If you are looking for a delicious drink and a way to sharpen your bartending skills, the Rattlesnake Shot is perfect for you. It tastefully layers three liqueurs on top of each other for an awe-inspiring visual effect. The fact that it tastes like a great mocha doesn’t hurt either.

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What is a Rattlesnake Shot?
How Do You Make a Layered Shot?
Equipment
Ingredients
Instructions
Mixing Tips + Variations
Recipe

What is a Rattlesnake Shot?

A Rattlesnake Shot is a liqueur shooter using Kahlua, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and White Crème de Cacao. It is unique in that instead of mixing all of the ingredients (like a Sicilian kiss shot), they are layered one after another giving it a segmented look.

Why the name Rattlesnake Shot? We could not find any information on the name origin. We are just going to assume it’s because it tastes so good that it can be very dangerous; like a rattlesnake.

Another snake themed shot to try is the water moccasin shot.

How Do You Make a Layered Shot?

Layering a shot is one of those bartending tricks that looks really impressive but isn’t too hard to learn. It does take some practice and time to train your pouring hand properly, but once you’ve got it you’ve got it.

Essentially, a layered shot is when you pour two or more individual ingredients into a shot glass and, instead of mixing with each other, they layer on top of each other.

To make a layered shot you need a few things. The first is a bar spoon and the second is a good understanding of liquid weight and density.

Spooning

Let’s start with the bar spoon. To layer a shot, you put your heaviest ingredient in the bottom. Then take a bar spoon and stick it in the shot glass with the tip barely touching the surface of the first ingredient. Next, sloooooowly pour your next ingredient into the bowl of the spoon; lifting the spoon up as the glass fill. Do this again with any other ingredients.

It will take practice but you will eventually get your technique down. The spoon slows the momentum of the liquid down so it gently flows on top of the previous ingredient.. Now, let’s move on to liquid density.

Liquid density

That isn’t as confusing as it sounds, we promise. Basically, in order to layer a shot the heavier liquids must be at the bottom and the lighter liquids on top. If you try it the other way around, the heavier liquid will just sink to the bottom and mix with the other ingredients (which is not always a bad thing, take a Tequila, Malibu, Vodka, or Amaretto Sunrise Cocktails for example).

A good rule of thumb is the more sugar an ingredient has, the heavier it will be. So syrups will usually sink while something like a white rum will float.

The Spruce Eats has a great table with actual density numbers so you can be exact with your layering.

Equipment

Ingredients

½ oz Kahlua
½ oz White Crème de Cacao
½ oz Bailey’s Irish Cream

Instructions

This shooter tastes a lot like a mocha drink you would get in a coffee shop. The most difficult aspect is learning how to layer the ingredients.

Step One

Chill your shot glass along with your liqueurs in the freezer before you start. While you don’t HAVE to chill everything, it helps to get a better layering.

Step Two

Once everything is cold, pour ½ oz of Kahlua into your shot glass.

Step Three

Pour ½ oz of White Creme de cacao into a jigger.

Pouring creme de cacao over a bar spoon into a shot glass.

Step Four

Slowly pour ½ oz of White Crème de Cacao onto the back of the spoon. Lift the spoon up and out of the Kahlua as the White Crème de Cacao fills the glass.

Pouring irish cream over the back of a bar spoon into a shot glass.

Step Five

Finally, pour in ½ oz of Bailey’s Irish Cream using the same spoon method from the previous step.

Mixing Tips + Variations

Chill ingredients. Stick your Kahlua, Bailey’s, and White Crème de Cacao in the fridge or freezer for a little while before making this drink. They will be cold and a little denser making it easier to layer them.
Use different brands. We prefer Kahula as our coffee liqueur and Bailey’s for Irish Cream. However, there are other brands of coffee liqueur and irish cream that work fine in this shot.
Pour slowly. One of the keys to a nicely layered shot is pouring the ingredients slowly so that they can a clean line between each and don’t mix together at all.

Recipe