Ditch The Liquor Store — This Beloved Irish Cream Is On Sale At Costco Right Now

By Bobby Lewis
Two coffee cocktails made with Irish cream liqueur, on a white and green cloth Veselovaelena/Getty Images

Costco is a popular place to stock up for holidays, and even in the middle of the week, St. Patrick's Day is no exception. Originally a Christian feast day for the patron saint of Ireland, the modern holiday is more often a secular celebration of Irish culture — and also alcohol. Some Costcos have a lot of alcohol on sale right now, including a liqueur with many delicious uses.

A shopper in Signal Hill, CA, spotted a 1-liter bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream on sale at Costco for $22.49. A bottle of this size can cost almost $40 at liquor stores; even the more common 750 mL bottle often costs more than this Costco sale price.

It's important to note that this sale may not be available at all Costco locations. But such an unusually good deal means it's at least worth checking. And you may not have to worry about finishing it before it spoils. When kept between 32 and 77 degrees Fahrenheit, Bailey's original liqueur has a post-bottling shelf life of two years, opened or unopened. You may even be able to use the same bottle for next year's St. Patrick's Day.

Celebrating St. Patrick's Day with Bailey's Irish Cream

A bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream on a brown table with green leaves Gustavo Preiss/Shutterstock

There are many brands that offer the classic flavor of Irish cream — chocolate and vanilla with a whiskey finish — but Bailey's is the best known among them. As a liqueur, it's obviously good in a range of cocktails, like mudslides, White Russians, and the classic Irish coffee. But you can do a lot more with Bailey's than just drink it.

One of the great ways to make Bailey's taste even more like dessert is to simply pour it over an ice cream of your choice. Vanilla or chocolate are obvious possibilities, but it should also taste good with mint, cinnamon, caramel, strawberry, and many more flavors of ice cream. But there's another way you can wow your guests (or just yourself) with creativity.

Bailey's can be used to make an Irish cream panna cotta. In this recipe, 4 ounces of Bailey's Irish Cream replaces milk in the traditional recipe, for a delicious St. Patrick's Day twist on an Italian classic. And thanks to this Costco deal, it's easy to get more than enough for the whole party.