Irish Flag Shooter

Irish Flag Shooter recipe

 The Spruce

  • Total: 3 mins
  • Prep: 3 mins
  • Cook: 0 mins
  • Yield: 1 shot (1 serving)

Celebrate St. Patrick's Day with this fun-to-make layered shot. Its colors represent the flag of Ireland—green (crème de menthe), white (Irish cream), and orange (Grand Marnier). The layers tend to form easily on their own, so it's a drink that anyone can make, no matter your experience level.

The flavors of the three liqueurs are not the most complementary to one another. While the taste of orange and mint is probably not the best combination, the creamy center helps bring them together. It's also not the worst-tasting shot you can make and some people do like this one for its taste.

To get the effect, it's important to float the liqueurs on top of one another in the order given. You'll do this by slowly pouring the top two over the back of a bar spoon to break up the flow, which helps create the distinct bands of color. It's an easy bartending technique that simply takes a little practice.


Steps to Make It

  1. Gather the ingredients.

    Irish Flag Shooter recipe ingredients
     The Spruce
  2. Pour the crème de menthe into a shot glass.

    Irish Flag Shooter recipe
     The Spruce


    Depending on the size of your shot glass, you may use more or less of each ingredient than what the recipe calls for. Rather than worrying about measurements, visually divide your glass into thirds and pour the ingredients accordingly.

  3. Float the Irish cream liqueur on top of the crème de menthe by pouring it slowly over the back of a bar spoon.

    Irish Flag Shooter recipe
     The Spruce
  4. Float the Grand Marnier on top of the Irish cream liqueur, again using the back of a bar spoon.

    Irish Flag Shooter recipe
     The Spruce
  5. Do not stir. Serve as is, making sure not to jostle the cocktail too much so the colors don't bleed into each other.

    Irish Flag Shooter recipe
     The Spruce
  6. Enjoy!

Recipe Variations

Switching any of the three ingredients can mess with the layers because each has its own specific gravity, which is based on its sugar and alcohol content. You need to pour them from heaviest to lightest so they don't resemble a lava lamp when you're finished (although that can be fun too).

If you want to swap ingredients, you'll need to experiment to see what works. For instance, switching from Grand Marnier to orange curaçao will generally not work. Curaçao tends to have more sugar and is lower proof, so it won't float on Irish cream. This can vary from one brand to another.

  • Rather than crème de menthe, you can try DeKuyper Sour Apple Pucker.
  • As demonstrated in the Irish frog, Irish cream will float on top of Midori, so that's another green option.
  • You might have luck if you switch the colors up (it will not be the "Irish flag" replica, which goes in the order of green, white, and orange). You could, for example, pour orange curaçao, then Irish cream, and finish up with Green Chartreuse (reversing the flag effect). Or, pour Irish cream, then Grand Marnier, then Green Chartreuse.

How Strong Is an Irish Flag?

Made entirely of liquor, don't expect this to be a light shot. In fact, Grand Marnier is bottled at a full 80 proof, so it's just as strong as the average whiskey or tequila. Since there's also no dilution in the Irish flag to factor in, its alcohol content is 28 percent ABV (56 proof). Drinking two shots in succession can easily outweigh a single shot of tequila.

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