January 5, 2023 • 39 mins
These sweetened, creamy alcoholic beverages may be perceived as simplistic, but are actually achievements of science and marketing. Anney and Lauren dip into the storied history of cream liqueurs.
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:08):
Hello and welcome to Savor Protection of I Heart Radio.
I'm Anny Rees and I'm more in volke Bum and
today we have an episode for you about cream Liqueurs. Yes, yes,
drink responsibly as always as always yes, uh due to
some holidaytion against this is our my first recording of
our first recording together at least. Yes, I'm I don't
(00:31):
think I've recorded anything yet. It's been a long week. Um. Yes,
we're figuring it out. We are, No, I think this
is the first time. Yeah, so so welcome uh and
this was low key meant to be like an end
of the year episode. Um, but I think I think
(00:54):
it applies just as equally now. Yeah, we're in the
season of I would say cream Liqueurs, although I've recently
found out that's not true for everybody. They're kind of
a year round thing for for some people, but certainly
the branding agencies are pushing for them to be a
year round so they really really are. Um and yeah,
(01:18):
speaking of yep, not currently sponsors anything we're talking about.
NOE could change in the future, but not currently. Um.
I know we talked about this before. I think one
of the big names when people think of cream Liqueurs
is Bailey's, which is yeah, pretty much that makes sense. Uh,
(01:38):
and I believe we've both discussed. One of my first
drinks when I first started drinking in college was a
white Russian and one of the first like liquors liqueurs
I bought was Bailey's. Um, so it has a very
specific time in my life and my timeframe. Um. When
I drink Bailey's and the I remember most of it fondly,
(02:02):
not all of it. It was my fond memory for me. Yeah. Yeah, no,
I loved, I love like a like a mud slide
and write like a white Russian when I was that age. Um.
And uh, now that is stuff that I generally try
to avoid. Um. I would say that sweet cocktails are
(02:22):
not not my stick mm hmm. Yeah, I have it
every now and then because, as I've said several times
on here, uh, a friend of ours and co host
of stuff I ever told you, Samantha created this cocktail
for me called the Cinnamon Roll right right. And I
don't think it's Bailey's. Actually, I think it's um Kirkland's.
(02:42):
I think it's the one you can get it like Costco,
no sponsors. Good. But that's that's pretty much the only time.
I have it now in like a coffee or hot
chocolate situation, which is already like if I'm doing something
to my warm drinks, that's already kind of a rare occasion. Yeah,
but I do have it. It's not like it hasn't
gone an extinct in my world, but it's pretty rare.
(03:05):
I have to admit that that, even within this this
general category which is not really my bag, I really
hate Irish cream. I really dislike it. I think it
tastes terrible. I don't understand why anyone wants it um uh.
Other ones that I've had, I'm like, well, okay, but
for some reason, just the flavor of the whiskey and
(03:27):
the flavor of the cream with the sugar added, I'm
like why. Well we will talk about why a little bit. Yeah. No,
I get it. I get it um. But it is funny.
I have some friends who love it, who love it um.
And then I have been to South Africa a couple
(03:50):
of times, and they have a drink there similar that.
We're also going to talk about two Bailey's called Amarula,
and it is so popular there that, like when you're
in the air report, they're handing out free samples of it.
It is huh everywhere, at least in my experience, which
admittedly I always a tourists there, so who knows, but
it might be a specifically tourist thing. But right, but
(04:11):
in those tourist spaces everywhere, like you could not avoid it, Okay,
all right, yeah, yeah, no, I'm uh put pushing whatever
local product. I appreciate that. Yeah, Honestly, we should come
back and do an episode on then, because I kind
of briefly read over Amarula and what it is in
the history of it. We're gonna go over that very
(04:32):
brief understanding I have of it, but it was pretty interesting.
I would like to return talking about it. M hmm.
You can see our past episodes on things like eggnog
and whiskey. I would say, sure, sure, generally are booze episodes.
But yeah, I guess this brings us to our question.
I guess it does cream the course, what are they? Well,
(05:00):
a cream liqueur is a type of alcoholic beverage that's
made up of some kind of distilled alcohol, uh plus
some kind of either dairy or non dairy cream, plus
a sweetener, and then maybe some other flavorings. So like
there are a lot of iterations, but but basically you're
looking at a sweet, rich, creamy, not too boozy type
(05:23):
of booze, like a little stronger than wine, but about
half as strong as like a straight liquor. Um. They're
they're consumed. They can they can be consumed alone over ice,
or mixed into cocktails or shots, or served with hot
beverages like coffee, often after dinner or as part of
a dessert course. Um. They're like, Uh, they're like if
those like flavored sweetened coffee creamers or alcoholic Um, they're
(05:49):
like a like a melted alcoholic ice cream. Um, they're
like if Willy Wonka made a cow and then got
the cow d wronk. Excellent descriptions is always spot on.
I would say, Um, you can make your own at home.
(06:10):
But cream liqueurs are more traditionally, and this is an
interesting sentence, are more traditionally a store bought thing produced
by major liquor brands like using Science, UM, Bailey's and
Marula UM Rum Shot Up are all a few examples.
We will get into some of that in the history section. Again,
not sponsors. Uh. The alcohol base can be whatever you
(06:32):
like drinking. UM, Whiskey's realms, brandies, and neutral spirits are
all popular because because they either play up that that
creamy rich flavor or like, don't mess with it. Yeah
um uh. Brands usually come in at about sevent alcohol
bi volume. Um. And these days there are also non
(06:52):
alcoholic cream liqueurs on the market. Oh that's fascinating, right, um,
So that's the alcohol element, the cream element. Actual fresh
dairy cream is the most traditional, but in manufacturing it's
often um supplemented with more processed dairy products like milk, powders,
(07:13):
and or with vegetable oils to help with the texture
and stability of the final product. And these days there
are non dairy alternatives made with like out or nut
milk or whatever. Yes, there are vegan alternatives and a
lot of the newer articles I found we're tastest of
the various varieties. Yeah yeah, I mean right, Like, plant
(07:36):
based is such a buzzword these days that I was like,
do we really need to be calling our cream liqueurs
plant based? Anyway? That's cool? Um uh. The level of
sweetness will really range in these products, but usually depends
upon other flavorings. M because you can just have like
the booze plus the sugar plus the cream. But brands
(08:00):
and bartenders like playing with all sorts of uh like
candy and dessert inspired combinations, um, mint chocolate, salted caramel, s'mores,
red velvet, pumpkin pie, strawberry shortcake, all that kind of stuff. Yeah,
m hm, And I mentioned science above, and the production
(08:21):
science of these products is really fascinating because okay, like
like dairy and alcohol don't really like mixing for for
a number of of chemical slash physical reasons. Um, So,
creating these products means tricking those ingredients into becoming a stable,
smooth emulsion, all while treating them gently enough that you
(08:42):
don't like cook the cream or evaporate out the alcohol.
One of the big tricks in use here is homogenization. Um.
We talked about this in our types of Milk episode
forever ago. But um but okay, so, so cream is
an emulsion of fats and stuff in h and water
and stuff, right, Um, Homogenization is breaking down the naturally
(09:06):
wonky sized globs of fats and stuff in the cream
into into more even smaller globs that will therefore spread
themselves more evenly throughout that watery base. And there are
really fancy machines for this. Um, cream liqueurs tend to
be homogenized to the point that the globs will be
less than two microns in diameter. Yeah. Yeah, Um, you're
(09:30):
probably also adding some kind of emulsifier to like help
prevent the gloves from coming back together again, because that
leads to clumps, and nobody wants a clumpy liqueur, or
at least if they do, I have not met them.
