A layered (or "stacked") drink, sometimes called a pousse-café, is a kind of

cocktail A cocktail is a mixed drink, usually alcoholic beverage, alcoholic. Most commonly, a cocktail is a combination of one or more liquor, spirits mixed with other ingredients, such as juices, flavored syrups, tonic water, Shrub (drink), shrubs, and ...

in which the slightly different densities of various

liqueur A liqueur ( , ; ) is an alcoholic drink composed of Liquor, spirits (often rectified spirit) and additional flavorings such as sugar, fruits, herbs, and spices. Often served with or after dessert, they are typically heavily sweetened and un-age ...

s are used to create an array of colored layers, typically two to seven. The

specific gravity Relative density, also called specific gravity, is a dimensionless quantity defined as the ratio of the density (mass of a unit volume) of a substance to the density of a given reference material. Specific gravity for solids and liquids is nea ...

of the liquid ingredients increases from top to bottom. Liqueurs with the most dissolved sugar and the least alcohol are densest and are put at the bottom. These include fruit juices and cream liqueurs. Those with the least water and the most alcohol, such as rum with 75% alcohol by volume, are floated on top. These drinks are made primarily for visual enjoyment rather than taste. They are sipped, sometimes through a silver straw, one liqueur at a time. The drink must be made and handled carefully to avoid mixing; however, some layered drinks, such as

shooter Shooter may refer to: People * Rod Beck (1968–2007), American baseball pitcher nicknamed "Shooter" * Shooter Jennings (born 1979), country music singer * Evan McPherson (born 1999), American football placekicker nicknamed "Shooter" * Adrian Sh ...

s, are generally drunk quickly. Mr. Nick Castrogiovanni (1893–1979) was well known in New Orleans as "a mixologist." He was best known for the Pousse-Café, in which liqueurs are layered by specific gravity, and he was known to have layered 34 different liqueurs in a small Pousse-Café glass. He would make the cocktail at his Nick's Original Big Train Bar on Tulane Ave. in New Orleans. This is the largest number of layers currently known to have been accomplished and witnessed.

Preparation

The layers must be poured very gently to avoid mixing. They can be poured over the back of a spoon or down a glass rod.

Examples of layered drinks

Black and Tan A black and tan is a beer cocktail made by layering a pale beer (usually pale ale) and a dark beer (usually stout). In Ireland, the drink is called a half and half. History The term likely originated in England, where consumers have blended ...

* Black Velvet * Blue Eyed Blonde *

B-52 The Boeing B-52 Stratofortress is an American long-range, subsonic, jet-powered strategic bomber. The B-52 was designed and built by Boeing, which has continued to provide support and upgrades. It has been operated by the United States Ai ...

Oatmeal Cookie An oatmeal raisin cookie is a type of drop cookie made from an oatmeal-based dough with raisins. Its ingredients also typically include flour, sugar, eggs, salt, and spices. When the cookies were becoming prominent in the United States in the ...

* ''Pousse-café'' (1/2 ounce Grenadine, 1/2 ounce yellow chartreuse, 1/2 ounce

crème de cassis Crème de cassis () (also known as cassis liqueur) is a sweet, dark red liqueur made from blackcurrants. Several cocktails are made with crème de cassis, notably the popular wine cocktail kir and its sparkling variant, the kir royal. Other ...

, 1/2 ounce white creme de menthe, 1/2 ounce green chartreuse, and 1/2 ounce

brandy Brandy is a liquor produced by distilling wine. Brandy generally contains 35–60% alcohol by volume (70–120 US proof) and is typically consumed as an after-dinner digestif. Some brandies are aged in wooden casks. Others are coloured ...

, layered in order given).Pousse-Cafe, 2012 Mr. Boston Official Bartender's Guide
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Slippery Nipple The slippery nipple is a layered cocktail shooter most commonly composed of Baileys Irish Cream and sambuca. When prepared properly, the ingredients remain in two distinct visible layers due to the relative densities of the ingredients. Histor ...

Tequila Sunrise Tequila Sunrise may refer to: * Tequila sunrise, an alcoholic mixed drink * ''Tequila Sunrise'' (film), a 1988 film * "Tequila Sunrise" (Eagles song), 1973 * "Tequila Sunrise" (Cypress Hill song), 1998 * "Tequila Sunrise" (''Entourage''), an e ...

Non-alcoholic

Non-alcoholic beverages may also be layered, as in a

latte macchiato () is a coffee beverage. The name is Italian for 'stained milk', referring to the way the drink is prepared, by pouring a shot of espresso into steamed milk. It is a play on , an older drink consisting of espresso marked with a dollop or two o ...

References

* Tyler, S. and Herbst, R. ''The Ultimate A-to-Z Bar Guide''. New York: Broadway Books, 1998. * {{cite news , publisher=Wall Street Journal , title= Neither Shaken Nor Stirred , url=https://www.wsj.com/articles/SB115835765770164823 , author=Eric Felten , date=September 16, 2006 , page=9
DrinkStreet Pousse Cafe recipeArt of the Drink - Sunset Pousse-café video
Shooters (drinks)

Preparation

Examples of layered drinks

Non-alcoholic

See also

References