I tried supermarket own-brand Irish liqueur including Baileys – the winner is a third cheaper and tastes the same

WE’RE all trying to tighten our belts this Christmas – so how can we enjoy our festive favourites without it costing too much?

We’ve tested some traditional Christmas treats to find out whether supermarket own-brand goods beat the brands on quality and price.

Rosie Taylor put Baileys and supermarkets own-brand versions against each other in our testBaileys is the most expensive of them allIn this test, we pitted Bailey’s against supermarket own-brand versions of Irish cream liqueur from Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s, Aldi and Lidl.

For each one, we gave it a score out of ten for taste, also taking into account the alcohol content.

And we also rated each bottle out of ten for value, based on the price you pay per 100ml, and gave each product an overall score out of 20.

Here’s how the imitation Baileys fared against the real thing:

Baileys original cream liqueur

• RRP £17 for 700ml

Baileys is a classic Christmas stapleThe classic drink is exactly as you’d expect: creamy and smooth with a warm aftertaste.

But it comes at a price – the RRP for a standard bottle is £17, or £2.25 per 100ml.

That’s more than three times the price of the cheapest imitation bottle we tested from Aldi.

• Taste: 10/10
• Value: 4/10
• Total: 14/20

Tesco Irish cream liqueur

• £8.50 for 700ml

Rosie found Tesco’s Irish cream liqueur lacked flavourTesco’s Irish cream liqueur was the same strength as Baileys – at 17 per cent ABV – but lacked flavour.

It meant it had a strong alcohol smell and a burning taste, like cheap vodka.

At £1.21 per 100ml, it was half the price of Baileys but one of the more expensive supermarket products we tried.

• Taste: 4/10
• Value: 6/10
• Total: 10/20

Asda Causeway Coast Irish country cream

• £4.75 for 700ml

Asda’s version had a lower alcohol contentThe Irish cream liqueur from Asda was much thinner than Baileys and had a lower alcohol content, at 12 per cent ABV.

It had a mocha taste and was very synthetically sweet.

At just 68p per 100ml, it was the second cheapest we tried.

• Taste: 6/10
• Value: 8/10
• Total: 14/20

Morrisons The Best Irish cream liqueur

• £10.99 for 1L

Morrisons’ booze looked thin and watery, according to RosieThis Irish cream liqueur from Morrisons had quite a harsh alcohol taste at first but a pleasant butterscotch aftertaste.

It was the same strength as Baileys (17 per cent ABV) but looked thin and watery, like weak tea.

We liked that it came in a larger 1-litre bottle and was in the middle of the range price-wise, at £1.10 per 100ml.

• Taste: 7/10
• Value: 7/10
• Total: 14/20

WINNER – Sainsbury’s Country Cream

• £10 for 700ml

The Sainsbury’s liqueur was almost identical to a Baileys – and it’ll save you cash tooThe Sainsbury’s liqueur was a very close copy of Baileys, with a similar smooth taste.

It also had the same alcohol content at 17 per cent ABV.

At £1.43 per 100ml, it was the most expensive own-brand product we tried – but it was still a third cheaper than Baileys, so a great bargain alternative to the real thing.

• Taste: 8/10
• Value: 7/10
• Total: 15/20

Aldi Ballycastle Irish cream liqueur

• £2.79 for 75cl

Aldi came in the cheapest in our testAldi’s Irish cream liqueur was the cheapest we tried, at just 64p per 100ml, but it also had a lower alcohol content of 12 per cent ABV.

We found it tasted thin, artificially sweet and milky.

• Taste: 4/10
• Value: 8/10
• Total: 12/20

Lidl Deluxe Irish cream liqueur

• £7.99 for 700ml

Lidl’s matched Baileys in alcohol contentThe Lidl version was nice and thick and matched Baileys in alcohol content, at 17 per cent ABV.

It had a synthetic toffee-like taste and was middle-of-the-range on price, at £1.14 per 100ml.

• Taste: 6/10
• Value: 6/10
• Total: 12/20

In other Christmas news, we tested 11 alternative sandwiches including Aldi and Starbucks – and the winner could be eaten all year-round.

While shoppers are going wild for a giant Asda mince pie .