To make a Baby Guinness, pour coffee liqueur into a shot glass until it is about three-quarters full, then slowly pour Irish cream over the back of a spoon so it floats on top. That is the whole Baby Guinness recipe: two ingredients, one shot glass, one spoon, roughly three parts coffee to one part cream. It takes under two minutes and needs no shaker.
Here is the part that surprises most people: a Baby Guinness shot contains no Guinness at all. It gets the name because the dark base and the pale creamy head look like a tiny pint of Guinness stout, as the Wikipedia entry for the Baby Guinness explains. Get the pour right and the layers stay separate. Rush it and you get a muddy brown shot. Below you will find how to make a Baby Guinness step by step, the ratios that work, the mistakes that ruin the layer, and a few variations worth trying.
What Is a Baby Guinness Shot?
A Baby Guinness is a layered shooter, a small drink meant to be taken in one shot. It has only two ingredients:
- Coffee liqueur for the dark body at the bottom of the glass, which stands in for the stout.
- Irish cream for the white top, which stands in for the creamy head on a real pint of Guinness.
Irish cream liqueur is a cream liqueur based on Irish whiskey, cream and other flavourings, and it typically sits between 15 and 20% ABV, according to the Irish cream entry on Wikipedia. The same entry notes that the first Irish cream, Baileys, was created in London in 1973, and that Irish cream is most often drunk with coffee or in shots such as the B-52 and the Baby Guinness.
The layer works because the coffee liqueur is the denser of the two, so the cream settles on top when you pour it gently. The Baby Guinness became a widely recognised shooter in Irish pubs and beyond, and because it looks like a mini pint of beer and takes seconds to make, it is an easy drink to serve on St Patrick's Day or at any party at home.
Baby Guinness Recipe
Serves: 1 shot. Prep time: 2 minutes, plus optional chilling. Total time: 2 minutes.
Ingredients
- 30 ml coffee liqueur, such as our Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur
- 10 ml Irish cream, or a cream liqueur such as our Whiskey Cream Liqueur
Equipment
- A shot glass (a tall, narrow one shows the layers best)
- A teaspoon or bar spoon
- A jigger or measuring spoons
How to Make a Baby Guinness, Step by Step
- Chill everything (optional). Put the shot glass and both bottles in the fridge for 30 minutes to an hour. BBC Good Food suggests the same step in its Baby Guinness recipe.
- Pour the coffee liqueur. Fill the shot glass about three-quarters full. The coffee liqueur forms the dark body of your mini pint.
- Turn the spoon upside down. Hold a bar spoon or teaspoon upside down just above the surface of the coffee liqueur, with the tip touching the inside of the glass.
- Slowly pour the Irish cream. Pour it over the back of the spoon in a thin trickle so it spreads across the surface and floats there.
- Serve straight away. The layers hold for a while, but the creamy top looks sharpest in the first few minutes.
The Right Ratio for a Baby Guinness
There is no single official measure. The usual ratio is around 3 to 1, coffee to cream, which gives the look of a real pint with a thin head. BBC Good Food uses 2 tablespoons of coffee liqueur to 1 tablespoon of Baileys, a 2 to 1 ratio with a thicker, sweeter top. Pick the one that suits your glass and your taste:
| Ratio (coffee : cream) | Example measures | Result |
|---|---|---|
| 3 : 1 | 30 ml coffee liqueur + 10 ml Irish cream | Classic mini pint look, bolder taste |
| 2 : 1 | 2 tbsp coffee + 1 tbsp cream | Thicker creamy top, softer and sweeter |
A UK single spirit measure is 25 ml or 35 ml, so a Baby Guinness shot in a standard shot glass holds more liquid than a pub single. That matters when you count units, which we cover further down.
How to Pour the Irish Cream for a Clean Layer
The pour is the only hard part of the Baby Guinness cocktail, and almost every failed shot fails in one of three ways.
- Pouring straight from the bottle. The cream hits the base with too much force and sinks. Always break the fall with the back of a spoon.
- Pouring too fast. Carefully pour in a slow trickle, not a stream. If you are serving a round, pour the cream into a small jug first so you can control the flow with a steady hand.
- Overfilling the glass. Leave the top quarter of the glass free. A full glass leaves the cream nowhere to settle and it runs over the rim.
Some recipes whip the cream lightly and spoon it on top, which gives a fluffier, more foamy head that looks even more like a real pint of Guinness. It is a good trick if your pouring hand is not steady.
Which Coffee Liqueur and Irish Cream to Use
You can make a Baby Guinness shot with any coffee liqueur and any Irish cream. Tia Maria and Kahlua are the most common coffee liqueurs for it, and Baileys Irish Cream is the usual top. The Baby Guinness recipe itself does not change whichever bottles you choose.