That's true. Is usually an exception somewhere, you know, yeah,
like what you like? Hey, um and uh and and
(09:51):
also speaking of science, yes, the alcohol in these products
does make them shelf stable. Um, though you will i
mean prolong a bottle's lifespan if you put it in
the fridge after opening. Research has indicated that that, yes,
like I've read a number of papers about the microbiome
of a cream liqueur um and and yeah, like alcohol
(10:12):
content of like fourteen per cent or so, we'll definitely
prevent microbes from growing in these products. Okay, okay, Well
what about the nutrition. Uh, this is this is a treat,
This is a this this is this is solidly on
the treat and I mean you know it's it's but
but treats are nice. Treats are nice. Treats are nice,
(10:34):
and there are all kinds of like niche products within
this category that are like lighter on the sugar or
the fats, all again scientifically fascinating, and so much of
it is proprietary, so it was like kind of hard
to figure out. Like I read like a few patents
and like a few scientific articles, but a lot of
it seems to be just like trade secrets, which is fun. Yes,
(10:58):
you know, we love a good trade ce uh huh,
and we do have some numbers for you. Sure. According
to one report, sales of cream and non cream liqueurs
reached one point three billion pounds in nine pounds sterling.
Yeah yeah, yeah, not like a yes, good clarification. UM.
(11:20):
In January, Bailey's marked two billion bottles sold, and Bailey's
definitely has the largest market share in this category UM.
Each year, around eighty two million bottles are sold across
one hundred and sixty countries. Yeah, they used something like
two hundred and twenty million liters of fresh cream every year. Yeah,
(11:42):
they have a bunch of numbers about like those kind
of very specific names that makes you wonder, why did
you why did you count this? Yes, but like you know,
every it's open one is opened every whatever seconds or
there's a lot. If you want to read some numbers
about popular Bailey's is they've got the number story. Yeah, yeah,
because they really are the leader in the segment. Like
as of seventeen, they were selling about six times more
(12:05):
cases than the next leading cream liqueur brand, which was
Amarula UM. And furthermore, they were at the top of
the liqueur category overall, um selling almost double the next
leading liqueur brand being Malibu. Wow. Yeah huh uh. Also,
(12:26):
according to an industry source who was absolutely biased because
they were they were kind of a brand marketer for
a a smaller production company, like a like a bespoke
or not spoke, like an artisan Irish cream. But but
they said that most things that are labeled Irish cream
(12:47):
liqueurs contain mostly mutual grain spirits and less than one
percent actual Irish whiskey. Oh. I definitely ran across some
of these articles as well. Fascinating. Yeah yeah, so I mean,
but hey, I it depends on what you're going for
(13:08):
and what you're looking for, um and right. Yeah, it
tickles me that there are artists and Irish cream la
core is out there at all. Yes, and it's a
it's getting a lot of movement right now, which we
are going to talk about in history section. Yes, but
first we are going to get into a quick break
for a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank
(13:37):
you sponsoring, Yes, thank you. Okay. So, the early history
of cream liqueurs wasn't well documented. Um, so the first
iterations of it aren't very clear, though it is certainly
related to something like eggnog post situation. Yeah. Yeah, but
(13:58):
most who have looked into them, and people have looked
into them, believe that at least by the century monks
in Europe specifically were concocting flavored spirits, primarily as medicine,
and over time cream was added into that mix. Um,
and adding cream served a couple of purposes. One, it
preserved the cream the alcohol did, or that was the belief.
(14:20):
Um to it added flavor, richness, and thickness to whatever
you're adding it into. But yeah, a huge benchmark jumping
way ahead in the history of cream liqueurs took place
in nineteen seventy three or nine, depending with the invention
of Bailey's and what a tale it is. Yes, it
(14:44):
is very fun. Um. According to an article from the
Irish post Bailey's, which is a mixture of Irish whiskey
and cream. But yes, proprietary was created by a division
of a company called Guild Bees and Essex and the
name comes from Bailey's Hotel in London or Bailey's bistro
uh some some establishment in London. So the name on
(15:06):
the bottle which is our and a Bailey. They're made
up dudes. They made up a whole story about them.
They have a backstory about being brothers who disliked each
other but had to work together to make something or
their father was going to cut them out and not
leave them his large estate. So they were arguing and
arguing and arguing, and then I think they just started drinking.
(15:28):
They combined the cream and the whiskey started drinking it,
and then we're like, oh, here we go. OK. But
these are the dudes. These are not They're not really cool.
They made it up. But because they thought it made
it sound like, I don't know, more homie or more like, oh,
there's this these guys behind three here. It's not from
it's from much earlier. Yeah, and the font also also
(15:52):
helps sell that kind of fiction. But um, also, I
love this the R and A comes from a golf
tournament's government body. They just saw it were like, look
what if they were Rna Bailey done? Okay. The creators
were going for something whimsical and Anglo Irish when they
were trying to create this. Um. I think that specifically
(16:14):
they were trying to due to subsidies and taxes, We're
trying to get something from Ireland. They were trying to
make something from Ireland that felt very Irish. But it
was as all of these facts I'm giving you indicate
very Anglo Irish. Um. They even put like this fake
address on there on the label so you would think
like it's coming from Ireland. Um. Yeah. And they tested
(16:38):
a few bottle designs to see if people would buy it,
and it was something they were trying to create, quote,
a uniquely Irish drink in part due to yes, these
subsidies and since Ireland was known for some of the
best whiskey and for some of the freshest cream employees
that Gilbie's got to work finding a way to combine
them and the idea am very quick. It took some
(17:02):
experimentation to get it right, but at first I was like,
so a lot of experimentation. Not really. They did it
pretty quickly because it was within the span of like
a year. Yeah. Yeah. They mixed together Jamison Irish whisky,
Irish cream sugar and Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate UM, which was
like I think the final edition was the drinking chocolate
(17:25):
that resulted in a drink that tasted stronger when it
comes to alcohol content than it was UM. It was
presented in nineteen seventy three to the Irish division of
this company launched in nineteen seventy four and it was
fairly successful within three to seven years, again depending on
what sport you read UM first in the UK, then
(17:47):
in Ireland. And there is somewhat of a legendary story
about how a drink industry titan told the people trying
to sell him on Bailey's UM that the bottle color
reminded him of Vietnam uniform US Vietnam uniforms I think,
and after tasting it said that will never sell. So
they're trying to sell it in the US and this
(18:09):
guy was like nope. Still. Bailey's did launch in the
U s in the seventies with the tagline the Impossible
Cream UM, and it saw a lot of early popularity
in Australia where bars would regularly sell out of it,
and they I think I read somewhere that even had
signs that was like they didn't even have to specify
what they were out of. It was just like we
don't have it, we'll get it later. I would love
(18:31):
if anybody from Australia remembers this and could write in
about it. I don't know, ye, yes, several people do
you take credit for inventing Bailey's as usual? One is
a fellow named David Gluckman, And I think that these
were all people who were working together, Like It's not
like a contested history like we get sometimes. But um,
but yeah, David Gluckman is a product developer. Um. He
(18:53):
actually published a book about his experience in the industry
back in called that Will Never Sell Yes, And he
also wrote an article called in nineteen seventy three, I
invented a girly drink called Bailey's that was published in
the Irish Times in Oh yes it really is worth reading. Um.
(19:17):
The article opens describing how this is often his quote
fun fact at the inner parties that he invented Bailey's. Uh.
And here's a quote. If one of the unfortunate listening
group is a woman, and this is based on actual
past experience, she's likely to respond something like this, Oh
my god, Bailey's. My mother absolutely adores it. Did you
hear that, Dagasta? This man invented Bailey's. It's unreal. I
(19:40):
don't believe it. He must be terribly rich. Bailey's cream. Wow. Yeah.
He goes on to say, oh wht ch'all talk more
about later, But he's not really rich from this um.
He also described the testing phase of Bailey's with this quote.
I love when the night of the focus group came.
