather than liqueurs. The flavours are more intense, most liqueurs are intended to be sipped solo and their flavours are designed to not be overwhelming in that situation.

You’re probably right about the DaVinci syrups. Sadly.

List of coffee liqueurs. I see at least one from Hawaii that I mentioned, Kona Gold.

All right-y. In that wiki entry, scroll up and there’s a list of berry liqueuers. Bingo. Chambord and Lillehammer look interesting. I didn’t realize Sloe Gin was a liqueur. Thanks.

There just happens to be a bottle of Chambord for the wife wrapped in one of the boxes sitting under the tiny cardboard Christmas tree we have on a shelf. She’s never tried it, but I once started a thread asking for liqueurs she would like, and that one was mentioned prominently. The bottle doesn’t look cool like in that link though. I think they’ve stopped making those. But it’s the same shape.

Well, surprise her by splashing some in her tea! :wink: The Creme de Cassis in plain black tea (no milk) is sublime.

Or really surprise her and make her a Chambord and Champagne.

This time of year I like a dash of honey whiskey in my hot tea. There are always mini-bottles up front at the liquor store - Evan Walker honey reserve is one.

That bottle of Jim Beam in the cabinet for a couple of friends? That’s what gets mixed into anything more complex than water. :smiley:

I would guess kayaker’s point is that coffee liqueur is going to get completely lost when added to coffee. I was thinking the same thing when people started suggesting Kahlua. Adding something that tastes like what you’re adding it to would seem to defeat the purpose.

Make your own syrups–they’re super-easy and will taste about a million times better. Also you can control the intensity of the flavor. You could also make your own liqueurs and really ramp up the ingredients so you get more intense flavor.

How easy? Instructions, please.

Boiling water easy.

You take equal parts sugar and water (you can tinker the ratios to adjust sweetness, but 1:1 is a good place to start) and plop them in a pan. Heat it over low/medium heat till it just reaches a boil. Add in your flavoring, turn off the heat, and let it steep till cool. Strain, chill, enjoy.

The smaller-cut your flavorant is, the better extraction you’ll get. Our most common versions are citrus (use grated zest) and ginger (slice thin or grate) but the possibilities are endless. You can even make your own chocolate syrup by whisking cocoa powder into the basic syrup, though you have to simmer that a bit to get the cocoa to fully dissolve.

Liqueurs are about as easy. Take a clean vessel and throw some vodka in it. Add whatever flavoring you want. Cover and let it sit somewhere between a few days and a few weeks. Strain out the flavoring and add an equal volume of simple syrup. Let it mellow a bit, then snork.

Add a tot of Calvados to coffee. Yum!

What, I have to buy champagne? :frowning:

No, it’s really quite good. It doesn’t taste exactly like coffee. I have fond memories of kicking back in the evening in Hawaii with some coffee liqueur in my cup of hot joe. A nice complement.

Well, if you don’t do it, somebody else will! (Paraphrasing someone singing What a night.

Yep. Mmmmmmmmm. Cheers and happy holidays. And to all a good night.

I like peppermint schnapps in hot chocolate.

Peppermint schnapps straight on the rocks is the coldest substance known to man.

I’ve been doing my own liqueurs for a while now too, though I prefer to use brandy for a more complex flavour. I started with the ginger recipe here (with honey in place of half the sugar, and vanilla extract instead of the bean. See the comments.), then ginger/lemon zest, and on from there. Right now I’m sipping a glass of coffee/chocolate/cardamom, and I have some lime zest and coconut with brown sugar steeping in rum. I also have some quick-and-dirty orange brandy: half a cup or so of Seville orange (Scotch-style) marmalade dissolved in a cup of hot water, a teaspoon of vanilla extract after that cools, and two cups of brandy, all steeped for a day before straining.