B52 Shot Recipe | Delicious Fun

This B52 shot recipe is a timeless favorite that layers rich coffee liqueur, creamy Irish cream, and bright orange liqueur for a smooth and indulgent drink. Made with Kahlúa, Bailey’s Irish Cream, and Grand Marnier, this layered shot is as striking to look at as it is delicious to sip.

I’ve always had a soft spot for the B52 cocktail and its little sibling, the shot. Back in my college days, this was the drink everyone seemed to love—and it also happened to be one of my sister’s favorites. With its smooth layers and bold flavors, it’s the kind of shooter that makes you savor every sip.

Now, here’s the tricky part. Bartenders make layering this shot look effortless, with those clean lines separating the Kahlúa, Bailey’s, and Grand Marnier. For me? Not so easy. It took quite a few tries before I finally nailed those distinct layers—and when I did (in the tall glass you see above), I actually squealed with excitement!

Of course, it doesn’t always work out so perfectly. When I tried again with shorter glasses, the layers blurred together, leaving me with cloudy tops instead of crisp stripes. Still, even when it’s not picture-perfect, the B52 shot is just as fun and just as delicious.

Second attempt at the clear layer

After my success, I grabbed my other tall thin shot glass and tried to replicate the results. Nope. Not sure if the stars were aligned while I was pouring the tall shot above or what, because when I layer a shot, I do it the same way every time.

So, I’m here to tell you, that it is okay if your layers get muddled the way you see in the shorter glasses because you are just going to down the whole thing anyway. Besides, life is full of imperfections and I’m all for reveling in them.

It just takes a little practice to learn how to layer shots. Just wait, you’ll want to layer everything once you get it down.

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Helpful tips

• Kahlúa is a well known coffee liqueur, but even though it’s not super expensive, there are more budget friendly brands out there.
• I’m using a premium orange liqueur called Grand Marnier liqueur, but there are other choices out there like Cointreau or triple sec, so use what you can afford. But boy this liqueur makes for a tasty drink.
• Baileys Irish cream is my go to cream based liqueur to use, but you can use any Irish cream brand or a lighter tasting cream liqueur – RumChata.
• If you are going to layer a shot, either use a cocktail spoon or regular iced coffee teaspoon – for the thin, tall shot glass, I have to use the iced coffee teaspoon because the cocktail spoon is too wide to fit in the glass.
• Slow and steady wins the race. When layering a shot, you need to pour the liquor/liqueur SLOWLY over the bowl of the spoon.
• Always place the spoon bowl side up (the back of the spoon) in the glass and against the side. So, you are going to use the back of the spoon.
• Using a pourer controls the pour, which is critical to layering any shot. But if you do use a pourer, just know that you will have to eyeball your quantities because in that case, they’re coming straight out of the bottle, unmeasured.
• As with all layered shots, you need to place the heaviest liquor on the bottom and work your way up to the lightest.
• Some people like to light the orange liqueur layer. If you do, be careful of the flame as you bring the cocktail glass to your face. You don’t want any mishaps. Lighting it on fire also changes the name to a flaming B-52.

Variations of this shot

• B-51 shot – Kahlua, Baileys, and hazlenut liqueur like Frangelico.
• B-52 with full payload – Smaller amounts of Kahlua, Baileys, orange liqueur, hazlenut liqueur and a high alcohol liquor like Bacardi 151, which you would light on fire.
• B-53 shot – Kahlua, Sambuca, and Grand Marnier.
• B-54 shot – Kahlua, Baileys, and Amaretto.
• B-55 shot – Kahlua, Baileys, and Absinthe.
• B-56 shot – Kahlua, Baileys, blue curacao, and white rum.
• B-57 shot – Kahlua, peppermint schnapps, and triple sec.

How to layer the B52 shot

This recipe is for one shot. Multiply the ingredients by how many you are making.

Pre-step

Get out your shot glass, a pourer and a cocktail spoon for layering.

Step one

Gather the ingredients – Kahlúa, Baileys Irish cream, and Grand Marnier. (A)

Step one

The trick to a layered cocktail is to start with the heaviest liqueur. In this drink, the Kahlúa is the heaviest, so pour .50 ounce in the glass. It ends up being 1/3 of the way up the glass and is the only liqueur I measure since I’m using a pourer for the other two. (B)

Now comes the fun part.

Step two

With a pourer in the Baileys Irish cream bottle. Place the spoon bowl side up in and against the side of the glass. Slowly pour the Baileys over the bowl and into the glass on top of the coffee liqueur. Make sure the liquids are another third of the way up the glass.

The photo below gives you the idea. (C)

See? Using the spoon helps keep the layers separate! (D)

Step three

Again, place the spoon bowl side up (so, upside down) in and against the side of the glass.  With a pourer in the bottle, slowly pour the Grand Marnier over the bowl and on top of the Baileys, another third of the way up.

Yum!

I hope you enjoyed this B52 shot recipe!

It’s such a yummy drink and will get any party started.

Popular shots recipes

• Snickers
• 747
• Jelly donut
• Tootsie roll
• Pineapple upside down cake

And as always, may all your dishes/drinks be delish!

If you’ve tried this or any other recipe on the blog, I’d love the hear what you thought about it in the comments below.  I love hearing from you!  You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, TWITTER, INSTAGRAM and PINTEREST  to see more of my delicious food and delightful cocktails!

First published August 2016.