The redesigned Kahlua Coffee Liqueur labels now says "Rum and Coffee Liqueur," which is a helpful description when creating a clone version of the famous cordial. This text was not on the bottle 30 years ago when I made my first version of this liqueur using vodka—not rum. So, back into the lab went I, to create an improved version of the drink with rum, just like the label says.

I used light rum for my Kahlua recipe because it is more of a neutral taste like the vodka called for in my first version, but since it doesn't include the caramel color added to Kahlua, your drink will come out a lighter shade of brown than the real stuff. However, you can also use dark rum in this recipe, which will add other flavor notes to your finished product, plus caramel color to deepen the shade of your liqueur.  

There are many other famous drinks you can make at home! See if I cloned your favorites here. 

For several months, artist Bernardino Luini worked closely with a model to help him paint a fresco of the Madonna in Saronno, Italy. As the months passed, the girl, whose name has since been forgotten, fell in love with Bernardino. To show her feelings for him, the girl gave Bernardino a gift of sweet almond-flavored liqueur she made from the trees growing in her garden. The year was 1525, and that bottle is said to have been the first Disaronno Amaretto. The recipe was passed down through the ages, until late in the eighteenth century, when the liqueur went into commercial production.

Use my Disaronno Amaretto recipe below and give someone a bottle, whether they paint you on a wall or not.

You can make other liqueurs at home using my copycat drink recipes, including Bailey's, Kahlua, and Grand Marnier.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Use my Jacquin's peppermint schnapps liqueur recipe below to re-create the delicious minty schnapps at home. All you need is four ingredients, including inexpensive vodka, and an empty bottle to store it in.

Isn't making booze at home fun? Check out my recipes for Grand Marnier, Amaretto and Bailey's Irish Cream. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

Time for the ultimate Irish coffee recipe from the country's favorite Irish-themed chain restaurant to warm you up. It looks great with green creme de menthe drizzled over the whipped cream, and it's topped off with a cherry hat.

Try my Bennigan's Irish Coffee copycat recipe below and find more of your famous drink recipes here. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

As the holidays come around, so too does this incredible latte from Starbucks. Into the coffee house's basic latte recipe go a few pumps of special gingerbread-flavored syrup, and we soon experience the combined sensation of munching on a gingerbread cookie while sipping hot, milky java. Nice. 

To re-create the experience at home for the holidays at a mere fraction of the cost of the real thing, all we have to do is make our own gingerbread syrup with a few common ingredients. When the syrup is done, simply brew some espresso in your espresso machine, steam some hot milk, and throw it all in a cup. Top off your homemade Starbucks gingerbread latte with whipped cream and a dash of nutmeg as they do at the store, and you'll fool anyone with this hot little clone. 

By the way, my Starbucks Gingerbread Latte copycat recipe makes one grande-size drink, but you'll have enough syrup for as many as seven drinks.

Find more of your favorite Starbucks drink recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

Bailey's uses a special process to combine two otherwise incompatible ingredients for its signature liqueur: cream and whiskey. This secret technique keeps the cream from clumping and separating from the whiskey and allows the liqueur to go for two years unrefrigerated without spoiling.

But we won't need any preparation tricks for this revised copycat recipe since we'll be storing our cloned liqueur in the refrigerator. And rather than cream, we’ll use canned evaporated milk for a sweet finished product with the taste and texture of the deliciously famous liqueur.

Below is an improved version of my Bailey's copycat recipe from More Top Secret Recipes. This update has fewer ingredients, is easier to make, and tastes more like the real thing.

Make more fun copycat cocktails and liqueurs with my recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Starbucks makes its hot chocolate with mocha syrup that's used for a variety of other drinks in the store. A barista combines mocha syrup with a couple squirts of vanilla syrup and heated milk, and he then finishes off the drink with a sweet pile of whipped cream. 

You can duplicate the process using my Starbucks Hot Chocolate copycat recipe below. You'll create your own chocolate syrup in the microwave with cocoa—Hershey or Nestle brand works great. After adding milk to the heated chocolate mixture, pop it back into the microwave again until piping hot. Add a little vanilla extract at the end to give the drink vanilla hints like the original. I found that a 2-cup glass measuring cup with a spout works best to heat the drink in the microwave. Then, when it's ready, you can easily pour the hot chocolate into a 16-ounce coffee mug and get on with the sipping.

