Tuesday night, when I went in to work, I knew we’d have a lot of dead time for the first couple of hours. So I thought it might be fun to try to pull off a layered red, white and blue shot. I hit Pinterest that afternoon and discovered the general consensus for the shot was to layer vodka on top of blue curacao on top of grenadine.

So armed with this information, I went into work to make this happen. Specifically for #DrinkUpLinkUp since it landed on July 4th. I admit it. One layered shot, take a picture, do the shot, move on.

As soon as I started, everyone in the bar (all four of us) got into the experiment and it turned into quite the comedy of errors.

First, I couldn’t get the blue curacao to layer onto the grenadine. It was suggested to layer it over ice as a drink. Then it was pointed out clear liquor actually isn’t white, so after a brainstorm (and after I’d already poured some Parrot Bay instead of vodka because, well, I like coconut rum and thought it would taste good) we used RumChata.

What we got looked like this:

 

Not exactly layered like I was going for… So I grabbed a stir stick and stirred it up creating a light purple drink that tasted… well… it tasted REALLY GOOD.

 

I don’t even know what you’d call it. But grenadine + blue curacao + RumChata + a splash of Parrot Bay = a pale purple yumfest.  (Anyone looking for a signature drink for a wedding with purple colors should seriously try this!) If you took out all the ice it would have come out to a little over a normal shot’s worth of liquor. You can adjust how much of each ingredient you want to perfect your flavor preference, and I’d recommend shaking it over ice instead of stirring.

Undeterred, though, we tried again to make it as a shot. This time, we left out the Parrot Bay, since it wasn’t a necessary component to the layering. (Though I still think it made a big difference in taste!)

 

I think we’d have been more successful if our RumChata bottle had a pour spout so we could control the pour better and, thus, layer it. But, hey, I’ll take it. And its not white, blue, red. Its actually red, white & blue!  I also think maybe it would have been more fun if we’d used less grenadine and more blue curacao.

So… now to drink it. We got my friend and bar regular, Daniel, to drink it. Frankly, even though the drink tasted good, I was a little scared of the shot.

Daniel reported the flavor was good, but the different consistencies of the liquids gave a very strange and unpleasant experience, specifically the RumChata in between a liquid and a syrup.

SO! We determined the flavor profile worked… but you definitely want to mix it up versus leaving it layered… no matter how pretty or patriotic it might look.

==============

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY to all my American readers!!! Please be safe out there tonight. DO NOT DRINK & DRIVE!!! It’s not worth it… get a cab, have a designated driver, walk to a hotel. Whatever. Just don’t get behind the wheel after drinking. Save a life. Save your pocketbook. Save your driving record.