I looked ner slee around the room. This was the
(20:01):
mail group, But then these were men who were prepared
to turn up for a free drink and get paid
for it. We showed them the bottle that we were
so proud of and began pouring out the glasses. Among
most groups of drinking men, there's always one who seems
to dominate proceedings. You know who he is. He's the
one who sits right in front of the interviewer and
talks the loudest. It was vital for us to have
(20:22):
him on our side, and I kept my eye on
him for his reaction. He drank it down, and then
the researcher asked him when he thought. He said, looking
down at his schooner, and when I've had enough beer,
I moved to shots like scotch or vodka. Oh dear
to make matters worse being a talk or, he went on,
it's a girl's drink, he said. There was an outbreak
of nods and echoes of agreement among the other men
(20:45):
after this. What man was going to openly like claim
to liking a girl's drink? It was an absolute no no.
But when we looked at their glasses, every one of
them had been drained. It might not have been their
kind of drink, but there was nothing wrong with the taste. Fascinating, Oh, fascinating. Um.
But the women's group wasn't that much more receptive to it. Um.
(21:10):
But Gluckman had hope regularly calling this bar that they
left a few bottles at to see if anybody ordered it.
They were just like, oh, today was the day somebody
ordered it, and it would always be no. A good
while passed before he got a yes, and the bartender
told him that he gave three police officers this Bailey's
and they quote demolished it. They demolished a bottle between them,
(21:31):
giving him enough Gluckman enough confidence to finally present the
bottle to the Irish partners that they were working with.
Uh yeah, and yeah, like I said, he he jokes.
I got the feeling it was in good spirits, but
maybe not. He was paid for about three thousand pounds
for this whole development process of Bailey's that he does
(21:54):
not He did not make a lot of money and
does not continue to make money. Right, It's not like
a residual's situation where every time we buy a bottle
of Bailey's, like he gets tuppens. Like that's not yeah,
yeah yeah. Another name that gets thrown around a lot
when it comes to Bailey's is Tom jago Um. At
the time of the development of Bailey's, he was the
(22:15):
head of Innovation and Development at I d V or
International Distillers and Vintners, and he worked with Gluckman and
others on this project. Um. And this was a division
of Grand Metropolitan, which is now half of Diageo what
we've talked about before Guinness, right yeah, yeah, yeah, because
they are the other half. Yeah h um and us
(22:36):
as was coming up with some new products, and Bailey's
was part of that. So it's interesting, like you said,
they don't like deny that they all worked together on it. UM.
Oh yeah, just like the names that people will put
first berries, I'll say absolutely absolutely and uh yeah. The
other element of the story I meant to mention this earlier. Um,
(22:58):
in addition to the tax achs um in Ireland at
the time, they were looking around and they were like, Okay,
what does Ireland have that we can use that's sort
of like inexpensive and there was an oversupply of cream
there at that specific point in time. UM, and so
they were like, oh yeah, that's like basically like a
like a waste product of the milk industry. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. UM.
(23:24):
It's so interesting it is. It is, like I said,
I do recommend that whole article. It was very funny.
It was a very funny and fun read um and
several competitors did follow in the wake of Bailey's and
and Bailey's success. One that stood out to me researching
this was the debut of Cadbury Cream Cores in the ES.
Though didn't last song, it sounds like it was popular
(23:47):
in the UK and then it just went away. Yeah yeah,
I'd say, well, I know that, like like Godiva had
their own line of of of LaCourse around the same time.
But but yeah, yeah, another poppy. The one is South
Africa's a Marula and that's made from the fruit of
the elephant tree as it's called the marula. This is
I really want to look into that because I did
(24:08):
not know that since debuting in nineteen eight three, with
cream added in nineteen eighty nine, and Marula is second
to Bailey's yeah in terms of sales, and it is
a frequent souvenir for tours. But I would love if
someone else could write in that. Yeah yeah. Uh. Then
in ninetee Tequila Rose debuted. Um that's a tequila plus
(24:29):
strawberry flavoring plus cream um and was a personal favorite
of some friends of mine for a very long time. Um.
Then rum Chatta came along in two thousand nine. Um
it's as been on or chatta, you know, um with
with with rum and cinnamon and vanilla and cream. That's
a late entry to this whole game though, because growth
for these products plateaued in the nineteen nineties and then
(24:52):
started to decline. I've seen the like early two thousand's,
like maybe two thousand five through referred to as the
lost decade for cream liqueurs, and there are probably a
bunch of like factors that that fed into that recessions
leading to consumers cutting back on products seen as decadent
health trends, steering away from sugary products they perhaps overly
(25:15):
serious craft cocktail movement. Yeah, for for a while it
was very unfashionable to order something deemed goofy or I
don't know, like like, what's the what's the term I'm
looking for here? Like I feel like there's kind of
the the like sweetness. It's like a immature drink almost,
(25:36):
It's like get when you're in college, right, sure, yeah,
but of course it doesn't have to be like that. No, No,
it is funny to me that I was the last
decade is when I was like, give me that. Bailies
was really big into Klua, which I guess is in
a cream liqueur, But that's Kalua and Bailey's together. Could
(25:56):
be a massive headache, but could be a lovely drink.
Um And speaking of the craft cocktail movement, cream liqueurs
have experienced a resurgence lately. Um with msnologists getting more
experimental with them in cocktails, and with companies pushing for
cocktails outside of the holiday season, as you said, Lauren,
(26:16):
to make it more of a year round thing. Of
course they would want that it was a Pina Colada
Baileys drink I saw, yep um. Along with the rise
of instagrammable foods and drinks, I think also just in
my own personal experience, especially as we're leaving the holiday season,
I have seen just a real growth in like fancy
(26:38):
sweet holiday drinks. Yeah, I think that's part of it.
And also, as you said, Lauren, there are now artisan
cream liqueurs that have seen massive growth during this time. Yeah,
I mean right that there was that whole uh alcoholic
milkshake trend of what was that like twenty nineteen or
so en um and yeah, I guess right, like like
(27:03):
a return to an appreciation of these sort of after
dinner cocktails that that like for a while, everyone was
like was like, no, like I only want a Manhattan,
I only want an old fashioned um. Anything else is ridiculous,
and like why would I drink something fun? That's not
why I'm here for um? But no, and but but
(27:26):
then people are going like no, Actually that's tasty, like
a grasshopper is lovely. Like let's like like let's get
into this and you know, like like maybe do it
and um a slightly less syrupy sweet kind of way. Yeah, yeah,
because I think that's a part of it too. Was
you know, the nineties, it was the health movement of
like a lot of people. That was their big focus.
(27:47):
And we've talked about that before and you know, cream
mccure is obviously it's like, um so it's just interesting
to see kind of the shifts of people's attitudes around
around this product. And we didn't even talk about because
while this was like a vague topic. There's also just
some key competitors in the field. But like I said,
(28:08):
you know, Samantha, my friend, she gets it. I'm pretty
sure she gets it from Costco. So I think there's
also just widespread availability of it. I don't know, oh yeah,
oh yeah, more options, more options ultimately, uh so so yeah,
(28:29):
I don't know. If if there's anything in here that
that that y'all want to hear more about, let us know.
If there's anything that you know more about, let us know. Yes, yes,
she tess, because that's what we have to say for
now about cream the cores. We do have some listener
mail for you, though, and we're going to get into
that as soon as we get back from one more
quick break for a word from our sponsors. And we're back.
(28:59):
Thank you, yes, thank you, And we're back with listener
kind of relaxing. Yeah. Wait to come down at the
end of the meal or at the end of an episode.
