The method
How to make it
Chill everything first, cold liquids hold their layers, warm ones blur into purple.
Pour the grenadine into the bottom of the shot glass.
Layer the blue curacao next, poured slowly over the back of a barspoon so it rests on the grenadine.
Finish with the vodka the same way, over the spoon, steady hand.
Serve immediately and tell people to shoot it, not sip it. Sipping a layered shot ruins the flag and the evening.
The serve
How to present it
Line them up in rows of six on a white tray, red, blue and clear stripes standing at attention. Do the pour where people can watch, layering is bar theater that costs nothing. They need to go out fast, five minutes of sitting and the layers start to make friends.
Make it yours
Swaps & variations
Swap the vodka for white rum, nobody can tell inside a layered shot. For a white middle stripe instead of a clear top, a careful half ounce of coconut cream between the layers reads as the full flag. Skip the alcohol and layer grenadine, lemonade and blue sports drink for the kids' table.
Keep pouring
