The situation: The girlfriend and I LOVE Bailey’s.
The problem: It’s $20 a bottle. There’s not much alcohol in the drink, and not much drink in the bottle.
What else can we try that tastes great that’s a little cheaper and will get us drunker for longer?
There are a couple cheaper alternatives of the stuff…only one I can think of right know is called Carol anns…I think there is one called Emmetts also.
Try St. Brendan’s Irish Cream; virtually identical to Bailey’s, and about half the price ($11.00-12 bucks)
St. Brendan’s is usually cheaper. Or you could make your own.
I’ve found O’Grady’s from Sainsbury’s to be the most acceptable faux Bailey’s. I think Tesco also has a nice own-label as well.
Make your own. The previous posted recipe is adequate, and you can adjust the strength to fit your tastes.
I know this is a dumb question, but I’m not much of a drinker and I’m even worse at reading recipes.
So, the first ingredient states:
1 1/4 cups Irish whiskey, brandy, rum, bourbon, and scotch or rye whiskey.
Does that mean 1 1/4 cups of EACH of those ingredients or total? (I’m assuming 1 1/4 cups of each, but I just wanted to make sure I was reading it right.)
Thanks, and looking forward to trying the recipe.
We used to get O’Darby. On this website 750ml Bailey’s = $18.95, but O’Darby 750 ml is $3.50.
1 1/4 total of booze. It only serves 7. You just can make something that tastes good with any of the liquor in the list.
Man, I’m glad I asked. I’d have a bunch of drunks running around here!
So, do you mix the listed alcohol in any amount to taste, is every type required at some amt., or is a mix of approx. equal amounts of each type of alcohol to equal 1 1/4 cups the way to go?
Here, use my recipe:
2 egg yolks
1 pint heavy cream (could use half and half if you’re a candy ass)
1 can sweetened condensed milk
1 tsp. vanilla
1 tsp. instant coffee dissolved in 1 Tbs. water
2 Tbs. chocolate syrup
6 - 8 oz. Jameson Irish Whiskey (6 makes it smooth, 8 kicks you in the ass - your choice) or Bushmills
Makes just over 1 liter.
Pour into bottles and refrigerate.
Shake before serving.
I personally would go with 1 1/4 cups of one type of booze. But I would think if you had a few bottles of brown booze sitting around you could mix them to get 1 1/4 cups.
I think what they are trying to say is you can make a tasty cream liquor with pretty much any brown liquor.
so, with the cream and condensed milk in these recipes, how long is the homemade stuff ok to drink?
For that matter, how long would a brand like Bailey’s be drinkable after opening?
The retail stuff has stabilizers and preservatives in it to extend the shelf-life. As for the home-made…I’ve never had occasion to find out. It’s always gone within a day or two! 
Ages ago a girlfriend and I made the homemade stuff. I think there were fewer ingredients than the recipe here, but man, oh, man–it was yummy.
Great. Now I’m making Bailey’s this weekend…
I thought Carolans was better than Baileys; it seemed to have more of a kick to it, and I think it’s cheaper.
There are also a couple of brandy based cream liquors, like E&J Cask & Cream and Paul Masson that are cheaper than Baileys.
I actually think that St. Brendan’s is better than Bailey’s. They use a higher quality of whiskey. I go for this over Bailey’s any day.
My husband and I had this same predicament, and we ended up doing a blind taste test of Bailey’s, St Brendan’s and Carolan’s. Both of us liked Bailey’s the best, but Brendan’s was a close second. Carolan’s was a distant third - far too watery for my taste.