Baileys Irish Cream

Baileys Irish Cream is a well known alcoholic drink that is made in Dublin in the Republic of Ireland. It mixes Irish whiskey with dairy cream and is made to a unique recipe. At present it is sold in almost two hundred different countries throughout the world with Great Britain and The United States of America being the biggest consumers.

An interesting and surprising fact is that Baileys sales represent over fifty percent of Ireland’s total alcohol exports. When you consider that both Guinness and Old Jameson Distillery, who are well known international brands, share an equivalent proportion of the remaining quota is tells you how successful Baileys is.

What is in it

In keeping with most drink and culinary products that use a recipe, the exact ingredients and proportions of Baileys Irish Cream are a well kept secret.

The company states that three quarters of the ingredients that go into the drink are sourced locally and one of the whiskey producers used is The Old Bushmills Distillery. Cocoa also goes into Baileys Irish Cream to give it a distinctive and slightly chocolaty taste.

For those who are fans of Baileys the taste of their different creams are incomparable to their competitors and the shelf life, which is up to two years, is also unusual for a product consisting of dairy.

Baileys variety

Originally Baileys Irish Cream was marketed and drunk very much as a cocktail drink, but these days it can be enjoyed in any number of different and interesting ways. The traditional way is to pour it over ice, however many people now use it to make a liqueur coffee and it can even be used to pour over a desert as a substitute for cream or custard. It can also be used as a component of may different cocktails.

There are also a number of different Baileys variants which include recipes with white chocolate, caramel or coffee flavours. The bottles also come in 70cl and one litre standard sizes and the alcoholic content is around 17 percent.

As the Baileys company has expanded and gained greater international recognition it has also branched out into some new areas. Two examples include Baileys Irish Cream flavoured ice cream and coffee creamers.

Baileys Irish Cream is available in most stores that have a licence to sell alcohol and it can also be purchased online (subject to age verification) from numerous retailers.