Episode Details

Kahlúa tastes like strong coffee, yet a standard 1.5 ounce pour holds only about five milligrams of caffeine, measured at roughly 100 parts per million. The liqueur was created in 1936 in Veracruz, Mexico, by Pedro Domecq, who blended rum from local sugar cane, raw sugar, and local arabica coffee. He named it with a Nahuatl word meaning House of the Acolhua people, tying a new product to an older regional identity. In the United States, importer Jules Berman sold it so tirelessly that he became known as Mr. Kahlúa.

The bottle has changed far more than its label suggests. Kahlúa started at 26.5% alcohol, dropped to 20% in 2004, and in 2021 fell to 16% in the UK and Canada with a new bottle, while the US kept the 20% version. Going the other way, Kahlúa Especial launched in 2002 as a duty free exclusive at 36%, with 100% Veracruz arabica and less room for syrup. Behind all of it sits a chain of mergers that ended with Pernod Ricard, the world's largest spirits distributor.

• A typical eight ounce cup of brewed coffee can carry up to 200 milligrams of caffeine, about 40 times a Kahlúa pour.
• The episode argues the roasted aroma sets up a conditioned expectation of a buzz that the liqueur never delivers.
• Especial won three silver medals at the San Francisco World Spirits Competition from 2005 to 2007 and a bronze in 2009.
• Kahlúa's density lets it sit at the bottom of a layered B-52 shot beneath Irish cream and orange liqueur.
• The Domecq company merged with Allied Lyons in 1994, Pernod Ricard acquired part of it in 2005, and a 2008 deal with Vin & Sprit followed.