Baileys Irish Cream is an Irish cream

liqueur A liqueur (; ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-aged beyon ...

, an

alcoholic drink An alcoholic beverage (also called an alcoholic drink, adult beverage, or a drink) is a drink that contains ethanol, a type of alcohol that acts as a drug and is produced by fermentation of grains, fruits, or other sources of sugar. The c ...

flavoured with

cream Cream is a dairy product composed of the higher-fat layer skimmed from the top of milk before homogenization. In un-homogenized milk, the fat, which is less dense, eventually rises to the top. In the industrial production of cream, this process ...

cocoa Cocoa may refer to: Chocolate * Chocolate * ''Theobroma cacao'', the cocoa tree * Cocoa bean, seed of ''Theobroma cacao'' * Chocolate liquor, or cocoa liquor, pure, liquid chocolate extracted from the cocoa bean, including both cocoa butter an ...

and

Irish whiskey Irish whiskey ( ga, Fuisce or ''uisce beatha'') is whiskey made on the island of Ireland. The word 'whiskey' (or whisky) comes from the Irish , meaning ''water of life''. Irish whiskey was once the most popular spirit in the world, though a lo ...

. It is made by

Diageo Diageo plc () is a multinational alcoholic beverage company, with its headquarters in London, England. It operates from 132 sites around the world. It was the world's largest distiller before being overtaken by Kweichow Moutai of China in 201 ...

at Nangor Road, in

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 ...

Ireland Ireland ( ; ga, Éire ; Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in north-western Europe. It is separated from Great Britain to its east by the North Channel, the Irish Sea, and St George's Channel. Ireland is the s ...

and in Mallusk,

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is #Descriptions, variously described as ...

. It is the original Irish cream, invented by a team headed by

Tom Jago Thomas Edwin Jago (21 July 1925 – 12 October 2018) was a Cornish liquor executive and marketeer known as the creator of Baileys Irish Cream, Malibu (flavoured rum) and Johnnie Walker Blue Label. During his semi-retirement, he co-foundeThe La ...

in 1971 for Gilbeys of Ireland; Diageo currently owns the trademark. It has a declared

alcohol Alcohol most commonly refers to: * Alcohol (chemistry), an organic compound in which a hydroxyl group is bound to a carbon atom * Alcohol (drug), an intoxicant found in alcoholic drinks Alcohol may also refer to: Chemicals * Ethanol, one of sev ...

content of 17% by volume.

History and origin

Baileys Irish Cream was created by

of Gilbeys of Ireland, a division of International Distillers & Vintners, as Gilbeys searched for something to introduce to the international market. The process of finding a product began in 1971, and production research began in earnest after consultants David Gluckman, Hugh Seymour-Davies and Mac Macpherson came up with an alcoholic drink made of

and

that, they remarked, "didn't taste punishing". The formulation of Baileys was motivated partly by the availability of alcohol from a money-losing distillery (part of International Distillers & Vintners, and probably W&A Gilbey) and a desire to use surplus cream from another business, Express Dairies, owned by Grand Metropolitan, resulting from the increased popularity of semi-skimmed milk. It included alcohol, cream and the chocolate milk-based drink powder

Nesquik Nesquik is a brand of food products made by Swiss company Nestlé. In 1948, Nestlé launched a drink mix for chocolate-flavored milk called Nestlé Quik in the United States; this was released in Europe during the 1950s as ''Nesquik''. Since ...

produced by Nestle; the initial formulation process took approximately 45 minutes. Baileys was introduced in 1974 as the first Irish cream on the market. The name is that of a restaurant owned by John Chesterman, who granted W&A Gilbey permission to use it. The fictional ''R.A. Bailey'' signature was inspired by

The Bailey's Hotel The Bailey's Hotel, is a historic hotel in the Kensington district of London. The postal address is 140 Gloucester Road, but the main entrance is on Courtfield Road, opposite Gloucester Road tube station. It was established in 1876 and named aft ...

in London, though the registered

trademark A trademark (also written trade mark or trade-mark) is a type of intellectual property consisting of a recognizable sign, design, or expression that identifies products or services from a particular source and distinguishes them from ot ...

omits the apostrophe.

Manufacture

Cream and

from various distilleries are homogenised to form an

emulsion An emulsion is a mixture of two or more liquids that are normally immiscible (unmixable or unblendable) owing to liquid-liquid phase separation. Emulsions are part of a more general class of two-phase systems of matter called colloids. Alth ...

with the aid of an emulsifier containing refined vegetable oil. The process prevents the separation of alcohol and cream during storage. Baileys contains a proprietary cocoa extract recipe giving Baileys its chocolate character and essence. The number of other ingredients is not known, but they include

herbs In general use, herbs are a widely distributed and widespread group of plants, excluding vegetables and other plants consumed for macronutrients, with savory or aromatic properties that are used for flavoring and garnishing food, for medicina ...

and

sugar Sugar is the generic name for sweet-tasting, soluble carbohydrates, many of which are used in food. Simple sugars, also called monosaccharides, include glucose, fructose, and galactose. Compound sugars, also called disaccharides or do ...

