To help things along I cited my Kerrygold experience. Kerrygold was important to me and one of the keys to the development of Baileys. By that time the famed gold-wrapped butter had been celebrated as one of the European business successes of the s and my association with it, I hoped, would add a bit of weight to our argument. I think it did. Our foreplay over, the Irish team responded enthusiastically. They handled our bottle respectfully and even savoured the Baileys product to which Mac had applied considerable finesse since our initial International Stores effort.
Lunch was pretty lavish, with several bottles of wine going down — and very good wine at that. We were in the wine trade after all. I suspect that the word went out to upgrade the vintages when they realised that we had delivered something that they really liked.
A couple of bottles of Ducru Beaucaillou of a reputable year appeared and disappeared swiftly. No one in Dublin knew what to expect from us. He had not been at our pitch nor was he invited to the lunch but, via some magical Irish osmosis hotline, he knew about Baileys and the details of our presentation. We occupied adjacent troughs in the management washroom. And it was not without risk: they knew full-well that they would have to build a plant to make it, they would have to invest in bottling lines and they would have to spend some real money on marketing.
They were not a huge company, and it would strain their resources. No matter how well an idea is received, it is a complex entity and changes are inevitably made. The Baileys team now had to make its own imprint.
In those days, in the early s, the word chocolate did not sit comfortably on the label of a premium liqueur brand. It also made the idea easier to copy. We were pretty happy with that decision. Nowadays things are different. As soon as they started making an imprint on this strange new idea they began to assume ownership.
And once they owned it they would commit to it. But they were respectful enough to keep us informed of changes. And ask for our help when they needed it. I got a call from David Dand in early July of It was about 9am and I was reading the sports page of the Guardian in the office.
It will take forever to get it through. It needs a first name or at least an initial. I looked down at the paper and there was an article about a golf tournament. The Open was being played at Royal Lytham. Yet as I thought about it after our conversation, a fantasy began to form in my mind. They had disliked each other for decades. Their father looked to bring them together as he reached his dotage. He had a huge estate and wanted to keep it in the family.
They sat down one night to try to work things out. He tried it and loved it. They made up and the rest is history. Well that was my personal story. It helped to bring the idea to life for me. I had never intended for it to be used in public as it was a pure fiction. It was pretty tame and utterly unbelievable, which goes to show that not all fantasies work in the real world. I could imagine our drink being enjoyed there a long time ago. It gave a gentle nudge of support to our off-the-wall idea.
That meant that the cream that would go into Baileys could be bought not on the open market but from our own company. Even the original Baileys plant was based on a second-hand homogeniser bought from Express.
Baileys was suddenly no longer our creation — it was theirs — and piqued as we might have been at the time, in hindsight they were right. If Baileys was to succeed, they had to feel that they owned it. One of the strange things about the success of the Baileys venture at that time was that nothing really sank in. We got back to the question of solving new problems and looking for other business. And it was to be about seven years before Baileys really appeared on the radar and looked like a success.
It lacked the savoir-faire of brands such as Cointreau with its sexy sophisticated ad campaign. We presented the Baileys idea in , it was launched in but it was another three years before it began to look like a winner. It was almost long enough for people to forget whose idea it was. I managed to keep my cool. Given that plumbers earned a lot more than I did in those days, I took that as a compliment. People nowadays often ask me how much money we get per bottle sold.
Its management saw it as a replacement for the Dutch egg liqueur, Advocaat, which it had distributed in the UK. These were very early days for the formula and Mac and his colleagues were feeling their way. The mixable Baileys product was a disaster.
In fact, half of its ingredient is composed of cream and the whiskey involved underwent a triple process of distillation.
Since it was first made available in , Baileys has become the most popular Irish cream in all parts of the globe. It took the company about 3 years from to finally come up with a product that features the best of Irish drinks and whiskeys. The Irish have been distilling whiskey since somewhere around A. Shop Now. Thank you for signing up for our newsletter.
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Okay how do I choose which ones to buy for my friends …. I really mean ME!! Gotta go make the magic juice NOW. Please… this Vodka version is delicious.
Perfect day for Baileys…. We have a new special occasion. Saturday baileys. There are zero ads on my site. I chose that so my readers have an enjoyable experience reading my blog, even though I lose ad income by making that choice. For the FREE excellent homemade baileys, you simply enter your email address and the downloadable recipe is ready within seconds to your email inbox.
Definitely need this to survive in NoDak, US! I do, However, add a tsp of instant coffee mainly because I had it from making homemade kahlua. So happy you love it and this year I am going to add a tsp of instant coffee because you have totally tempted me! So what!? Sez who? Just a few things I said after making your recipe. I may have added a couple or more shots of Irish whiskey.
You sound like just the friend I would meet if living in Canada. I am in sunny South Africa! Lovemore your page. You are in sunny Africa? Did you make the baileys for Christmas gifts this year and yes, I hope you made some for you too.
I think your on to something here lady! Love your wit. Jacqui, if you are going to use whiskey, then just buy Baileys already. Using Vodka is great…. I have heard….. Much, much less expensive…. Just made a batch and it tastes great…. I one billion percent agree Craig. So delish! Yes, I add baileys into my coffee for sure. It is ahhhmazing. Happy sipping, Lynne xx. The other way around goes without saying…. Only sipping…?
Sure that sounds good…. Sorry Lynne, but my recipe is better. Mine actually has whiskey in it. OMG … I totally enjoy reading anything you write. My cat gives me the hairy eyeball all the time.
That was quite an introduction to the recipe Lynne! How could I not try it? Have you tried the Irish Cream from the Wine Store? Wine-based, obviously and cheaper and less alcohol than from the LCBO. The government, aka Big Brother, controls most alcohol in the Canadian province of Ontario. You be the taste tester and let me know. Feck it, Lynne, Just read your recipe and it has Vodka in it do I have to?!
I will make it as above if you cross your heart, hope to die and stick a needle in your eye that it will taste like Baileys and not vodka. I pinky swear promise from the tip of my toes to the tip of my nose that it absolutely tastes like ahhhhhhhhmazing baileys. I swear. Oh my! I already love this recepie. Made it last night and we took a couple of zips.
I live in the Netherlands so finding the right ingredients was a little adventure. But it tastes great so whatever we made of it, it turned out to be good! So cool that you were able to find alternative ingredients in the Netherlands Anouk! Woot woot!! Go check it out […]. Did you make the baileys? Was it yum?! I have a printable recipe on the post now too! Hey, just thought you should know…. Geesh Barbie, and I thought I licked all that chocolate off of the table… I must have missed some on the cutting board.
Oooooo love it! Thank you!!! I want to make some right now! It just feels decadent! This reminds me that I have a recipe that is OUT. Why are they called toddies? I need to get that recipe out there for the world — thanks for reminding me! Lynne, my favorite holiday recipe is your faux Baileys.
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