Irish Cream Classic Liquors Kit Review

I had been meaning to get one of these kits for ages, and what with Christmas coming up I decided now was the time.

Now, if you haven't seen one of these kits don't let the picture fool you. I had convinced myself it was a wine-kit size and that it had some sort of milk/cream substitute in it. It's actually a very small box with some basic ingredients and you need to provide your own cream.

Anyway, the box contains:

2 packs of Champagne yeast
2 packs of yeast nutrient (different types going by the colour)
2 packs of Glucose
1 pack of powdered charcoal
1 pack of finings
1 pack of potassium sorbate
1 pack of PH adjuster
1 bottle of flavouring
1 set of instructions


Additional Requirements:

Brewing equipment (DJ, spoon, steriliser, airlock, etc)
Condensed Milk (sweet) (200ml per litre)
Whipping Cream (100ml per litre)


The instructions are simple enough to follow, you are basically making a sugar wash to add flavouring to. Once it's all finished you then add condensed milk and whipping cream to make your own Baileys. So, don't believe it where it says "all you need is sugar". Also, the instructions that are posted around are generic ones and not specific to the Irish Cream, there are some subtle differences that will make a change.... such as the creams.

I've just completed the first step which involved warming up some water, adding 1350g of sugar to it and then splitting it into 2. Half goes in a DJ with 2L of water, along with the nutrients and yeast, and the other litre goes into a bottle to be added in 48 hours. Simple stuff.

As long as it's a tasty beverage I'll be happy.

Total cost including the creams works out £5 a bottle (700ml) so not exactly cheap. Also, although it advertises 22% that's just the wash. By the time the creams etc are added it'll be closer to 15%.

Anyway, I'll post back with the results etc. This one will definitely be ready before Christmas :)

Finally got this finished (well almost). Basically when following the instructions you need to double everything with regards to time. It certainly isn't a quick kit but I'm hoping that the wait will be worth it.

That's it bottled, flavoured and ready for the cream. On a more positive note it smells LOVELY, very much like Baileys so it may well be a winner after all. Unfortunately the local supermarket didn't have any concentrated milk so it's stopped in its tracks for now

Will report back after the tasting :)

Can't wait for the taste result! This one is now on my 'maybe to make' list pending on the taste test!

It's in the fridge

Absolutely RANK

Loads of easy recipes on the web:


Homemade Irish cream is a real treat, served it chilled with plenty of ice or sneak a drop into your coffee.
Ingredients

250ml/9fl oz single cream

1x 397g/14oz tin condensed milk

350ml/12fl oz Irish whiskey

1 tsp Camp coffee essence

3 tsp chocolate sauce

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp almond essence

Preparation method

Sterilise the bottles for the liqueur: wash in very hot water or on the hot cycle of a dishwasher. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Place the bottles on a baking tray and dry in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool.

Pour all the ingredients into a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Add extra Camp or chocolate to taste.

Pour into sterilised bottles and store in the fridge. (The liqueur will keep for up to two months.) Shake well before using.

Monkeybrew said:

Loads of easy recipes on the web:


Homemade Irish cream is a real treat, served it chilled with plenty of ice or sneak a drop into your coffee.
Ingredients

250ml/9fl oz single cream

1x 397g/14oz tin condensed milk

350ml/12fl oz Irish whiskey

1 tsp Camp coffee essence

3 tsp chocolate sauce

1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp almond essence

Preparation method

Sterilise the bottles for the liqueur: wash in very hot water or on the hot cycle of a dishwasher. Preheat the oven to 160C/325F/Gas 3. Place the bottles on a baking tray and dry in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Leave to cool.

Pour all the ingredients into a blender and blend on high for 30 seconds. Add extra Camp or chocolate to taste.

Pour into sterilised bottles and store in the fridge. (The liqueur will keep for up to two months.) Shake well before using.

Click to expand...

Unfortunately by the time all that's done you are just as well buying baileys when it's on offer. The copy baileys is way better than the stuff I've just made and it's around £6 per litre.

I still wanted to give it a go regardless, and I'm glad I did, but I definitely won't do it again.

Oh well, at least we know - I'll stick to the budget supermarket version then!

Cheers for the review Scott.

fbsf said:

Oh well, at least we know - I'll stick to the budget supermarket version then!

Cheers for the review Scott.

Click to expand...

Yup I think I'll do the same. Although, I added 2 spoons of coffee into the mix and it's came up MILES better than it was. I added too much coffee for what I had left though so the recipe will definitely need tweaked. But it has a lot more potential than it did before.

If it's any consolation, the old Boots 'Irish Cream' liqueur kit wasn't much cop either. It came with bags of dried milk powder for the cream and it just used to make a thin, grainy, unpleasant drink for what was quite a lot of brewing effort. I remember taking 4 litres of the base liquor with me when I started university and in my final year the same two bottles came back home, albeit a lot more dusty.