The Buttery Nipple is the shot you order when you want dessert but you also want it to be a shot. It is butterscotch schnapps with a thin layer of Baileys floated on top. Two ingredients, ten seconds of pouring, tastes exactly like a butterscotch caramel candy that learned to drink.
It is one of those shots that has been on every cocktail menu since approximately 1989, named in the era when shot names were either food-themed or rude and this one is somehow both. The name is unfortunate. The drink is excellent. Order them by description if the wait staff seems uncomfortable.
What makes it work is the contrast. The butterscotch schnapps is intensely sweet on its own and would be cloying as a full shot. The Baileys cuts the sweetness with creamy bitterness, and the whole thing balances out into something that drinks like a liquid candy bar without making your teeth hurt.
The float technique is identical to the Baby Guinness. Pour the schnapps first, then trickle the Baileys over the back of a bar spoon. The Baileys is lighter than the schnapps so it sits on top in a clean line. If it sinks you poured too aggressively. Start over, pour slower.
Buttery Nipple Shot
Ingredients
- 1 oz Butterscotch Schnapps
- 1/2 oz Irish Cream (Baileys) floated on top
Instructions
- Pour 1 oz of butterscotch schnapps into a shot glass.
- Slowly layer 1/2 oz of Baileys on top using the back of a bar spoon. The Baileys floats above the schnapps in a clean white cap.
- Shoot in one go. The schnapps hits first warm and sweet, then the Baileys smooths it out. Tastes uncannily like a butterscotch caramel.
Nutrition
Notes
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- Cold Baileys is essential. Room temperature Baileys does not float well and you end up with a beige cloud instead of two clean layers.
- Schnapps quality matters more than you think. DeKuyper and Buttershots are the standard. Some cheap supermarket brands taste like artificial caramel and ruin the drink.
- For parties, pre-pour the schnapps into a tray of shot glasses. Then float the Baileys on each one fresh just before serving. Easier than doing twelve pour-and-float sequences while everyone watches.