Whether it’s part of an after-dinner adult beverage or your alcohol-free AM pick-me-up, the rich, indulgent, sweet brown flavors of Irish Cream continue to be a go-to profile for consumers and developers worldwide.
In fact, by 2018, less than 50 years after its invention, over 1.25 billion bottles of the original Irish Cream liqueur had been sold worldwide. That’s over 12 billion glasses!
Since then, the popularity of this comforting yet complex flavor profile has only continued to grow.
But what is it about the taste of an alcoholic beverage like Irish Cream that is so good it can create opportunities for bakery, beverages, and more without the booze?
Also, what exactly is Irish Cream?
The Origin & Success of Irish Cream
“Irish Cream at its most basic level is a combination of Irish whiskey, heavy cream, and usually some sort of chocolate component like a chocolate liqueur, syrup, etc,” explains Angie Lantman, Applications Manager–NA at Edlong.
“The sweet, smooth, and indulgent profile gives it a real dessert-like quality. It’s not really a happy hour type of drink. Despite how decadent it can be, the familiarity of all of its flavors makes it work so well as a cocktail and maybe even better as a profile for foods and beverages without or unrelated to alcohol.”
Despite the popularity and potential of this profile, with its caramelic, chocolatey brown notes and decadent creamy dairy seeming like a match made in heaven, it almost never happened.
Not to mention that although Irish Cream evokes images of content cows grazing in the lush pastures of the Emerald Isle, and is even considered a protected geographical indication (PGI) product by the EU, what we know today as Irish Cream wasn’t even invented in Ireland, but rather…London.
While some attribute the first mentions of mixing Irish whiskey with cream back to monks in the 14th century as a treatment of dementia, reducing skin inflammation, and improving memory, the beverage that is known and loved today traces its origins back to two SoHo businessmen in 1973.
According to a story in The Irish Times, Dave Gluckman explains how he and his partner, Hugh Reade Seymore-Davies, tasked with creating a new beverage for an Irish client, invented the famous drink in roughly 45 minutes.
Armed with two of the most Irish things they could think of, Irish whiskey and cream, they began their experiment. At first, the only way to describe it was awful; however, after adding sugar and a chocolate beverage mix, they knew they were onto something special and contacted Tom Jago, their client at International Distillers & Vintners (IDV).
Over half a century and nearly 2 billion bottles later, the rest is history.
Throughout that time, one area in which Irish Cream has continued to excel is in coffee beverages.
“Irish Cream pairing well with coffee is pretty much a no-brainer. Cream, caramel, vanilla, chocolate, are all notes you can find in Irish Cream, and are things people love in their coffee anyway, so it only makes sense,” says Lantman.
She adds, “It also adds a lot of versatility. As a liqueur, it can add a spike to a coffee beverage, but as a creamer, it’s a great profile for people who want to take that edge of black coffee.”
Irish Cream without the “Cream”
One area that Lantman sees a real runway for this flavor profile is in plant-based and vegan products.
“I think it works super well in plant based because it’s so complex. Because it has a lot of sweet brown characters, the whiskey, the chocolate, and sometimes even nutty or caramel notes it can be used to help work with off-tastes of a plant-based formula. Then, when you add really great and authentic dairy-type flavors like Edlong’s, that help improve texture and mouthfeel, you can create a really impressive plant-based Irish Cream,” says Lantman.
Edlong had this on full display at IFT First 2025, with our Plant-based Irish Cream cold-brew demo, one of the standout samples at this year’s booth.
According to Lantman, regardless of what country the eventgoers trying the demo were from, one common question continued to pop up, “Does this have alcohol in it?”.
She explains how its international appeal and association with the alcoholic beverage give Irish Cream an added perception of sophistication and maturity, which can help create intrigue and opportunities for the profile beyond beverages.
International Popularity = Opportunity
It might not come as a surprise that Irish Cream profiles have long been popular in markets like the UK, US, and Canada. What might, however, be that it is rapidly gaining market share in countries like Mexico and India.
According to The Times UK, more than seven million Mexicans drink Irish Cream, making it the best-selling liqueur in the country. It also notes that it has become especially popular around Christmas time.
Moreover, recent marketing efforts showing how to integrate it with local flavors in cocktails and other beverages are helping India to fall in love with the flavor profile.
This has led to several new flavor offerings like churro, s’mores, tiramisu, apple pie, and more.
Lantman sees this as another clear benefit for developers and innovators when working with Irish Cream flavors, “Even with its complex profile, it’s still mild enough that it can pair and complement other sweet brown and spiced flavors really nicely.”
She believes that this is also what makes it a perfect candidate for so many other non-beverage applications.
“Making the jump from beverages to sweet treats like chocolates or ice cream and other frozen novelties might be the quickest way to incorporate Irish Cream flavors into new products. But where I think we might see an ever bigger opportunity is in baked goods.”
She notes that while Irish Cream hasn’t seen much market proliferation in bakery aside from a couple of notable LTOs, a two-minute search on Pinterest, TikTok, or any recipe blog will yield countless recipes for cupcakes, cakes, and more. Whether it’s decadent frostings, glazes, or as the primary profile of the pastry, Lantman thinks it might be only a matter of time before we see these go from bake sales to supermarket shelves.
In the end, with a profile as delicious and universally loved as Irish Cream, it doesn’t take luck to have a successful product.
What it does take, however, is the most delicious and authentic Irish Cream flavors you can find, and that is exactly what Edlong has to offer.
From beverage to bakery, to plant-based, and everything in between, contact Edlong’s experts today to discover how our Irish Cream flavors, along with our full range of authentic sweet brown flavors, can help you unlock your product’s full potential.
Topics: BeveragesDairy flavorsInnovationPlant-BasedSweet dairy flavors
Resource Type: Article