The Baby Guinness recipe
in two layers
Chill the Baileys in the refrigerator for half an hour; when cold, it is slightly thicker and the layer stays in place better.
Pour 3 cl of coffee liqueur into a narrow shot glass.
Hold a bar spoon with the rounded side facing up just above the liqueur, with the tip against the inside of the glass.
Pour 1 cl Baileys very slowly over the rounded side so that a creamy layer floats on the coffee liqueur.
Serve immediately and drink it in one go.
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Send the Baby Guinness recipe to your own email so you have it handy when you are ready to make it. You will also receive a €5 discount code when you spend €50, for the glasses that go with it.
The story
Who invented the Baby Guinness has never been recorded. The best-known account takes place in Dublin, in the eighties or nineties: at the Waxie Dargle, a pub near a large maternity hospital that has since closed, bartenders are said to have served the shot to new fathers. What is certain is that the name refers to its appearance. The little glass resembles a pint of Guinness, the black stout from Dublin, with its light head. The shot can only have existed since Baileys came onto the market in 1974 as the first Irish cream. In Ireland, Kahlúa is now the most commonly used coffee liqueur for this shot. It is popular there at bachelor parties and also appears on shot menus far beyond Ireland, often alongside the B52 Shot.
The right glass
A Baby Guinness belongs in a narrow, straight shot glass of 4 to 6 cl. The narrower the glass, the thicker the white head appears and the more it resembles a real pint. Clear glass without decoration shows the two layers best, and a heavy base keeps a full row of shot glasses stable on the tray. If you use a larger 6 cl glass, pour 4 cl of coffee liqueur and just over 1 cl of Baileys. View our shot glasses.
Arcoroc Islande Shot Glass 6.5 cl (12 pieces)
RCR Opera Shot Glass 6 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 44,90.
The right tools
For a Baby Guinness, in addition to the glass, use a bar spoon for stirring and a jigger for precise measuring. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you'll find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glassware set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 58,85.
Variations & twists
With Tia Maria, a rum-based coffee liqueur from Jamaica, the bottom layer gets more vanilla. Some bars add whipped cream or lightly whipped Baileys to the shot, making the collar look even more like stout foam. In other pubs, they replace the coffee liqueur with black sambuca; then you're close to the Slippery Nipple. If you'd rather have a glass than a shot, make a Baileys cocktail with the same flavors.
Serving tip
Make a whole row at once: first pour the coffee liqueur into all the glasses, then add the layer of Baileys to each glass one by one. That way, you don't have to switch bottles. Serve them promptly, while the layers are at their sharpest.
Good to know
Making a Baby Guinness without a bar spoon
A bar spoon is useful because it is long and has a small, rounded bowl, but an ordinary teaspoon works too. Turn it over so the rounded side faces up, and hold it just above the coffee liqueur against the side of the glass. Pour the Baileys from a jigger or a small pitcher in a thin stream. The point is to keep the cream from falling into the liqueur from a height, but let it flow gently over the spoon to the edge. Without a spoon, you can pour very slowly along the inside of the glass; the separation will be slightly less defined.
Why does the Baileys float
It comes down to density. Coffee liqueur is full of sugar and is therefore heavier than Baileys, which contains cream and less sugar. The lighter liquid stays on top as long as you pour it gently. If you pour too quickly, the Baileys sinks through the liqueur and you get a brown mixture instead of two layers. Cold Baileys is slightly thicker and flows more slowly off the spoon, which helps. Never do it the other way around: coffee liqueur poured onto Baileys sinks straight through it.
Which coffee liqueur should you choose
Kahlúa is the standard and the most widely used in Irish pubs: sweet, dark, and with a distinct roasted coffee flavor. Tia Maria has a slightly higher alcohol content and more vanilla. Both are dense enough to support a layer of Baileys. A lighter, less sweet craft coffee liqueur looks attractive, but the layers will be less defined, so test it first. If you have a bottle left over, you can also use it in an Espresso Martini or a Black Russian.
How much alcohol is in a Baby Guinness
Not much for a shot. Kahlúa contains 16 percent alcohol in the Netherlands and Baileys 17 percent, so the entire shot comes to about 16 percent. In 4 cl, that is around 0.65 cl of pure alcohol, approximately 5 grams: half a standard drink. That is why it is a popular after-dinner digestif. If you choose 20 percent Tia Maria, the alcohol percentage increases slightly. Pure spirits in a shot glass of the same size contain more than twice as much alcohol.
Baby Guinness for a group
For a party or a bachelor party, place ten to twelve shot glasses next to each other on a tray. First pour all the coffee liqueur with a jigger, so each glass is equally full and the head will be the same thickness everywhere. Then add the Baileys layer, glass by glass, using the same bar spoon. Keep a cloth nearby for drips along the rim. Allow for a 70 cl bottle of coffee liqueur for more than twenty shots. More ideas for rounds can be found with our shots.
Baby Guinness, B52 and Slippery Nipple
All three are layered shots with Irish cream, and you make them using the same motion over the rounded side of a spoon. The Baby Guinness has two layers: coffee liqueur with a thin Baileys head. The B52 adds a third layer of Grand Marnier, making it stronger and fresher with an orange flavor. The Slippery Nipple uses clear sambuca as the base layer, with anise instead of coffee. Once you have mastered the Baby Guinness, the other two are a small step.
Frequently asked questions
What is in a Baby Guinness?
A Baby Guinness consists of 3 cl of coffee liqueur, usually Kahlúa, topped with a 1 cl layer of Baileys. The ratio is three to one. The dark liqueur forms the body of the 'beer', while the Baileys forms the creamy head. It contains no Guinness.
Does a Baby Guinness really contain Guinness?
No, it does not contain any beer. The name only refers to its appearance: black coffee liqueur with a light head of Irish cream resembles a miniature pint of Guinness. The shot is sweet and tastes like coffee with cream, not stout.
How do you get the Baileys as a layer on top?
Pour the Baileys slowly over the rounded side of a bar spoon that you hold just above the coffee liqueur against the side of the glass. The cream then gently flows to the edge and stays afloat because the sugary coffee liqueur is heavier. Cold Baileys works best.
Which glass do you use for a Baby Guinness?
A narrow, straight shot glass with a capacity of 4 to 6 cl, made of clear glass. In a narrow glass, the head looks thicker and the pint more authentic. A heavy base keeps a row of shot glasses stable on the tray.
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