Our cold brew coffee liqueur comes from South Tyrol and is made from 100% Arabica beans using cold brewing, with notes of caramel, chocolate and roasted nuts. Our whiskey cream is smooth and close in style to an Irish cream. Both are listed online in 350 ml, 500 ml, 700 ml and 1 litre bottles, subject to stock.
Baby Guinness Variations
Once the basic pour works, the same two-layer method takes other flavours.
- Salted caramel top. Swap the Irish cream for our Salted Caramel Cream Liqueur, made in the Vosges mountains of eastern France with caramel, cream and a hint of fleur de sel.
- Vanilla top. Use Vanilla Dream for a sweeter, dessert-style shot for anyone with a sweet tooth.
- Whipped top. Lightly whip the Irish cream and spoon it on for a thicker, frothier finish.
- Black sambuca base. Some bars serve a Baby Guinness with black sambuca instead of coffee liqueur, which makes a drink close to a Slippery Nipple.
The Luxury Baby Guinness Set is built for exactly this. It holds four 100 ml bottles (Vanilla Dream Cream, Whiskey Cream, Salted Caramel Cream and Cold Brew Coffee), so you can pour three different tops on the same base.
Making Baby Guinness Shots for a Party
For a round at a party or on St Patrick's Day, line up the shot glasses first, pour all the dark layers, then go back along the line with the spoon and the Irish cream. Working in two passes is quicker than finishing each glass before starting the next. Keep both bottles in the fridge between rounds.
One 350 ml bottle of coffee liqueur fills eleven Baby Guinness shots at 30 ml each, with a little left over. One 350 ml bottle of Irish cream tops 35 shots at 10 ml each, so you will run out of coffee liqueur long before the cream.
If you are planning a longer evening of drinks, our Classic Manhattan recipe, the amaretto sour recipe and the cold brew iced coffee with pistachio cream use spirits and liqueurs from the same range.
Where to Buy Baby Guinness Ingredients in the UK
If you want both halves of the Baby Guinness in one go, shop the Baby Guinness 200ml stacker set or choose from our other ready-made sets and full bottles:
- Baby Guinness 200ml stacker set: 200 ml of whiskey cream liqueur stacked on 200 ml of cold brew coffee liqueur.
- Baby Guinness mini stacker: smaller bottles of the same two liqueurs with two handmade Italian truffles.
- Coffee lovers gift set: 100 ml Cold Brew Coffee Liqueur, 100 ml Whiskey Cream, a vomFASS glass and two truffles in a wooden sliding box.
- Luxury Baby Guinness Set: four 100 ml bottles for three flavours of Baby Guinness.
You can also browse every cream liqueur we sell or the wider range of alcohol gift sets. In our Stamford shop at 1-2 St Paul's Street you can taste before you buy, and we encourage customers to refill and re-use their vomFASS bottles. Alcohol orders ship by DHL and need a signature from someone aged 18 or over.
Drink Responsibly
A Baby Guinness is a small drink, but it is not a weak one, and shots are easy to lose count of. The NHS explains that one UK unit is 10 ml of pure alcohol and that you can work out the units in any drink by multiplying its ABV by its volume in millilitres and dividing by 1,000. The NHS advises men and women not to drink more than 14 units a week on a regular basis. Check the ABV on both bottles and use the NHS alcohol units guide to see what a round adds up to. Our liqueurs are for adults aged 18 and over only.
Baby Guinness Shot FAQs
What does a Baby Guinness have in it?
Only two ingredients: coffee liqueur and Irish cream. The coffee liqueur goes in first and the Irish cream is floated on top over the back of a spoon. There is no Guinness or beer in it.
Is Tia Maria or Kahlua better for a Baby Guinness?
Both are coffee liqueurs and both work. The choice comes down to taste and sweetness. Any coffee liqueur you enjoy, including a cold brew coffee liqueur, will sit under the Irish cream in the same way.
Is Tia Maria and Baileys a Baby Guinness?
Yes. Tia Maria is a coffee liqueur and Baileys is an Irish cream, so floating Baileys over Tia Maria gives you a classic Baby Guinness shot.
How do you make a Baby Guinness with Tia Maria and Baileys?
Pour about 30 ml of Tia Maria into a shot glass, then float about 10 ml of Baileys on top by pouring it slowly over the back of an upturned spoon. That is how to make Baby Guinness shots with the two best-known brands.
Why is it called a Baby Guinness if there is no Guinness in it?
Because it looks like a miniature pint of Guinness stout. The dark coffee liqueur plays the part of the stout and the pale Irish cream plays the head.
How do you make the perfect Baby Guinness?
Chill the glass and bottles, fill the glass about three-quarters with coffee liqueur, then slowly pour the Irish cream over the back of an upturned spoon held just above the surface. A ratio of about 3 parts coffee to 1 part cream gives the classic look.
Why does my Baby Guinness mix instead of layering?
The cream was poured too fast or from too high. Hold the spoon just above the dark layer, touching the side of the glass, and gently pour in a slow trickle.