Find more of your favorite recipes for Starbucks pastries and drinks here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

In 1880s France, oranges were quite rare and exotic. When Louis Alexandre Marnier-Lopostolle traveled to the Caribbean in search of ingredients, he came back with bitter oranges to combine with his family's fine cognac. Other orange-flavored liqueurs such as triple sec and curacao are mixed with a neutral alcohol base. Grand Marnier took it to the next level with a more complex flavor that makes it today's top-selling French liqueur.

Now you too can combine cognac with a real orange to make a home version of the tasty—and pricey—stuff. By using an inexpensive cognac that costs around 18 to 20 dollars a bottle, you can create a clone cousin of the real thing that normally sells for around 30 bucks a bottle. 

All you need for my Grand Marnier Liqueur copycat recipe is cognac, some sugar, an orange, and a little patience.

Try more of my copycat cocktail and liquor recipes here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

The most popular and notorious cocktail at this 157-unit casual chain is the pumped-up piña colada-style drink served in a heavy 18-ounce schooner with a rim of toasted coconut. The menu warns customers that they are allowed only two of these cocktails since each is made with a supersized 2-ounce shot of Pusser's rum.

Pusser's Rum is the best choice here if you want a perfect clone of Cheddar's Painkiller, but you can certainly make this drink with your choice of any good gold rum. But watch out. At home, there's no 2-drink limit. And these are so good that you might forget how many you’ve downed!   

Now, how about some Cheddar's incredible Santa Fe Spinach Dip?    

Kahlua may market itself as the coffee liqueur developed in Mexico, but many believe the brand originated in Turkey. Looking at the label, we can still see an Arabic archway under which a sombrero-wearing man rests. Old labels of the brand show this man wearing a turban and smoking a pipe. Even the name Kahlua is of Arabic origin. Regardless of where the drink came from, it dominates all other coffee liqueurs out there, including the very popular Tia Maria.

Here's a greatly improved Kahlua Coffee Liqueur recipe that appears in Top Secret Recipes. You'll find this recipe is easier to make, tastes better, and, just as with the first recipe, improves with age.

You might also like my recipes for Bailey's Irish Cream, Amaretto, and Grand Marnier. Find more copycat liqueur recipes here. 

America’s biggest coffee-house chain has come up with another way to sell us a seasonal pumpkin drink, and this one is pretty damn good. Cold brew coffee is mixed with vanilla syrup and ice, then a pumpkin spice flavored cream is layered on top. If it's in a clear glass, you'll see the creamy topping slowly sinking to the bottom like a lava lamp, and the color of the drink will change to a light autumn brown.  

To make our own Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew drink at home, we'll start by making the secret pumpkin spice syrup from my Pumpkin Spice Latte recipe posted here, but this time I’m adding an extra tablespoon of pumpkin. You’ll have plenty of this syrup left over to make several more drinks.

The rest of my Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew recipe is easy: Grab your favorite cold brew coffee and mix it with some vanilla syrup (like this one from Torani). The cream topping is made by mixing cream with 2% milk in a blender, just until thick. After adding the pumpkin syrup, you pour the topping over your coffee and top it off with pumpkin spice.

You've just hacked Starbucks pumpkin cream cold brew. Now, how about making some of their famous pastries?

The chicken chain’s seasonal milkshake made with chips of peppermint and chocolate is only available November through January each year, but what if you’re craving one in March? Or what if it’s Sunday and you can’t get your favorite shake because that’s when every Chick-fil-A is closed?

Now, you can use my Chick-fil-A Peppermint Chip Milkshake recipe to make this treat at home in the few minutes it takes to smash some candy canes and turn on a blender. Use a small storage bag and a kitchen mallet or handle of a butter knife to smash the peppermint candy into small crumbs, then combine those with dark chocolate bits, ice cream, milk, flavoring, and color, and you’ll be sipping on a perfect copy of the famous shake in under 5 minutes.

Oh, don’t forget the whipped cream and a cherry.

Try more of my Chick-fil-A copycat recipes, like their famous chicken sandwich here. 

Online taste tests and reviews frequently highlight Farmland Fresh, Darigold, and Southern Comfort as America's top egg nog brands. Among these, Southern Comfort, a brand known for its fruit-flavored whiskey, often ranks highest with its delicious “traditional” egg nog, which, ironically, contains no alcohol.