. According to the manufacturer, no preservatives are required as the alcohol content preserves the cream. The cream used in the drink comes from

Glanbia Glanbia plc ( ) is an Irish global nutrition group with operations in 32 countries. It has leading market positions in sports nutrition, cheese, dairy ingredients, speciality non-dairy ingredients and vitamin and mineral premixes. Glanbia produc ...

, an Irish dairy company. Glanbia's Virginia facility in

County Cavan County Cavan ( ; gle, Contae an Chabháin) is a county in Ireland. It is in the province of Ulster and is part of the Border Region. It is named after the town of Cavan and is based on the historic Gaelic territory of East Breffny (''Bréifn ...

produces a range of fat-filled milk powders and fresh cream. It has been the principal cream supplier to Baileys Irish Cream Liqueurs for more than 30 years. At busier times of the year, Glanbia also supplies cream from its Ballyragget facility in Kilkenny. Baileys bottles are manufactured solely at Encirc Glass Plant in Derrylin, Co. Fermanagh.

Shelf life

The manufacturer claims Baileys Irish Cream has a shelf life of 24 months and guarantees its taste for two years from the day it was made—opened or unopened, refrigerated or not—when stored away from direct sunlight at temperatures between .

Nutritional values

Drinking

As with milk, cream will

curdle Curdling is the breaking of an emulsion or colloid into large parts of different composition through the physio-chemical processes of flocculation, creaming, and coalescence. Curdling is purposeful in the production of cheese curd and tofu; und ...

whenever it comes into contact with a weak acid. Milk and cream contain

casein Casein ( , from Latin ''caseus'' "cheese") is a family of related phosphoproteins ( αS1, aS2, β, κ) that are commonly found in mammalian milk, comprising about 80% of the proteins in cow's milk and between 20% and 60% of the proteins in hum ...

, which coagulates when mixed with weak acids such as lemon,

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, or traces of

wine Wine is an alcoholic drink typically made from Fermentation in winemaking, fermented grapes. Yeast in winemaking, Yeast consumes the sugar in the grapes and converts it to ethanol and carbon dioxide, releasing heat in the process. Different ...

. While this outcome is undesirable in most situations, some cocktails (such as the

cement mixer A concrete mixer (often colloquially called a cement mixer) is a device that homogeneously combines cement, aggregate such as sand or gravel, and water to form concrete. A typical concrete mixer uses a revolving drum to mix the components. For ...

, which consists of a shot of Baileys mixed with the squeezed juice from a slice of lime) specifically encourage coagulation.

Variant flavours

In 2003, Bailey & Co. launched Baileys Glide, aimed at the

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is any of certain flavored alcoholic beverages with relati ...

market. It was discontinued in 2006. In 2005, Baileys launched

mint chocolate Mint chocolate (or chocolate mint) is a popular type of chocolate, made by adding a mint flavoring, such as peppermint, spearmint, or crème de menthe, to chocolate. Mint chocolate can be found in a wide variety of edible products, such as cand ...

and

crème caramel Crème caramel (), flan, caramel pudding or caramel custard is a custard dessert with a layer of clear caramel sauce. History The origin of crème caramel (also known originally as flan) can be traced all the way back to the Roman Empire. Orig ...

variants at 17% ABV. They were originally released in UK airports and were subsequently released in the mass markets of the UK, US, Australia and Canada in 2006. In 2008, Baileys, after the success of previous flavour variants, released a coffee variant, followed by a hazelnut-flavoured variant in 2010. The company trialled a new premium variety, Baileys Gold, at several European airports in 2009. The Gold version also was marketed towards the Japanese consumer.Thomas N Garavan, Barra O' Cinneide, Mary Garavan, Anna Cunningham, Ambrose Downey, Trevor O'Regan and Briga Hynes 2011, Baileys launched a Biscotti flavour, and a sub-brand premium product Baileys Chocolat Luxe, which combined Belgian chocolate with Baileys, in 2013. The company released a Vanilla-Cinnamon variety in the US market in 2013, with further flavours, Pumpkin Spice, Espresso and Salted Caramel launching the following year. From 2016 to 2018, Baileys Coffee Mocha and Latte was available in cans across the UK and Europe. In 2017, Baileys launched their

Pumpkin Spice Pumpkin pie spice, also known as pumpkin spice, is an American spice mix commonly used as a flavoring for pumpkin pie, but does not include pumpkin as an ingredient. Pumpkin pie spice is similar to the British and Commonwealth mixed spice. It is ...

flavoured liqueur, as well as their vegan-friendly Baileys Almande, described as a blend of "sweet almond oil, cane sugar and a touch of real vanilla". In 2018, Baileys Strawberries & Cream was made available. Baileys launched a new flavour, Red Velvet Cupcake late 2019. In 2020, Baileys Apple Pie Flavour was launched for Christmas.

References

External links

*
Account of the invention of Baileys
{{Diageo plc Cream liqueurs Diageo brands Irish brands Irish alcoholic drinks Irish liqueurs Products introduced in 1974