Irish Cream--Duh.

Irish Cream Coffee Creamer

Written by:  Amy 9/18/2014 from Bettystown home

I’ve been asked to share this story with all and sundry.  I’m not sure why.  It’s not my best moment.

So, I love International Delight Irish Cream coffee creamer.  Taking lessons from Tina who claims to have gotten this from the great and mighty Crystal, I call it my “ReasonToGetUpInTheMorning”.  Or, more simply my “Reason”.  Not liking the bitterness of coffee, I use this ultra sweet creamer to make the coffee more drinkable.   I have always wanted to be a sophisticated morning beverage drinker, but never more than when Ker took up the coffee habit.  But, I can only do this on Saturday mornings.  It’s a treat, not a staple of my life. I drink tea as a staple.  I drink cups and cups of tea.  No sugar, no cream.  Just dirty water.  Ker’s the coffee drinker and he has initiated Colleen.  Now Colleen straddles both worlds.  Abby, and occasionally Devan, swing my way with the tea drinking. 

A couple of things I know about International Delight Irish Cream Coffee Creamer.  First, it is not cream.  Cream comes from cows. But, if you read the ingredients list of the creamer, there's a lot of words I can't pronounce and none of them are found in a pasture.  Second, I know it is supposed to taste like Bailey's Irish Cream. It doesn't.  I'm not sure what flavor they're going after, I just know I like it.  Third, I know it is extremely high in sugar.  But, it's only a once a week thing and I make sure to balance it with healthier choices through out the rest of the day (think spin class, or salad no dressing).  Fourth, I know that the Brits and Irish favor tea over coffee.  Fifth, I am really not used to caffeine in any quantity, so drinking coffee makes me crazy.  Finally, I think they discontinued this flavor (it probably causes some horrible disease) cause I have a really hard time finding it in stores at home.  

To Ker’s and my surprise, people over here do drink coffee.  It’s not as common as it is at home.  People here prefer Irish tea to coffee (think tea with caffeine injections).  But, we have had some AMAZING mocha’s and cappuccinos in Drogheda (our nearest city).  There’s even a blend sold as “American style” coffee here in the grocery store  that I picked up.  We found a coffee maker at the boot sale.  So, we are all set for our Saturday treat.  Hold up!  There’s one thing missing for my coffee treat—Irish Cream Coffee Creamer.

Now, I did not expect to get International Delight over here.  I know there is nothing International about that delight—it’s purely an American thing.  However, I did think there would be some form of coffee creamer to be found here.  For the last two weeks, I looked in every store we have encountered for some kind of coffee creamer.  No luck.  I have even gone so far as to ask store clerks if they have such a thing as coffee creamer.  They answer with a helpful yes and direct me to the milk aisle.  In the milk aisle, there’s only milk.  No sign of Hazelnut, French Vanilla, or Irish coffee creamer.  Not even the dried kind.  At one of the stores, I even went so far as to speak very slowly and use hand gestures.  I got the same response—go to the milk aisle.

I was sitting in the living room when it finally struck me, I’m in IRELAND and the milk aisle contains CREAM.  It’s right next to the milk and has the word CREAM in big bold letters.  Finally putting that together, I figured out that right next to the milk is IRISH CREAM!  And, the best part is, YOU PUT IT IN YOUR COFFEE OR TEA.  Let me tell you how smart I felt…