But the first egg nog, invented in medieval Britain, was quite intoxicating. In those days, it was a warm drink made with milk and sherry, thickened with plenty of egg yolks. Sure, that’s a different experience than today’s cold egg nog, but at least it was made with wholesome ingredients. The cartons of nog available at the market today are typically made with non-traditional ingredients, such as corn syrup, and much of the egg yolk has been replaced with cheaper, longer-lasting natural gums like carrageenan and guar gum.

For my Southern Comfort Traditional Egg Nog copycat recipe, we're turning back the clock to make egg nog the traditional way, using plenty of real egg yolks to thicken the batch without any gums or corn syrup. My easy recipe yields around 36 ounces of fresh homemade egg nog, and the decision to add booze is up to you.

Make more fun, famous drinks with my recipes here.

The imaginary drink from J.K. Rowling's books became a reality when the first Wizarding World of Harry Potter appeared in 2010. Since then, many hacks for the beverage have emerged online. The only problem is, if Rowling's reported requirements for the drink are true, then almost all of those copycats recipes got something very wrong.

Learn more and get my recipe for free on my Food Hacker Blog here.

The Dubai chocolate bar was created by Sarah Hamouda, a British-Egyptian engineer living in Dubai, who conceived of the bars while pregnant in 2021. However, Sarah didn’t discover the right mix of sweetened pistachio paste, tahini, and shredded phyllo dough to fill the milk chocolate bar until 2023. Soon after the bars were perfected in 2024, a social media campaign on Instagram and TikTok went viral, transforming the Dubai chocolate bars into a worldwide sensation.

Noticing the trend, Shake Shack locations in the Middle East introduced this milkshake version of the candy bar in February 2025. The shake was so popular there that Shake Shack brought it to U.S. outlets for a limited run in the summer, where it received rave reviews. Before it disappeared, I snagged several of the shakes and stashed all but one in my freezer. That one went into my belly, and it was worth every calorie.

To make this shake, Shake Shack uses their famous custard as a base. For my Shake Shack Dubai Chocolate Pistachio Shake copycat recipe, you can either use my hack of the chain’s custard (here) or choose a good store-bought vanilla ice cream (such as Häagen-Dazs). You’ll add pistachio paste, which is easily found online, along with toasted, shredded phyllo dough called kataifi.

The most ingenious part of this recipe is the Magic Shell chocolate sauce that coats the inside of the plastic cup before you add the shake. When you squeeze the cup, the chocolate cracks into the frozen shake, recreating the experience of eating the famous chocolate bar. Use a clear 18-ounce plastic cup (like Solo) for the best re-creation of the original shake.

Try my recipe for the Shake Shack Burger here.

Copy the famous and very popular Bloody Mary Mix from that couple with only a letter as a last name. It's a simple-to-make blend of tomato juice and spices with some prepared horseradish and canned jalapeño juice thrown in for a "spicier, zestier" drink. 

Make my Mr and Mrs T Rich and Spicy Bloody Mary Mix copycat recipe and serve with vodka over ice, for a delicious cocktail, or sip it straight.

Click here to see if I copied more of your favorite drinks.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

With just a few simple ingredients, you can re-create the European-style coffees that come in rectangular tins at a fraction of the cost. Use my General Foods International Coffee recipes for perfect home clones of Cafe Vienna, French Vanilla Cafe, and Suisse Mocha. 

Since these famous instant coffee blends are created by Maxwell House, it's best to use Maxwell House instant coffee, although I've tried them with Folger's and Taster's Choice, and the recipes still work out fine. You'll also need a coffee bean grinder to grind the instant coffee into powder. When you're finished making the mix, you can store it for as long as you like in a sealed container, until you're ready for a hot coffee drink. When that time comes, measure some of the mix into a cup and add boiling water. Stir well and enjoy while watching shows about Europe on the Travel Channel to enhance the experience.

Find more recipes for your favorite famous drinks here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

If you've never had a Chelada, the idea of mixing beer with Clamato juice may make your stomach turn. This odd combination of beverages has origins in Mexico that date back to the 1940s, when beer was mixed with lime, salt, and hot sauce or salsa. 

In early 2008, Anheuser-Busch (Budweiser) and Cadbury-Schweppes (Clamato) teamed up to produce the first canned Chelada beverage, which they dubbed "The Red One," and after a successful launch in select western states, the product is now exploding across the country. Many swear by the drink as a remarkable hangover cure, and after some extensive personal experimentation, I must concur. Try my easy Budweiser Chelada recipe below and see for yourself.