Your first episode sweet and gentle. Yeah, yeah, and we
(29:21):
have some sweet and gentle listener mail for you, yes, yes, um,
starting with Kelly. Kelly wrote after listening to your wonderful
interview with Dr Julius Skinner about how she uses fermentation
as a strategy for combating food waste, I want to
share a couple of tools our family uses in our
quest to do the same. One of the most useful
things we do is to keep a running list on
(29:41):
this dryer race board on the fridge door see attached
photo of the leftovers and perishables on hand. It helps
us remember what we have and prioritize what to eat
or cooked with. Soonest sometimes it gives us ideas for
turning leftovers into a completely new option. Case in point,
the other day, we had some leftover garlickey spinach that
wasn't very good link to just reheat, but it became
(30:01):
part of the broccoli cheese soup that you see on
there now. Another tool I've come to rely on is
the website eat your Books dot com. I don't know
your policy on promoting products class services like this, so
PILL please feel free to edit this email as you
see fit. Like many food and cooking enthusiasts, I have
a beloved cookbook library that contains lots of recipes. I
haven't gotten around to trying it. E y b is
(30:23):
an online cookbook indexing service where you can list the
titles in your collection and create your own searchable recipe catalog,
so that if you're trying to figure out what to
do with all of these film the blank before they
go bad, you can start try ingredient and find recipes
within the books you already own, Or if you want
to try making a particular dish, you can easily look
up which of your cookbooks have a recipe for it
(30:44):
and compare the ingredients. You can also configure the search
to exclude ingredients. I e. I want to find a
vegetarian chili recipe, but without mushrooms, et cetera. Note e
y B doesn't show you the actual recipes in detail.
For that, you need to have the book on hand
or have the recipe, say somewhere. But it's a really
great tool for making better use of your cookbook collection.
(31:04):
Anyone can join for free and get up to five
books of their index. With the paid membership, you can
get an unlimited number of books. My husband got me
a membership last year as a gift and it has
been great. That sounds awesome. Yeah, Oh what a good idea. Yeah,
I'm so interested to try it. I love that that.
I'm definitely gonna check it out. Yeah, because I I
(31:25):
love I have way too many cookbooks, way too many.
Um and I and I do love like like like
weird vintage cookbooks, but in terms of actually cooking with
food that I actually have and not as just a curiosity.
Oh that's so useful. Yeah. Yeah. And like I said
in that the interview we did with Dr Julius Skinner,
(31:45):
I have there's so many things, especially because I'm a
single person, and some things you just can't buy in
small quantities. Um. I was talking about tomato paste in
that episode, Like I love if I could just be like,
I have this and I need to use it. Yeah,
where my recipes wear my books. Um. But also I
was I had a minor breakdown in the middle of
(32:08):
this listener now because I have quite a saga listeners
of my refrigerator not working. Um. So first the refrigerator
was freezing everything, and then I got that fixed and
heavy quotes, and now the freezer isn't working. Oh um,
So I I have had like to top off what
(32:31):
I already do of being like very creative and I
won't go to the grocery store that often and all
this stuff. Now I have to be like, well, the
freezer is not working, How I canna use all of
these ingredients? Right? Wow? Yeah? Yeah, uh it is perhaps
(32:52):
a better fix in the works. It is, I honestly,
it's just been such a whole thing. And then the
holidays happened, and I need a whole thing on the holidays. Sure, sure,
So I was just like, well, who needs a freezer? Um,
I'll get but I do. I have it on my
(33:12):
calendar next week attempt to see if it can be fixed.
But yeah, it's a it's been a saga. It's been
a whole thing. Yeah, no, this has been going on
for like two months now. Yeah. Yeah, heck, um, I
guess sort started speaking of Heidi wrote, I'm listening to
(33:34):
the Mac and Cheese episode, and seventeen minutes in Annie
says that she's at the end of her Gros recycle.
All she has left is chicken nuggets, lima beans and
I think mac and cheese. Uh what is this gros recycle?
Do you have some magic by which you run out
of everything important at the same time and then you
go shopping only once a month or something like that.
Or is it truly everything, not just perishables, such that
(33:57):
you never have to go through your fridge and throw
out miscellaneous bottles that have been in there too long?
What is the sorcery and how do you do it? Planning? Planning,
lots of planning, So the grocery cycles every two weeks.
Um was this pre COVID or did this develop during COVID.
(34:18):
It got honed during COVID to what I would call
one of my greatest skills, but it did exist before.
I didn't like going to the grocery store in general,
so I liked to shorten my trips. But during COVID,
it became yeah, two weeks. And it's hilarious to me
because I have learned, especially with like fresh foods, how
(34:39):
long you can push it the expiration day and I'll
get text Like a friend of ours Lyle texted me
once out of the blue and was like, I cut
this caviche in half a week ago? How much longer
does it have? Like I I've built a reputation. Um,
I would say generally, I don't. I eat primarily fresh
(35:05):
stuff like you that you'd get in kind of the
produce section. So therefore it kind of is it works
itself out because that stuff is only gonna last so long.
I'm really good at gauging, like I'll get four meals
out of this. However, however many um, with the refrigerator
freezer situation, I've had to get even more creative. Uh.
But like I guess my point being, I don't. It's
(35:27):
not like I have a bunch of condiments that I'm
running out of all at the same time or anything
like that. Those long lasting stuff that that that's all
in there, like it goes on for a while. But
kind of like what I eat through a regular week, um,
it's usually fresh stuff. Uh. But yeah, it is. It's
it's skill not to my own horn, but it's it's
(35:49):
a whole. And I also like, I, uh, when my
grocery list, which I always have if I run out
of anything I add to it, I have it in
the order of what where you'll find it in the
grocery store listed so I can get in get out
as quickly as possible. Um, But it is work. I
(36:09):
find all of this so fascinating because I usually fail
to create a grocery list at all my method of
grocery shopping. And I feel like this, really, this is
like a prime example of the personality differences between you
and me. Um. My method of grocery shopping is to
kind of show up at the grocery store and wander
(36:30):
around until I find stuff that I think I can
make a couple of meals out of, based based on
like what's on sale and like what looks interesting that day,
and like just what's available, um, and and just kind
of going from there and having like a few staples
at home that I know that I can like throw
into the mix. So wow that that to me actually
(36:55):
sounds very lovely and like you probably create a lot
more interesting things that I normally do. But it also
sounds like the most stressful thing I can imagine. Oh no,
I see, I can't. I find it like like your
thing sounds stressful to me, like a meal planning? Are
you kidding? Like I can't. I mean, I'm also like
of a mental health state that some days I'm like
a spoonful of peanut butter is what I'm eating for
(37:15):
this meal. That is what's happening today. That's fine, I mean,
you know, like I know myself. I know you don't.
I eat something fresh later. But the idea, the idea
of sitting down and meal planning for an entire two
weeks um makes me want to go hug my cat. Well, yeah, yeah,
(37:37):
it is stressful. I think I do get it from
my mom because my mom has like an index, like
a recipe index thing where she'll just like flip through
and be like this week we're gonna have this, and
this week we're gonna have this. She goes to the
grocery store like every day though, So I can't live that,
Like yeah, And also it's been fun with hearing from
you listeners because I have started to be like, oh,
(37:58):
we're doing an episode on arn't chokes. I'm gonna ahead, right,
So the show has also impacted it too. It's been
it's been fun. But that's I get. I think that's
the closest I get to your method is I'll be like, oh, artichokes,
that wasn't one of my recipe idea for this two weeks,
but I need them now. So yeah, there's some you know,
(38:19):
sometimes the list will change, but yeah. Oh and there's
also the podcast podcaster curveball of just like a sponsor
has sent us something. Yes, that is a huge curveball
um where you have to get creative with that, definitely.
I mean it's a lovely problem to have. Yeah. Yeah,
(38:39):
but also for me, like I walked to the grocery store,
so that is I have to be able to carry
everything back. There's a lot that goes into this. I'm glad.
Thank you Hartie for recognizing no, no, it is a
form of magic. She is a sorcerer. That's what's happening here.
That's my skill thing quickly. Well, thank you so much
(39:05):
to both of these listeners for writing in. If you
would like to try to as you can our emails
Hello at savorpod dot com. We are also on social media.
You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
saver pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Savor is production of my Heart Radio. For more podcasts
for my Heart Radio, you can visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
(39:28):
Fagin and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
we hope that that's more good things are coming your
way
Hello and welcome to Savor Protection of I Heart Radio.
