The Absolute Best Chocolate Liqueur Comes From A Beloved Brand

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Chocolate liqueur brings decadence to everything from cocktails to desserts, that is if you can resist the urge to sip it neat as a post-dinner digestif. Of course, not all chocolate liqueurs are equal, so we tasted and ranked 7 popular chocolate liqueur brands to find the tastiest one. The absolute best chocolate liqueur comes from Baileys, a beloved brand you've surely heard of.

Baileys Irish Cream is one of the most popular types of liqueurs, so our hopes were high when we sampled the world-famous brand's chocolate liqueur. Despite its curiously un-chocolatey beige color, Bailey's exceeded our expectations for taste, the main criteria for our ranking. The other aspect we were looking for was balance. And Bailey's chocolate liqueur beat out the competition both with its rich and indulgent chocolate flavor and for the fact that it offered a perfect balance of sweetness and the earthy, bitter cacao notes characteristic of high-quality chocolate. Furthermore, the beige hue of the liqueur is the result of incorporating Baileys Irish cream as the foundation to which melted Belgian chocolate is added. So you get a milky, velvety element that sets Baileys chocolate liqueur above the competition.

Not only did this chocolate liqueur taste creamy and chocolatey, but it had a sophisticated alcoholic finish and lingering warmth that distinguishes chocolate liqueur from chocolate milk. Considering a lot of chocolate liqueurs on our list had a harsh alcoholic bite, the subtle hint of alcohol on the tail end of every sip of Baileys really set it apart.

Baileys chocolate liqueur has also received glowing reviews from customers at Total Wine, Fine Wine and Good Spirits, and commenters on Reddit. All reviews praised it for being rich, chocolatey, smooth, and creamy. Customers also love that, despite its subtlety, you can taste the alcohol which provides an "awesome kick," according to one review. The mouthfeel is described as thick and dense, with one Redditor likening it to an alcoholic chocolate milkshake. In fact, one person blitzed a shot of Baileys chocolate with a few cubes of ice in a blender for a satisfying milkshake-like dessert. Sounds good to us.

Another happy customer poured Baileys chocolate liqueur over a few scoops of ice cream. We think that vanilla ice cream would really bring out the bitter chocolate notes and enhance the dairy richness from the Irish cream. We recommend Van Leeuwen Vanilla bean ice cream (available on Amazon); it won our vote for the best store-bought vanilla ice cream brand. Baileys chocolate would also add complexity to chocolate brownies. For a more traditional use, you could spike a cup of coffee or espresso with a shot of Baileys chocolate liqueur for a boozy mocha. Of course you could also add equal parts Kahlua and Baileys chocolate to this recipe for an espresso martini. If you can't decide between a milkshake and a martini, try adding Baileys chocolate liqueur instead of Baileys Irish cream to this frozen nutella mudslide cocktail.