Click here for more famous drink recipes. 

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

With over 120 restaurants in 28 states, Joe's Crab Shack is one of the country's largest seafood restaurants. The chain is famous for its BBQ crab and hourly server line dances, but Joe's also has an impressive cocktail menu. When the weather's frigid, this coffee drink with a kick is a great way to warm up the innards.

Find more of your favorite recipes from Joe's Crab Shack over here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Since cocktails are amongst the biggest moneymakers at most restaurants, chains like Outback are constantly fiddling with creative new drink formulas, hoping one will break out as the next Wallaby Darned, the chain’s most famous bestselling cocktail (cloned here).

Most of the chain's new drinks are usually quite delicious, but apparently not delicious enough, since the next seasonal batch of new drink recipes will often replace them. But these two cocktails are a couple of standout exceptions that have been on the menu for some time. They’re both fruity and smooth and refreshing and they each feature rum. 

Use my Aussie Rum Punch recipe here to make a drink just like the original with white rum and Malibu rum, plus mango, cranberry, and lime juices, and finished with a splash of Sprite. The Castaway Cocktail recipe is made with Absolut Mandarin vodka, two kinds of rum, plus pineapple, blood orange, and lemon juices.

Instead of using flavored syrups as they do in the restaurant, these recipes are made with real fruit juices, so even though they might look different than the drinks at the chain, they’ll taste just as good. And perhaps even a little better.

See if I cloned more of your Outback Steakhouse favorites here.

At only 10 1/2 ounces per serving you might think this drink a bit wee. But I assure you, one of these packs a wallop, and two will get you speaking in haiku. This delicious raspberry margarita, along with an incredible southwestern cuisine, is making this small chain a big success story.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits & Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

This flavor variation from the Orange Julius company may be called Banana Julius, but they also add a little orange juice to the mix. Make sure your bananas are ripe for this clone, so you get a nice sweet drink with the perfect thickness just like the original Orange Julius Banana Julius.

Click here for my recipe for the classic Orange Juliius.

Source: Top Secret Recipes Unlocked by Todd Wilbur.

In 1919, when Roy Allen and Frank Wright started selling their new root beer beverage to a thirsty America, national Prohibition was taking its grip on the country. Their timing couldn't have been better. No longer able to legally drink real beer, thirsty patriots had to settle for this sweet, foamy concoction derived from roots, herbs, and berries. Roy and Frank had thirteen years of Prohibition to make their mark and their fortune from this refreshing drink. By 1933, when Prohibition came to a screeching halt, Roy and Frank had 171 stands in various shapes and sizes, each with the familiar A&W logo on them, all across the country. These drive-up stands with their tray boys and tray girls bringing cold drinks out to the cars were an inspiration for many other roadside stands and diners, and the prelude to the popular fast food drive-thrus of today. You can still get a foamy mug of A&W root beer at outlets across the country, or just enjoy some from a 12-ounce can.

But if it's some home cloning you'd like to get into, check out my improved A&W root beer recipe that was first printed in More Top Secret Recipes. The beauty is you won't have to worry about collecting roots, herbs, and berries like the pros do when making A&W root beer. Instead ,you just need to get some root beer extract, manufactured by McCormick, that you'll find near the vanilla in your local supermarket. Make up some root beer syrup, let it cool off in the fridge, and you can whip up 10 servings of A & W root beer by combining the syrup with soda water whenever you're ready to drink it.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits and Shakes by Todd Wilbur.

Sure, Roy Allen and Frank Wright are better known for the exquisite root beer concoction sold first from California drive-up stands under the A & amp;W brand name. But these days the company makes a darn good vanilla cream soda as well. And the formula is one we can easily clone at home by combining a few simple ingredients. Most of the flavor comes from vanilla, but you'll also need a little lemonade flavor Kool-Aid unsweetened drink mix powder. This mix comes in .23-ounce packets and provides the essential citric acid that gives my A&W cream soda recipe the slight sour flavor of the real thing. Once you make the syrup, let it cool down in the fridge, then combine the syrup with cold soda water in a 1-to-4 ration, add a little ice, and get sipping.

You might also want to try my A & W root beer recipe here.

Source: Top Secret Recipes: Sodas, Smoothies, Spirits and Shakes by Todd Wilbur.