I'm Anny Rees and I'm more in volke Bum and
today we have an episode for you about cream Liqueurs. Yes, yes,
drink responsibly as always as always yes, uh due to
some holidaytion against this is our my first recording of
our first recording together at least. Yes, I'm I don't
(00:31):
think I've recorded anything yet. It's been a long week. Um. Yes,
we're figuring it out. We are, No, I think this
is the first time. Yeah, so so welcome uh and
this was low key meant to be like an end
of the year episode. Um, but I think I think
(00:54):
it applies just as equally now. Yeah, we're in the
season of I would say cream Liqueurs, although I've recently
found out that's not true for everybody. They're kind of
a year round thing for for some people, but certainly
the branding agencies are pushing for them to be a
year round so they really really are. Um and yeah,
(01:18):
speaking of yep, not currently sponsors anything we're talking about.
NOE could change in the future, but not currently. Um.
I know we talked about this before. I think one
of the big names when people think of cream Liqueurs
is Bailey's, which is yeah, pretty much that makes sense. Uh,
(01:38):
and I believe we've both discussed. One of my first
drinks when I first started drinking in college was a
white Russian and one of the first like liquors liqueurs
I bought was Bailey's. Um, so it has a very
specific time in my life and my timeframe. Um. When
I drink Bailey's and the I remember most of it fondly,
(02:02):
not all of it. It was my fond memory for me. Yeah. Yeah, no,
I loved, I love like a like a mud slide
and write like a white Russian when I was that age. Um.
And uh, now that is stuff that I generally try
to avoid. Um. I would say that sweet cocktails are
(02:22):
not not my stick mm hmm. Yeah, I have it
every now and then because, as I've said several times
on here, uh, a friend of ours and co host
of stuff I ever told you, Samantha created this cocktail
for me called the Cinnamon Roll right right. And I
don't think it's Bailey's. Actually, I think it's um Kirkland's.
(02:42):
I think it's the one you can get it like Costco,
no sponsors. Good. But that's that's pretty much the only time.
I have it now in like a coffee or hot
chocolate situation, which is already like if I'm doing something
to my warm drinks, that's already kind of a rare occasion. Yeah,
but I do have it. It's not like it hasn't
gone an extinct in my world, but it's pretty rare.
(03:05):
I have to admit that that, even within this this
general category which is not really my bag, I really
hate Irish cream. I really dislike it. I think it
tastes terrible. I don't understand why anyone wants it um uh.
Other ones that I've had, I'm like, well, okay, but
for some reason, just the flavor of the whiskey and
(03:27):
the flavor of the cream with the sugar added, I'm
like why. Well we will talk about why a little bit. Yeah. No,
I get it. I get it um. But it is funny.
I have some friends who love it, who love it um.
And then I have been to South Africa a couple
(03:50):
of times, and they have a drink there similar that.
We're also going to talk about two Bailey's called Amarula,
and it is so popular there that, like when you're
in the air report, they're handing out free samples of it.
It is huh everywhere, at least in my experience, which
admittedly I always a tourists there, so who knows, but
it might be a specifically tourist thing. But right, but
(04:11):
in those tourist spaces everywhere, like you could not avoid it, Okay,
all right, yeah, yeah, no, I'm uh put pushing whatever
local product. I appreciate that. Yeah, Honestly, we should come
back and do an episode on then, because I kind
of briefly read over Amarula and what it is in
the history of it. We're gonna go over that very
(04:32):
brief understanding I have of it, but it was pretty interesting.
I would like to return talking about it. M hmm.
You can see our past episodes on things like eggnog
and whiskey. I would say, sure, sure, generally are booze episodes.
But yeah, I guess this brings us to our question.
I guess it does cream the course, what are they? Well,
(05:00):
a cream liqueur is a type of alcoholic beverage that's
made up of some kind of distilled alcohol, uh plus
some kind of either dairy or non dairy cream, plus
a sweetener, and then maybe some other flavorings. So like
there are a lot of iterations, but but basically you're
looking at a sweet, rich, creamy, not too boozy type
(05:23):
of booze, like a little stronger than wine, but about
half as strong as like a straight liquor. Um. They're
they're consumed. They can they can be consumed alone over ice,
or mixed into cocktails or shots, or served with hot
beverages like coffee, often after dinner or as part of
a dessert course. Um. They're like, Uh, they're like if
those like flavored sweetened coffee creamers or alcoholic Um, they're
(05:49):
like a like a melted alcoholic ice cream. Um, they're
like if Willy Wonka made a cow and then got
the cow d wronk. Excellent descriptions is always spot on.
I would say, Um, you can make your own at home.
(06:10):
But cream liqueurs are more traditionally, and this is an
interesting sentence, are more traditionally a store bought thing produced
by major liquor brands like using Science, UM, Bailey's and
Marula UM Rum Shot Up are all a few examples.
We will get into some of that in the history section. Again,
not sponsors. Uh. The alcohol base can be whatever you
(06:32):
like drinking. UM, Whiskey's realms, brandies, and neutral spirits are
all popular because because they either play up that that
creamy rich flavor or like, don't mess with it. Yeah
um uh. Brands usually come in at about sevent alcohol
bi volume. Um. And these days there are also non
(06:52):
alcoholic cream liqueurs on the market. Oh that's fascinating, right, um,
So that's the alcohol element, the cream element. Actual fresh
dairy cream is the most traditional, but in manufacturing it's
often um supplemented with more processed dairy products like milk, powders,
(07:13):
and or with vegetable oils to help with the texture
and stability of the final product. And these days there
are non dairy alternatives made with like out or nut
milk or whatever. Yes, there are vegan alternatives and a
lot of the newer articles I found we're tastest of
the various varieties. Yeah yeah, I mean right, Like, plant
(07:36):
based is such a buzzword these days that I was like,
do we really need to be calling our cream liqueurs
plant based? Anyway? That's cool? Um uh. The level of
sweetness will really range in these products, but usually depends
upon other flavorings. M because you can just have like
the booze plus the sugar plus the cream. But brands
(08:00):
and bartenders like playing with all sorts of uh like
candy and dessert inspired combinations, um, mint chocolate, salted caramel, s'mores,
red velvet, pumpkin pie, strawberry shortcake, all that kind of stuff. Yeah,
m hm, And I mentioned science above, and the production
(08:21):
science of these products is really fascinating because okay, like
like dairy and alcohol don't really like mixing for for
a number of of chemical slash physical reasons. Um, So,
creating these products means tricking those ingredients into becoming a stable,
smooth emulsion, all while treating them gently enough that you
(08:42):
don't like cook the cream or evaporate out the alcohol.
One of the big tricks in use here is homogenization. Um.
We talked about this in our types of Milk episode
forever ago. But um but okay, so, so cream is
an emulsion of fats and stuff in h and water
and stuff, right, Um, Homogenization is breaking down the naturally
(09:06):
wonky sized globs of fats and stuff in the cream
into into more even smaller globs that will therefore spread
themselves more evenly throughout that watery base. And there are
really fancy machines for this. Um, cream liqueurs tend to
be homogenized to the point that the globs will be
less than two microns in diameter. Yeah. Yeah, Um, you're
(09:30):
probably also adding some kind of emulsifier to like help
prevent the gloves from coming back together again, because that
leads to clumps, and nobody wants a clumpy liqueur, or
at least if they do, I have not met them.
That's true. Is usually an exception somewhere, you know, yeah,
like what you like? Hey, um and uh and and
(09:51):
also speaking of science, yes, the alcohol in these products
does make them shelf stable. Um, though you will i
mean prolong a bottle's lifespan if you put it in
the fridge after opening. Research has indicated that that, yes,
like I've read a number of papers about the microbiome
of a cream liqueur um and and yeah, like alcohol
(10:12):
content of like fourteen per cent or so, we'll definitely
prevent microbes from growing in these products. Okay, okay, Well
what about the nutrition. Uh, this is this is a treat,
This is a this this is this is solidly on
the treat and I mean you know it's it's but
but treats are nice. Treats are nice. Treats are nice,
(10:34):
and there are all kinds of like niche products within
this category that are like lighter on the sugar or
the fats, all again scientifically fascinating, and so much of
it is proprietary, so it was like kind of hard
to figure out. Like I read like a few patents
and like a few scientific articles, but a lot of
it seems to be just like trade secrets, which is fun. Yes,
(10:58):
you know, we love a good trade ce uh huh,
and we do have some numbers for you. Sure. According
to one report, sales of cream and non cream liqueurs
reached one point three billion pounds in nine pounds sterling.
