Homemade Caramel Vodka makes a great gift or addition to your home bar. Mix it into your favorite boozy coffee drinks, milkshakes, cocktails, desserts and more.
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Caramel Vodka recipe
Making homemade liqueurs is one of my favorite things to do. I love mixing them into drinks and giving them as gifts.
This holiday season, I’m making bottles of homemade Caramel Vodka to give to my drinking buddies. It’s sweet, simple and such a special gift that any cocktail lover will adore. But it’s almost sinful how easy it is!
I tried a couple of versions before the one you see here. One version I tried included infusing vodka with chewy caramel candies. It worked and tasted fine, but I didn’t love the cloudy color.
The method here involves combining homemade caramel syrup with your favorite vodka for a delicious (and clear) spirit that will look gorgeous in cocktails.
Caramel vodka has all the flavor of sweet caramelized sugar, soft English toffee and a hint of vanilla. If you like, you can add a delicate hint of salt to make salted caramel vodka, but you don’t have to.
Why you’ll love this recipe
Yes, you can buy caramel vodka at the liquor store, but it’s made with artificial flavorings and is suspiciously clear. (That’s because there are regulations that vodka has to be clear in color.)
- Caramel-flavored vodka is easy to make from home with just a few ingredients.
- You’ll know exactly what’s in it. No artificial flavors, food colors or weird ingredients here!
- It can be mixed into all kinds of cocktails, coffee and drinks! Even poured over ice cream.
It makes a great gift for the holidays. Pour it into a mason jar or flip-top bottle and wrap it with a ribbon and a gift tag. Done and dusted!
Ingredients
You only need a couple of ingredients to make this easy caramel vodka.
Caramel syrup
Caramel syrup has a thinner consistency than the caramel sauce you’d drizzle over ice cream. It’s mixed with water to make it easy to mix right into coffee and cocktails.
You can buy caramel syrup or make it yourself. Making it at home is pretty easy (and not nearly as difficult as caramel sauce) and it costs next to nothing, which always gets my vote.
You’ll need sugar, water and vanilla extract to make it. If you want to make it salted caramel syrup, you can add a pinch of sea salt.
Vodka
You’ll want to pick up a great bottle of vodka to use in homemade liqueurs. Nothing too cheap, but not too pricy.
My go-to brands right now are Tito’s, Reyka, Deep Eddy and Absolut. Learn some more about this versatile spirit in my Vodka 101 crash course.
Variations and substitutions
Try one of these spins on regular caramel vodka:
Salted caramel vodka: Add a pinch of sea salt to the vodka and shake until dissolved. Add another pinch if desired.
Caramel whiskey: Use your favorite bourbon to make caramel bourbon instead.
Chocolate caramel vodka: Add ½ teaspoon of chocolate extract to add a hint of chocolate flavor.
How to make Caramel Vodka
Homemade Caramel Vodka is easy to make at home and is still so full of caramel flavor.
The first thing to do is to make an easy caramel syrup that will be mixed with the vodka.
Combine ¼ cup water and ½ cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until dissolved, about 5 minutes or so. (Low heat will dry it out so make sure the heat is warm.)
Then cover the pot while it boils, about 3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir consistently until the mixture is a light amber color.
As soon as it turns colors, remove it from heat immediately, then stir in the remaining ¼ cup water and vanilla. It will bubble.
Once the syrup has cooled, you add a little bit to a mason jar. How sweet and flavorful to make it totally depends on the person, so add the syrup in small amounts.
Then pour vodka over top. Taste it with a spoon after each addition until you are satisfied. You will need approximately ½ to 1 ounce for every 3 ounces of vodka.
If you’re making salted caramel vodka, add a touch of salt and then shake it up in a mason jar or cocktail shaker until dissolved. Always strive for light saltiness, as salt is difficult to walk back.
What to make with it
You can make so many caramel vodka drinks with this homemade version. It also works well for shooters with a caramel drizzle on the rim.
Try it in White Russians for a caramel macchiato twist.
Mix it into the ultimate fall cocktail, the Caramel Apple Mimosa, a bubbly libation garnished with an apple slice or two for good measure.
It would also be so good in a Caramel Mule, a spin on the classic Moscow Mule with ginger and lime juice.
Add it to a boozy milkshake like these caramel macchiato milkshakes.
Try it in a Caramel Appletini, made with apple juice or fresh apple cider, for an absolutely decadent treat.
It’s great in winter warmers, too. Stir it into homemade apple cider, hot chocolate or a boozy caramel coffee on a holiday morning.
More homemade liqueurs
Caramel Vodka
ingredients
Caramel Syrup
- ½ cup water divided
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- ½ teaspoon vanilla extract
instructions
- Combine ¼ cup water and ½ cup sugar in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Stir until dissolved, about 5 minutes or so. (Low heat will dry out the sugar so make sure the heat is at medium-high.)
- Cover the pot while it boils, about 3 minutes. Remove the lid and stir consistently until the mixture is a light amber color.
- As soon as the color change occurs, remove from heat immediately. Cool slightly.
- Stir in the remaining ¼ cup water, vanilla extract and salt, if using.
- Once the syrup has cooled, stir it into the vodka.
notes
Variations
Salted caramel vodka: Add a pinch of sea salt to the vodka and shake until dissolved. Add another pinch if desired.Caramel whiskey: Use your favorite bourbon to make caramel bourbon instead.
Tips
When you heat the sugar and water together, low heat will dry out the sugar so make sure the heat is set to medium-high. How sweet and flavorful you’d like the vodka depends on the person, so add the syrup in small amounts. Taste it with a spoon after each addition and add more if desired. You will need approximately ½ to 1 ounce for every 3 ounces of vodka.recommended products
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Ex bartender says
Tip to remove the “cloudy” aspect of your home infused vodka. The haze is some sort of very fine sediment, that was a side effect of whatever the vodka was infused with. After the process is complete, run the batch through a Brita filter…dispose the filter afterwards, you just broke it. (It’s possible the the filter process might tone down the flavor, so maybe let it steep an extra day) cheers.
Susannah says
That’s a great tip for infused vodkas! This one uses a simple syrup and is an easy solution if someone doesn’t want to take the time for a long infusion and/or filter out the sediment.
XboxDragon says
Good recipe. Tried it twice. First time I don’t think I let it get Amber enough. It’s not obvious in my pans what color the liquid is. Still good though. Second time I let it cook longer and found it began to crystallize so added the water and vanilla. Had to heat it again to get the crystals to dissolve but in the end it was fine. Just a matter of practice.
I originally had caramel vodka years ago in a steakhouse in Hanoi believe it or not. The owner kept it super cold and it went down smooth as water. Definitely a cab required after that evening.
Susannah says
So glad you loved this recipe! Yes, the caramel syrup is tricky but agree that it’s a matter of practice. What a cool story about Hanoi — this recipe would definitely be good ice cold and neat!