Ruth, is there an appropriately colloquial response to "ta" which would be equivalent to the more formal "you're welcome"?

Anyway, you're welcome.

When I first heard that "homemade Kahlua" recipe, I wondered about the use of vodka. I suppose it's the most tasteless available form of alcohol in which to infuse the coffee ~ the best alternative to avoid masking the coffee flavor. Now that I think about it (again), I'm intrigued by the idea of soaking the coffee beans in Bushmills instead of vodka, making a sort of concentrated Irish-coffee liqueur.

Irish whiskey, incidentally, is an excellent substitute-for/improvement-upon vodka in the White Russian recipe: Irish-Kahlua-cream instead of vodka-Kahlua-cream.

Of course, without the vodka, the drink is no longer Russian at all. It doesn't make a lot of sense to call the revised libation a "White Irishman"; in homage to the Coen Brothers' character The Dude (in The Big Lebowski), I prefer to call it an "Irish Caucasian."