Snowball Shot | 12 Shots of Christmas

This snowball shot is a delicious combination of brandy, peppermint schnapps and white creme de cacao that will deck the halls with holiday cheer!

This is the fourth post in my 12 Shots of Christmas series. On the fourth day of Christmas, my true love gave to me: one Snowball shot, one Black Forest Cake shot, one Chocolate Raspberry Kiss shot and a shot named Peppermint Patty!

What’s in a name?

Are you as baffled as I am as to why this shot is named the snowball shot?  It doesn’t look like any snowball I’ve ever seen.  It looks more like a yellow snowball.  There!  I said what you were thinking.

The snowball usually isn’t presented in layers, but as I adore them, I have this obsession with making a layered shot out of every mixed shot I come across.  Just to see if I can.

This is an interesting and surprisingly delicious shot. If you like brandy you’ll find it especially delightful.

I mixed a bunch of shots in one day for this series.  So Christopher, our niece Elizabeth and I had to – ahem – “sample” them so they wouldn’t go to waste!

I know, such a hardship.  😉

When they tried the snowball, they said, “It’s good, but not my favorite,” whereas I thought it was delicious.  Then again, I really like brandy.

The switching of the guards

I’ve written before that the spirits occasionally switch places when you pour them in layers.  This is the case with the snowball shot.  I layered it two different ways to experiment.

The results were similar enough that it probably doesn’t matter.  But if, like me, you’re a purist, mix it in the order I’ve written here.  The final result will display a cleaner and clearer look.

If this isn’t usually a layered shot, do I really need to layer it?

No, of course you don’t.  BUT, if you don’t it will really look like a yellow snowball.  I like the gradation of colors.  It’s prettier than a shaken shot.  You can see the gradation especially clearly in the short shot glass at the back of the photo above.

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Helpful tips

• If you are going to layer this shot, either use a cocktail spoon or regular iced coffee teaspoon. For the thin, tall shot glass, I have to use the thinner iced coffee teaspoon because the cocktail spoon is too wide to fit in the glass
• Always place the spoon bowl-side up in the glass, against the side
• 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
• You don’t have to be as careful when layering this shot as the alcohol will likely switch places anyway
• If you don’t want to layer this shot, fill a shaker 1/4 full with ice and add the ingredients.  Cap the shaker, shake for 10 seconds and strain the contents into your shot glass

How to make the snowball shot

Step one

Grab the ingredients – Brandy, Peppermint Schnapps and Creme de Cacao. Also get out a shot glass and a cocktail spoon.

Step two

Pour brandy in the glass 1/3 of the way.

Step three

Take the cocktail spoon, place it in the glass above the liquid with the bowl facing up and slowly pour peppermint schnapps over the spoon another third of the way. (Your shot is now two-thirds full.)

You can see the switching of the liquor; the schnapps is settling on the bottom.

Step four

Place the spoon in the glass again and pour Creme de Cacao over the bowl and into the glass.

Notice the shorter glass in the background!

Let’s look at the snowball shot without the bottles.

All that is left is to shoot this shot!

I hope you enjoyed this snowball shot recipe.

Other popular, snowy cocktails on Dishes Delish:

• Jack Frost Cocktail
• Snow Plow Cocktail
• Frosé Cocktail
• Frozen Mudslide

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!