Just wondering if anyone has made a Baby Guiness that turned out bad, or if any combinations should be avoided.
Presumably all the rum and brandy based coffee liquors would be versatile with all creme liquors. But then I wonder if some likely to have a strong character might clash, for example:
- Chouffe Coffee - brandy-enriched but also has McChouffe beer.
- Sambuca (caffe zanin and Molinari Cafe) - IIUC both zanin and molinari have a black liquorish/anise taste, which seems like an unlikely mix with coffee in itself but then putting something like a crème brûlée flavored liquor or salted caramel Baileys sounds risky.
- Patron XO Cafe - tequila-enriched coffee. I’m surprised to hear this is a popular variation of Baby Guiness but does tequila necessarily go with all the various creme liquors that would be coffee compatible?
The cream liquors that would seem to deviate from neutrality:
- Baileys salted caramel (says on the bottle not to mix with citric or acidic drinks… hmm… isn’t coffee acidic? I will try this on the Chouffe coffee as caramel and dark beer seem compatible)
- Baileys tiramasu (though seems quite safe with coffee liquors)
- Baileys? crème brûlée
- Amarula – marula spirit often described as a citrus-y orange creamsicle; recommended to consume <6 months after opening… so shelf-stability not so great, thus likely dairy milk is involved but note that Baileys has a <2 yr guarantee, which implies whiskey might be a better stabilizer than marula despite both Baileys and Amarula having 17% alc.
- vegan creme liquors tend to go in the coconut direction… wonder if that’s dicey
I guess my main question is about the two Sambuca coffees because I’m not sure whether to buy it. I’ll be experimenting with Chouffe Coffee anyway since I already have some of that.
I’ve never had Amarula before. I’d like to know if it goes well on a baby guiness before buying. If not I might play it safer and go with the Baileys tiramasu. Amarula website says it’s good in tiramasu, which kind of implies it would do well on a baby guiness.
I can only comment on the coffee side of things - the patron works, to my taste buds at least, but I don’t think it’s particularly an improvement. Conker coffee liqueur is pretty nice. It’s less sweet than Kaluha, which can be good depending on which Baileys/knock-off you use.
I’ve not heard of Conker. I think it’s not in my area. Looks interesting though particularly because they have a decaf version. Although the color makes it look weak:
https://www.conkerspirit.co.uk/coffee-liqueur/
The cocktail on that website involves just adding water and shaking. I think I would sooner brew coffee and add gin, than to dilute the shot.