I think you and I - and almost everybody in the world, feel the same way about Baileys™.
Baileys™ has been a part of our lives in one way or another. Some enjoy it more regularly than others, but we’ve all enjoyed it at least over Christmas or a similar occasion. For some of us, it may be a long time between drinks but you know that every time it hits your lips, you’re like WOW this stuff is delicious!
Baileys™ has been one of the world’s biggest brands for decades, so yeah, it’s full of nostalgia. From its early days, it always had a fun and cheeky side to it which I think we all fondly look back on.
But what many people don’t know is how incredibly difficult Baileys™ was to invent! Getting cream and whiskey to successfully combine in one bottle without separating is not an easy task, even today. Just imagine how much harder it would have been in Dublin, 1974, when David Dand (now known as the Godfather of Baileys™) dreamt of creating this innovative and utterly indulgent liqueur. Years of trials, experimentation and a stroke of genius later, he had a breakthrough and managed to get these two unlikely partners to blend perfectly. Thanks David - you’re a legend!
The inventive passion and playful spirit in which it was created remains at the heart of Baileys™ still today. This is a big part of why I was doing cartwheels of excitement when Baileys™ accepted our proposal to create the world’s first Baileys™ infused Nespresso®* compatible coffee pods. I had created many similar world-first innovations before (chocolate and double shot pods), which I believe gave us all a false sense of how easy this would be! But this collaboration has been anything but easy!
This labour of love has taken us over a year to create! We trialled thousands of pods and hundreds of flavour variations, while sharing many highs and lows along the way with my team. However, just like David, we got there eventually and it was worth it!
I believe the final result is just right for an everyday beverage. Each cup only contains a minuscule amount of alcohol (0.01% - one standard drink is equivalent to approximately 500 cups of coffee), so it can safely be consumed at work. For me, it has turned into my cheeky afternoon staple 3 pm coffee, perfect to get me through the late afternoon slump. However, I have also made it my morning coffee a number of times and it was a delicious start to the day!
Once we settled on the formula, next came my favourite part of the project…taste-testing multiple uses for these yummy little pod creations. The first one was a no-brainer - we switched out hot frothed milk for ice-cold milk and found that the pods were perfect for a quick and easy delicious iced coffee. From there the logical progression was to add ice cream and voilà, a perfect Affogato sat in front of us…but not for long! We must have made and consumed this one at least 10 times in a row, just to be sure : )
After making far more Affogatos than we needed (just ask my waistline!), we found pretty much any flavour of ice cream worked for this. The key was to take 2-3 scoops of ice cream and pour over a 40ml shot of the Baileys flavour coffee + around the same amount of milk (40 – 50ml). After testing this far more than we needed to, my team and I agreed this was the best way to do it.
But please experiment for yourself and let me know what you come up with. I’m sure there are many other great ways to enjoy this pleasure in a pod!
Enjoy!
Toby Strong
Founder & Happiness Hero
Where to from here?
You're welcome to buy our Baileys pods here, check out some of our other Nespresso®* compatible products here, or learn more from our home page here.
