WHAT IS KAHLÚA?

Born in Mexico, in 1936, Kahlúa comes steeped in history, with a rich and colorful heritage.

Made with 100% Arabica coffee beans and rum, Kahlúa coffee liqueur is one of the main ingredients in many of the world’s favorite cocktails. From the White Russian, Black Russian and Mudslide, to the cocktail du jour… the Espresso Martini! Plus many more classics, old and new. Brunch, lunch, evening drinks, or whenever—Kahlúa helps turn the average into the extraordinary (and any coffee into a delicious coffee cocktail). That’s probably why it remains the world’s #1 coffee liqueur*. So, go ahead and enjoy. We think you deserve it.

Cheers!
*IWSR Liqueurs 2022.

HOW WE MAKE KAHLÚA

Yep, it takes up to 7 years to produce a bottle of Kahlúa. Here’s why…

GROWING AND GROWING

It can take up to 6 years to get the perfect coffee beans for our coffee liqueur. That’s a pretty long time for a drink. Why? The coffee cherries are grown in the shade, which simply takes a lot longer than growing them in the sun. Coffee cherries? Am I drinking fruit now? Nope – the cherries are simply the safeguard that protect our precious beans. After that, our coffee cherries grow into beautiful dark red cherries, and that’s when they’re ready to be opened up.

HARVESTING

So now that our beautiful deep dark red cherries are ready, it’s time to rip them apart to get the coffee bean out. Come on, we all know it’s the inside that counts.

DRYING AND RESTING

That whole ‘ripping apart thing’ was pretty intense for our beans. So it’s time to wait again, but this time in huge burlaps bags. This takes about 6 months. We know, waiting for something good is exhausting!

DISTILLING

So the whole coffee stuff is great, but what about the spirits in Kahlúa? Our Rum is made from sugarcane, from which the juice is extracted, boiled and mixed with water. Once we’ve got the alcohol, it’s time for the distillation process. Kahlúa is distilled to perfection!

ROASTING AND BLENDING

After up to 7 years the time has finally arrived: the beans and rum spirits meet in our distillery. The coffee that is perfectly roasted for the occasion, finally meets its spirits friend and they rest together for 4 weeks. After these weeks of catch-up, it’s time to bottle and seal the goodness of Kahlúa. People say that good things come to those who wait. We couldn’t agree more.

FROM VERACRUZ WITH LOVE

THE KAHLÚA STORY
1936
1940
1948
1950’S
1955
1960’S
1977
1980’S
1990’S
2021