Yeah yeah, yeah, not like a yes, good clarification. UM.
(11:20):
In January, Bailey's marked two billion bottles sold, and Bailey's
definitely has the largest market share in this category UM.
Each year, around eighty two million bottles are sold across
one hundred and sixty countries. Yeah, they used something like
two hundred and twenty million liters of fresh cream every year. Yeah,
(11:42):
they have a bunch of numbers about like those kind
of very specific names that makes you wonder, why did
you why did you count this? Yes, but like you know,
every it's open one is opened every whatever seconds or
there's a lot. If you want to read some numbers
about popular Bailey's is they've got the number story. Yeah, yeah,
because they really are the leader in the segment. Like
as of seventeen, they were selling about six times more
(12:05):
cases than the next leading cream liqueur brand, which was
Amarula UM. And furthermore, they were at the top of
the liqueur category overall, um selling almost double the next
leading liqueur brand being Malibu. Wow. Yeah huh uh. Also,
(12:26):
according to an industry source who was absolutely biased because
they were they were kind of a brand marketer for
a a smaller production company, like a like a bespoke
or not spoke, like an artisan Irish cream. But but
they said that most things that are labeled Irish cream
(12:47):
liqueurs contain mostly mutual grain spirits and less than one
percent actual Irish whiskey. Oh. I definitely ran across some
of these articles as well. Fascinating. Yeah yeah, so I mean,
but hey, I it depends on what you're going for
(13:08):
and what you're looking for, um and right. Yeah, it
tickles me that there are artists and Irish cream la
core is out there at all. Yes, and it's a
it's getting a lot of movement right now, which we
are going to talk about in history section. Yes, but
first we are going to get into a quick break
for a word from our sponsors, and we're back. Thank
(13:37):
you sponsoring, Yes, thank you. Okay. So, the early history
of cream liqueurs wasn't well documented. Um, so the first
iterations of it aren't very clear, though it is certainly
related to something like eggnog post situation. Yeah. Yeah, but
(13:58):
most who have looked into them, and people have looked
into them, believe that at least by the century monks
in Europe specifically were concocting flavored spirits, primarily as medicine,
and over time cream was added into that mix. Um,
and adding cream served a couple of purposes. One, it
preserved the cream the alcohol did, or that was the belief.
(14:20):
Um to it added flavor, richness, and thickness to whatever
you're adding it into. But yeah, a huge benchmark jumping
way ahead in the history of cream liqueurs took place
in nineteen seventy three or nine, depending with the invention
of Bailey's and what a tale it is. Yes, it
(14:44):
is very fun. Um. According to an article from the
Irish post Bailey's, which is a mixture of Irish whiskey
and cream. But yes, proprietary was created by a division
of a company called Guild Bees and Essex and the
name comes from Bailey's Hotel in London or Bailey's bistro
uh some some establishment in London. So the name on
(15:06):
the bottle which is our and a Bailey. They're made
up dudes. They made up a whole story about them.
They have a backstory about being brothers who disliked each
other but had to work together to make something or
their father was going to cut them out and not
leave them his large estate. So they were arguing and
arguing and arguing, and then I think they just started drinking.
(15:28):
They combined the cream and the whiskey started drinking it,
and then we're like, oh, here we go. OK. But
these are the dudes. These are not They're not really cool.
They made it up. But because they thought it made
it sound like, I don't know, more homie or more like, oh,
there's this these guys behind three here. It's not from
it's from much earlier. Yeah, and the font also also
(15:52):
helps sell that kind of fiction. But um, also, I
love this the R and A comes from a golf
tournament's government body. They just saw it were like, look
what if they were Rna Bailey done? Okay. The creators
were going for something whimsical and Anglo Irish when they
were trying to create this. Um. I think that specifically
(16:14):
they were trying to due to subsidies and taxes, We're
trying to get something from Ireland. They were trying to
make something from Ireland that felt very Irish. But it
was as all of these facts I'm giving you indicate
very Anglo Irish. Um. They even put like this fake
address on there on the label so you would think
like it's coming from Ireland. Um. Yeah. And they tested
(16:38):
a few bottle designs to see if people would buy it,
and it was something they were trying to create, quote,
a uniquely Irish drink in part due to yes, these
subsidies and since Ireland was known for some of the
best whiskey and for some of the freshest cream employees
that Gilbie's got to work finding a way to combine
them and the idea am very quick. It took some
(17:02):
experimentation to get it right, but at first I was like,
so a lot of experimentation. Not really. They did it
pretty quickly because it was within the span of like
a year. Yeah. Yeah. They mixed together Jamison Irish whisky,
Irish cream sugar and Cadbury's Drinking Chocolate UM, which was
like I think the final edition was the drinking chocolate
(17:25):
that resulted in a drink that tasted stronger when it
comes to alcohol content than it was UM. It was
presented in nineteen seventy three to the Irish division of
this company launched in nineteen seventy four and it was
fairly successful within three to seven years, again depending on
what sport you read UM first in the UK, then
(17:47):
in Ireland. And there is somewhat of a legendary story
about how a drink industry titan told the people trying
to sell him on Bailey's UM that the bottle color
reminded him of Vietnam uniform US Vietnam uniforms I think,
and after tasting it said that will never sell. So
they're trying to sell it in the US and this
(18:09):
guy was like nope. Still. Bailey's did launch in the
U s in the seventies with the tagline the Impossible
Cream UM, and it saw a lot of early popularity
in Australia where bars would regularly sell out of it,
and they I think I read somewhere that even had
signs that was like they didn't even have to specify
what they were out of. It was just like we
don't have it, we'll get it later. I would love
(18:31):
if anybody from Australia remembers this and could write in
about it. I don't know, ye, yes, several people do
you take credit for inventing Bailey's as usual? One is
a fellow named David Gluckman, And I think that these
were all people who were working together, Like It's not
like a contested history like we get sometimes. But um,
but yeah, David Gluckman is a product developer. Um. He
(18:53):
actually published a book about his experience in the industry
back in called that Will Never Sell Yes, And he
also wrote an article called in nineteen seventy three, I
invented a girly drink called Bailey's that was published in
the Irish Times in Oh yes it really is worth reading. Um.
(19:17):
The article opens describing how this is often his quote
fun fact at the inner parties that he invented Bailey's. Uh.
And here's a quote. If one of the unfortunate listening
group is a woman, and this is based on actual
past experience, she's likely to respond something like this, Oh
my god, Bailey's. My mother absolutely adores it. Did you
hear that, Dagasta? This man invented Bailey's. It's unreal. I
(19:40):
don't believe it. He must be terribly rich. Bailey's cream. Wow. Yeah.
He goes on to say, oh wht ch'all talk more
about later, But he's not really rich from this um.
He also described the testing phase of Bailey's with this quote.
I love when the night of the focus group came.
I looked ner slee around the room. This was the
(20:01):
mail group, But then these were men who were prepared
to turn up for a free drink and get paid
for it. We showed them the bottle that we were
so proud of and began pouring out the glasses. Among
most groups of drinking men, there's always one who seems
to dominate proceedings. You know who he is. He's the
one who sits right in front of the interviewer and
talks the loudest. It was vital for us to have
(20:22):
him on our side, and I kept my eye on
him for his reaction. He drank it down, and then
the researcher asked him when he thought. He said, looking
down at his schooner, and when I've had enough beer,
I moved to shots like scotch or vodka. Oh dear
to make matters worse being a talk or, he went on,
it's a girl's drink, he said. There was an outbreak
of nods and echoes of agreement among the other men
(20:45):
after this. What man was going to openly like claim
to liking a girl's drink? It was an absolute no no.
