F-16 Shot
Layer ∙ 2 min ∙ 26.3% ABV ∙
The F-16 Shot is a layered three-part shot of Irish cream liqueur, white rum, and coffee liqueur, served in a shot glass. Sweet coffee leads from the top band, the rum surfaces as a warm kick through the middle, and cream rounds it off underneath — a quick round-closer, not a sipper.
Ingredients
1
Servings
Garnish
Instructions for 1 serving
- Pre-chill a glass
- Refrigerate all ingredients
- Carefully layer in the chilled glass in the following order: Irish cream liqueur 15 mlWhite rum 15 mlCrème de Café liqueur 15 ml
- Garnish with a maraschino cherry
Tips
- Layer in the order given — Irish cream first, then white rum, then the coffee liqueur — pouring each over the back of a bar spoon so the bands hold their line.
- Chill all three liqueurs beforehand since colder liquid is denser and separates into cleaner, sharper layers in the small shot glass.
- Drop the maraschino cherry in gently at the very end so it rests on top without piercing through the delicate top layer.
History
The F-16 Shot has no separately documented creation story; it is one of many numbered variants that spun off from the B-52, swapping in white rum and a coffee liqueur alongside Irish cream and taking its name from the fighter jet rather than the bomber that named its parent. The B-52 itself, a layered shooter of coffee liqueur, Irish cream, and orange liqueur, is generally dated to the 1970s, though its origin is disputed, with the most repeated account crediting Peter Fich at the Banff Springs Hotel in Alberta. As bars built out a whole family of these layered shots, later variants took names playing off the same aviation and munitions theme, with the F-16 following that pattern by trading the orange liqueur layer for a coffee liqueur and rum combination.
