If you have Celiac Disease and enjoy Irish Cream liqueurs, you may want to give Carolans Irish Cream Liqueur a try. Their website clearly states on the FAQ page:
"Carolans is suitable for Celiacs and is both gluten and wheat free."I have long been a fan of Bailey's Irish Cream, but I decided to try Carolans Irish Cream after my daughter tried it and thought it to be superior to Bailey's, and after I verified that Carolans Irish Cream is Gluten-Free. I picked up a bottle at Costco' liquor store for a mere $9.99 (for a 750ml bottle in a gift-pack that included a couple glasses too). This was certainly cheaper than the Bailey's, and I was skeptical as to whether my daughter's "review" was going to be matched by my own product review.
Taste-Test: Wonderful! And, a Bargain!
I was delighted with the flavor of this gluten-free Irish Cream liqueur from Carolans. I agree with my daughter: this Irish Cream is indeed better than Bailey's, at least from my perspective. The hints of honey in the recipe, coupled with Irish spirits, whiskey, and rich double cream yield a superior taste in the resulting subtle blend of flavors. The honey adds a delicate overtone that complements the Irish Cream quite nicely.
Simple "Real" Egg-Nog using Carolans...
This gluten-free Irish Cream recipe as delivered by Carolans quickly led me to experiment with another drink that I have had been enjoying for the Christmas / New Years holidays: Egg Nog. I just recently reviewed an awesome gluten-free egg nog by Organic Valley (brand), and wondered how the two products would combine (to form an alcoholic version of egg-nog).
The results were quite tasty! I tried a couple versions of my blended Egg Nog (using Carolans gluten-free Irish Cream with that Organic Valley gluten-free egg nog), and rather enjoyed the results whether I used a 1:1 formula or a lesser-alcohol 2:1 (egg-nog : Irish Cream) formula or even as little as 4 parts nog to 1 part Irish Cream. It was all good! :)
Sure, all this cream may not be "good for you", but it sure does taste good and it is one of those once/year seasons where I indulge (not to mention it seems to be the only time of the year I can find good egg nog at the store: I am not going to make my own). And, I consider this a "gluten-free dessert" since it is as rich and satisfying as a dessert -- just in liquid form (and not for children).
Bottom line: my daughter was right and this Celiac-safe Irish Cream is great both on its own and mixed into other drinks (like egg nog, coffees, hot chocolate, and so forth).
Happy New Years everyone!
3 comments:
Irish cream in eggnog...wow does that take eggnog to the next level! I just might have to break tradition and make eggnog out of season!
Angie :)
I also looked on the website for Carolan's and discovered that they claim their Irish Cream Liqueur is gluten-free. But I wonder if there's a way to verify that is true because the product contains Irish whiskey and most -- if not all -- Irish whiskeys are distilled from grains containing gluten.
The only way this would make sense to me is if the distillation process somehow removes the gluten, or takes it to a minimal level. Has anyone ever done any detailed research on this?
Anonymous,
Perhaps you are new to the gluten-free/celiac scene? The general rule of thumb is that distilled alcohols are gluten-free... distillation, by its very nature and process, can not pass gluten-proteins from the source-grains into the finished alcohol. So, the only thing that could change that is if the finished alcohol-product then had gluten added (through a flavoring, accidental post-distillation-contamination, etc)... but, distillation in itself does remove gluten from the finished alcohol so long as gluten is not re-introduced, intentionally or otherwise, to the formula after distillation.
Hope that helps clarify things.
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