🥃 Cream liqueur

Cream liqueur is a liqueur that contains milk or milk products together with a spirit, sugar and flavourings. Under Regulation (EU) 2019/787, a liqueur is a spirit drink of at least 15% ABV with at least 100 g/l of sweetening products, and a liqueur containing milk or milk products may be given the legal name “cream” plus the name of the raw material that gives its main flavour, with or without the word “liqueur”.

Irish Cream. The best-documented example is Irish Cream, a protected geographical indication. Its technical file, issued by the Irish Department of Agriculture, Food and the Marine in February 2015, describes a stable emulsion of fresh Irish dairy cream, Irish whiskey and other permitted ingredients: at least 15% ABV, at least 10% milk fat and at least 1% Irish whiskey in the alcohol. The mixture is homogenised so that it stays uniform for its whole shelf life, and it is produced on the island of Ireland.

History and economy. According to the same file, Irish Cream was first unveiled in Dublin in 1974 and created a new category of spirit drinks; other producers around the world later copied the technique. The file states that about 350 million litres of Irish milk are needed each year and that over 90% of Irish Cream is exported.

Not crème de. In the EU a “crème de…” liqueur is a different category: it has at least 250 g/l of sugar and its raw materials exclude milk products.

Why this matters to you. Cream liqueur contains milk, so check the label if you have a milk allergy. WHO: there is no safe level of alcohol consumption.