But when we looked at their glasses, every one of
them had been drained. It might not have been their
kind of drink, but there was nothing wrong with the taste. Fascinating, Oh, fascinating. Um.
But the women's group wasn't that much more receptive to it. Um.
(21:10):
But Gluckman had hope regularly calling this bar that they
left a few bottles at to see if anybody ordered it.
They were just like, oh, today was the day somebody
ordered it, and it would always be no. A good
while passed before he got a yes, and the bartender
told him that he gave three police officers this Bailey's
and they quote demolished it. They demolished a bottle between them,
(21:31):
giving him enough Gluckman enough confidence to finally present the
bottle to the Irish partners that they were working with.
Uh yeah, and yeah, like I said, he he jokes.
I got the feeling it was in good spirits, but
maybe not. He was paid for about three thousand pounds
for this whole development process of Bailey's that he does
(21:54):
not He did not make a lot of money and
does not continue to make money. Right, It's not like
a residual's situation where every time we buy a bottle
of Bailey's, like he gets tuppens. Like that's not yeah,
yeah yeah. Another name that gets thrown around a lot
when it comes to Bailey's is Tom jago Um. At
the time of the development of Bailey's, he was the
(22:15):
head of Innovation and Development at I d V or
International Distillers and Vintners, and he worked with Gluckman and
others on this project. Um. And this was a division
of Grand Metropolitan, which is now half of Diageo what
we've talked about before Guinness, right yeah, yeah, yeah, because
they are the other half. Yeah h um and us
(22:36):
as was coming up with some new products, and Bailey's
was part of that. So it's interesting, like you said,
they don't like deny that they all worked together on it. UM.
Oh yeah, just like the names that people will put
first berries, I'll say absolutely absolutely and uh yeah. The
other element of the story I meant to mention this earlier. Um,
(22:58):
in addition to the tax achs um in Ireland at
the time, they were looking around and they were like, Okay,
what does Ireland have that we can use that's sort
of like inexpensive and there was an oversupply of cream
there at that specific point in time. UM, and so
they were like, oh yeah, that's like basically like a
like a waste product of the milk industry. Yeah, yeah, absolutely. UM.
(23:24):
It's so interesting it is. It is, like I said,
I do recommend that whole article. It was very funny.
It was a very funny and fun read um and
several competitors did follow in the wake of Bailey's and
and Bailey's success. One that stood out to me researching
this was the debut of Cadbury Cream Cores in the ES.
Though didn't last song, it sounds like it was popular
(23:47):
in the UK and then it just went away. Yeah yeah,
I'd say, well, I know that, like like Godiva had
their own line of of of LaCourse around the same time.
But but yeah, yeah, another poppy. The one is South
Africa's a Marula and that's made from the fruit of
the elephant tree as it's called the marula. This is
I really want to look into that because I did
(24:08):
not know that since debuting in nineteen eight three, with
cream added in nineteen eighty nine, and Marula is second
to Bailey's yeah in terms of sales, and it is
a frequent souvenir for tours. But I would love if
someone else could write in that. Yeah yeah. Uh. Then
in ninetee Tequila Rose debuted. Um that's a tequila plus
(24:29):
strawberry flavoring plus cream um and was a personal favorite
of some friends of mine for a very long time. Um.
Then rum Chatta came along in two thousand nine. Um
it's as been on or chatta, you know, um with
with with rum and cinnamon and vanilla and cream. That's
a late entry to this whole game though, because growth
for these products plateaued in the nineteen nineties and then
(24:52):
started to decline. I've seen the like early two thousand's,
like maybe two thousand five through referred to as the
lost decade for cream liqueurs, and there are probably a
bunch of like factors that that fed into that recessions
leading to consumers cutting back on products seen as decadent
health trends, steering away from sugary products they perhaps overly
(25:15):
serious craft cocktail movement. Yeah, for for a while it
was very unfashionable to order something deemed goofy or I
don't know, like like, what's the what's the term I'm
looking for here? Like I feel like there's kind of
the the like sweetness. It's like a immature drink almost,
(25:36):
It's like get when you're in college, right, sure, yeah,
but of course it doesn't have to be like that. No, No,
it is funny to me that I was the last
decade is when I was like, give me that. Bailies
was really big into Klua, which I guess is in
a cream liqueur, But that's Kalua and Bailey's together. Could
(25:56):
be a massive headache, but could be a lovely drink.
Um And speaking of the craft cocktail movement, cream liqueurs
have experienced a resurgence lately. Um with msnologists getting more
experimental with them in cocktails, and with companies pushing for
cocktails outside of the holiday season, as you said, Lauren,
(26:16):
to make it more of a year round thing. Of
course they would want that it was a Pina Colada
Baileys drink I saw, yep um. Along with the rise
of instagrammable foods and drinks, I think also just in
my own personal experience, especially as we're leaving the holiday season,
I have seen just a real growth in like fancy
(26:38):
sweet holiday drinks. Yeah, I think that's part of it.
And also, as you said, Lauren, there are now artisan
cream liqueurs that have seen massive growth during this time. Yeah,
I mean right that there was that whole uh alcoholic
milkshake trend of what was that like twenty nineteen or
so en um and yeah, I guess right, like like
(27:03):
a return to an appreciation of these sort of after
dinner cocktails that that like for a while, everyone was
like was like, no, like I only want a Manhattan,
I only want an old fashioned um. Anything else is ridiculous,
and like why would I drink something fun? That's not
why I'm here for um? But no, and but but
(27:26):
then people are going like no, Actually that's tasty, like
a grasshopper is lovely. Like let's like like let's get
into this and you know, like like maybe do it
and um a slightly less syrupy sweet kind of way. Yeah, yeah,
because I think that's a part of it too. Was
you know, the nineties, it was the health movement of
like a lot of people. That was their big focus.
(27:47):
And we've talked about that before and you know, cream
mccure is obviously it's like, um so it's just interesting
to see kind of the shifts of people's attitudes around
around this product. And we didn't even talk about because
while this was like a vague topic. There's also just
some key competitors in the field. But like I said,
(28:08):
you know, Samantha, my friend, she gets it. I'm pretty
sure she gets it from Costco. So I think there's
also just widespread availability of it. I don't know, oh yeah,
oh yeah, more options, more options ultimately, uh so so yeah,
(28:29):
I don't know. If if there's anything in here that
that that y'all want to hear more about, let us know.
If there's anything that you know more about, let us know. Yes, yes,
she tess, because that's what we have to say for
now about cream the cores. We do have some listener
mail for you, though, and we're going to get into
that as soon as we get back from one more
quick break for a word from our sponsors. And we're back.
(28:59):
Thank you, yes, thank you, And we're back with listener
kind of relaxing. Yeah. Wait to come down at the
end of the meal or at the end of an episode.
Your first episode sweet and gentle. Yeah, yeah, and we
(29:21):
have some sweet and gentle listener mail for you, yes, yes, um,
starting with Kelly. Kelly wrote after listening to your wonderful
interview with Dr Julius Skinner about how she uses fermentation
as a strategy for combating food waste, I want to
share a couple of tools our family uses in our
quest to do the same. One of the most useful
things we do is to keep a running list on
(29:41):
this dryer race board on the fridge door see attached
photo of the leftovers and perishables on hand. It helps
us remember what we have and prioritize what to eat
or cooked with. Soonest sometimes it gives us ideas for
turning leftovers into a completely new option. Case in point,
the other day, we had some leftover garlickey spinach that
wasn't very good link to just reheat, but it became
(30:01):
part of the broccoli cheese soup that you see on
there now. Another tool I've come to rely on is
the website eat your Books dot com. I don't know
your policy on promoting products class services like this, so
PILL please feel free to edit this email as you
see fit. Like many food and cooking enthusiasts, I have
a beloved cookbook library that contains lots of recipes. I
haven't gotten around to trying it. E y b is
(30:23):
an online cookbook indexing service where you can list the
titles in your collection and create your own searchable recipe catalog,
so that if you're trying to figure out what to
do with all of these film the blank before they
go bad, you can start try ingredient and find recipes
within the books you already own, Or if you want
to try making a particular dish, you can easily look
up which of your cookbooks have a recipe for it
(30:44):
and compare the ingredients. You can also configure the search
to exclude ingredients. I e. I want to find a
vegetarian chili recipe, but without mushrooms, et cetera. Note e
y B doesn't show you the actual recipes in detail.
