Red, White, & Blue

Long Winded Instructions

It's July 3rd. You just picked up a bunch of fireworks and hot dogs. You put up all of your US flags and those flag banner things that hang on the porch. You're ready.

But wait... how can you really celebrate your nation’s independence without a properly themed drink? It will need to be alcoholic, feature the colors of the flag, and be quick to drink. What kind of drink could fit those very specific parameters? I’ll tell you which drink. A red, white, and blue shot. That’s which drink.

You probably already figured that out from the title, but who doesn’t enjoy a little build up and reveal? This one’s gonna go quick.

Three ingredients, in equal parts, in a tall shot glass. That’s it. Pour the red first, the white next, and the blue last. Sure, the white is really more clear… but it still works, right? Especially if you set it in front of a white background. Oooh that’s a good idea. I should have done that for the photo. Oh well too late now.

Now I do recommend a tall, clear, 2 oz shot glass for this one. And, you can’t just pour those ingredients in with reckless abandon. The key here is layering. Oh yes. Layering. The red you can pour normally, up to 1/3 of your shot. But the white? If you pour it in too fast, it’ll mix and you’ll have a pink shot. Hmmm… I’ll make a mental note of that for later. Maybe some kind of Valentine’s Day thing. But I digress.

You want to keep your layers separated, much like that Offspring song from the ‘90s. The different densities of the two liquids will aid you, but in order to get that fine separation that Offspring longed for, you need to take it slow. Pour gently and over a bar spoon to soften and distribute the stream and place it gingerly on top of your red layer. Take your time, and don’t get discouraged if you don’t get it right on the first try. If needed, down it and start over. Try, try again. Ok so far so good! Now the blue. The grenadine was nice and thick, so it helped maintain its red boundaries. But the creme de cacao is a little more sensitive. So, you’ll need to be extra careful with your final layer. Ease it on there, nice and slow, until you’ve got a beautiful blue layer. Well done!

It’s time to give this thing a try. Go ahead and knock it back. What do you think? Yeah it’s not the most delicious shot ever. But, it does go down easy, if not a little syrupy. It’s also not really gonna get you drunk because only two of those layers have alcohol and not particularly high content. So you’d have to drink a number of these to have the impact you might be looking for. But that’s not what this is about, right? This is about a little piece of patriotic art in a glass that you made and then reluctantly drank for you country.

So kick back, throw those dogs on the BBQ, and wait for your neighbors to recklessly start firing off those crazy fireworks they brought in from Tijuana. Make a few of these shots for your guests and cheers to our independence! Happy 4th!