For that, you need to have the book on hand
or have the recipe, say somewhere. But it's a really
great tool for making better use of your cookbook collection.
(31:04):
Anyone can join for free and get up to five
books of their index. With the paid membership, you can
get an unlimited number of books. My husband got me
a membership last year as a gift and it has
been great. That sounds awesome. Yeah, Oh what a good idea. Yeah,
I'm so interested to try it. I love that that.
I'm definitely gonna check it out. Yeah, because I I
(31:25):
love I have way too many cookbooks, way too many.
Um and I and I do love like like like
weird vintage cookbooks, but in terms of actually cooking with
food that I actually have and not as just a curiosity.
Oh that's so useful. Yeah. Yeah. And like I said
in that the interview we did with Dr Julius Skinner,
(31:45):
I have there's so many things, especially because I'm a
single person, and some things you just can't buy in
small quantities. Um. I was talking about tomato paste in
that episode, Like I love if I could just be like,
I have this and I need to use it. Yeah,
where my recipes wear my books. Um. But also I
was I had a minor breakdown in the middle of
(32:08):
this listener now because I have quite a saga listeners
of my refrigerator not working. Um. So first the refrigerator
was freezing everything, and then I got that fixed and
heavy quotes, and now the freezer isn't working. Oh um,
So I I have had like to top off what
(32:31):
I already do of being like very creative and I
won't go to the grocery store that often and all
this stuff. Now I have to be like, well, the
freezer is not working, How I canna use all of
these ingredients? Right? Wow? Yeah? Yeah, uh it is perhaps
(32:52):
a better fix in the works. It is, I honestly,
it's just been such a whole thing. And then the
holidays happened, and I need a whole thing on the holidays. Sure, sure,
So I was just like, well, who needs a freezer? Um,
I'll get but I do. I have it on my
(33:12):
calendar next week attempt to see if it can be fixed.
But yeah, it's a it's been a saga. It's been
a whole thing. Yeah, no, this has been going on
for like two months now. Yeah. Yeah, heck, um, I
guess sort started speaking of Heidi wrote, I'm listening to
(33:34):
the Mac and Cheese episode, and seventeen minutes in Annie
says that she's at the end of her Gros recycle.
All she has left is chicken nuggets, lima beans and
I think mac and cheese. Uh what is this gros recycle?
Do you have some magic by which you run out
of everything important at the same time and then you
go shopping only once a month or something like that.
Or is it truly everything, not just perishables, such that
(33:57):
you never have to go through your fridge and throw
out miscellaneous bottles that have been in there too long?
What is the sorcery and how do you do it? Planning? Planning,
lots of planning, So the grocery cycles every two weeks.
Um was this pre COVID or did this develop during COVID.
(34:18):
It got honed during COVID to what I would call
one of my greatest skills, but it did exist before.
I didn't like going to the grocery store in general,
so I liked to shorten my trips. But during COVID,
it became yeah, two weeks. And it's hilarious to me
because I have learned, especially with like fresh foods, how
(34:39):
long you can push it the expiration day and I'll
get text Like a friend of ours Lyle texted me
once out of the blue and was like, I cut
this caviche in half a week ago? How much longer
does it have? Like I I've built a reputation. Um,
I would say generally, I don't. I eat primarily fresh
(35:05):
stuff like you that you'd get in kind of the
produce section. So therefore it kind of is it works
itself out because that stuff is only gonna last so long.
I'm really good at gauging, like I'll get four meals
out of this. However, however many um, with the refrigerator
freezer situation, I've had to get even more creative. Uh.
But like I guess my point being, I don't. It's
(35:27):
not like I have a bunch of condiments that I'm
running out of all at the same time or anything
like that. Those long lasting stuff that that that's all
in there, like it goes on for a while. But
kind of like what I eat through a regular week, um,
it's usually fresh stuff. Uh. But yeah, it is. It's
it's skill not to my own horn, but it's it's
(35:49):
a whole. And I also like, I, uh, when my
grocery list, which I always have if I run out
of anything I add to it, I have it in
the order of what where you'll find it in the
grocery store listed so I can get in get out
as quickly as possible. Um, But it is work. I
(36:09):
find all of this so fascinating because I usually fail
to create a grocery list at all my method of
grocery shopping. And I feel like this, really, this is
like a prime example of the personality differences between you
and me. Um. My method of grocery shopping is to
kind of show up at the grocery store and wander
(36:30):
around until I find stuff that I think I can
make a couple of meals out of, based based on
like what's on sale and like what looks interesting that day,
and like just what's available, um, and and just kind
of going from there and having like a few staples
at home that I know that I can like throw
into the mix. So wow that that to me actually
(36:55):
sounds very lovely and like you probably create a lot
more interesting things that I normally do. But it also
sounds like the most stressful thing I can imagine. Oh no,
I see, I can't. I find it like like your
thing sounds stressful to me, like a meal planning? Are
you kidding? Like I can't. I mean, I'm also like
of a mental health state that some days I'm like
a spoonful of peanut butter is what I'm eating for
(37:15):
this meal. That is what's happening today. That's fine, I mean,
you know, like I know myself. I know you don't.
I eat something fresh later. But the idea, the idea
of sitting down and meal planning for an entire two
weeks um makes me want to go hug my cat. Well, yeah, yeah,
(37:37):
it is stressful. I think I do get it from
my mom because my mom has like an index, like
a recipe index thing where she'll just like flip through
and be like this week we're gonna have this, and
this week we're gonna have this. She goes to the
grocery store like every day though, So I can't live that,
Like yeah, And also it's been fun with hearing from
you listeners because I have started to be like, oh,
(37:58):
we're doing an episode on arn't chokes. I'm gonna ahead, right,
So the show has also impacted it too. It's been
it's been fun. But that's I get. I think that's
the closest I get to your method is I'll be like, oh, artichokes,
that wasn't one of my recipe idea for this two weeks,
but I need them now. So yeah, there's some you know,
(38:19):
sometimes the list will change, but yeah. Oh and there's
also the podcast podcaster curveball of just like a sponsor
has sent us something. Yes, that is a huge curveball
um where you have to get creative with that, definitely.
I mean it's a lovely problem to have. Yeah. Yeah,
(38:39):
but also for me, like I walked to the grocery store,
so that is I have to be able to carry
everything back. There's a lot that goes into this. I'm glad.
Thank you Hartie for recognizing no, no, it is a
form of magic. She is a sorcerer. That's what's happening here.
That's my skill thing quickly. Well, thank you so much
(39:05):
to both of these listeners for writing in. If you
would like to try to as you can our emails
Hello at savorpod dot com. We are also on social media.
You can find us on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram at
saver pod and we do hope to hear from you.
Savor is production of my Heart Radio. For more podcasts
for my Heart Radio, you can visit the I Heart
Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your
favorite shows. Thanks as always to our super producers Dylan
(39:28):
Fagin and Andrew Howard. Thanks to you for listening, and
we hope that that's more good things are coming your
way
Savor News
Hosts And Creators
Anney Reese
Lauren Vogelbaum
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
Las Culturistas with Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang
Ding dong! Join your culture consultants, Matt Rogers and Bowen Yang, on an unforgettable journey into the beating heart of CULTURE. Alongside sizzling special guests, they GET INTO the hottest pop-culture moments of the day and the formative cultural experiences that turned them into Culturistas. Produced by the Big Money Players Network and iHeartRadio.