Shots
Licorice, salmiak, peppermint, cinnamon, or sour fruit. Shots are the bottles and mini bottles passed around at a party. Here you'll learn exactly what shot drinks are, what varieties there are, why the bottle belongs in the freezer, and which glass to drink from.
The most popular shot brands
Four bottles from very different parts of the shelf. All four are so well-known that you'll find them at almost every party.
Apenshot
From Breda, made by ABND Drinks Company, it combines banana and licorice. At 14%, it's the mildest of the four, so it's made for sharing.
About Apenshot →Dropshot
Black licorice liqueur from De Kuyper in Schiedam. Sweet, slightly salty, and mild enough to down in one go. For something stronger and saltier, try Double Black at 24%.
About Dropshot →Flügel
The red 2 cl bottle with vodka and energy drink, conceived in the nineties. Put the cap on your nose and down it in one go. That's how it's done.
About Flügel →
Sourz
Sweet-and-sour fruit liqueur in bright colors and six flavors. It started with green Sour Apple. Drink it straight as a shot or mix it with 7-Up, tonic, or soda.
About Sourz →Every shot drink by brand
12 brands and 10 flavors. Each has its own page about flavor, cocktails, and the glass that goes with it.
More a way of drinking than a type of drink
Gin and whisky are legally defined. A shot isn’t. It’s a serving size, a small glass of 2 to 4 cl that you empty in one go. With the bottles on this page, that glass almost always contains the same kind of shot drink: a sweet liqueur or flavored vodka drink, somewhere between 14 and 20%. Dropshot and Kleiner Feigling are at 20%. Kleiner Klopfer is at 15 to 17%, Sourz and Boswandeling at 15%, and Apenshot at 14%. Flügel and Nozem Oil keep it to 10%. At the higher end, you’ll find herbal and cinnamon drinks, with Salmari at 25%, Fireball at 33%, Jägermeister at 35%, and Gold Strike at a whopping 50%.
That low percentage is a deliberate choice. By law, a liqueur must contain at least 15% alcohol and a minimum of 100 grams of sugar per liter. That sugar makes it easy to down a shot in one go. And the less alcohol, the more of the flavor you taste. At 14%, you taste banana and licorice; at 40%, mostly alcohol. A few shot drinks are below the liqueur threshold at 10 or 14% and are officially called something else. On the shelf and in your glass, they belong to the same family.
So don’t confuse them with a shot of straight distilled spirits. A shot of tequila, vodka, or whisky at 40% is the same amount of liquid, but contains more than twice as much alcohol. You drink those to savor them, or to get drunk quickly. The bottles here are lighter and sweeter, and meant to be shared with a group. Two shots of Dropshot contain about the same amount of alcohol as one shot of tequila.
In brief
Types of shot drinks, in five families
Shot drinks are grouped by their flavoring. That tells you at a glance how sweet a bottle is, how cold it should be, and what you can mix it with.
Licorice and salmiak
Typically Dutch. Jet black and sweet, with a salty edge from licorice and salmiak. Dropshot is the sweetest, Salmari the saltiest. Dropshot Double Black, at 24%, sits somewhere in between.
Peppermint
A clear liqueur that’s almost entirely about peppermint. Cold, it’s fresh, almost like menthol. Once it warms up, it quickly becomes too sweet. It’s a classic way to end a meal.
Cinnamon
This is where you’ll find the strongest bottles on the shelf. Sweet, hot cinnamon in whisky or neutral alcohol. Fireball is 33%, and Gold Strike, with 23-karat gold flakes in the bottle, is an even stronger 50%. So pour these in small measures.
Fruit and tartness
The biggest family, and also the lightest. Apple, raspberry, passion fruit, fig, banana, coconut. Sourz’s tartness cuts through the sugar, making that second shot easier to take than you might think.
Herbs
Herbs, roots, and peels. Bittersweet, and a lot more serious than the rest. The best-known is Jägermeister at 35%, which also bridges the gap to the herbal bitters on the liqueur shelf.
There are also creamy shots with banana, coconut, and caramel, as well as energy shots that contain caffeine alongside alcohol.
Sugar forms the base, the flavoring does the rest
Bold and direct
A shot smells of one thing: licorice, peppermint, cinnamon, sour apple, or banana. It doesn't have to be subtle; you should recognize it. Since the alcohol percentage is low, the alcohol stays in the background.
Full, sweet, and syrupy
Sugar gives it body, and you notice it straight away. Licorice and salmiak add a salty edge. Sourz gives a sharp sour kick, while cinnamon brings a warm glow that only comes after you've swallowed.
Brief, or a lasting salty taste
Fruity shots go down quickly, and that's how they're meant to be. Salmiak, peppermint, and cinnamon linger much longer. You'll naturally drink fewer of those in a row.
This is an average across the whole category. A salmiak shot scores lower on sweetness and higher on spice. A 33% or 50% cinnamon shot comes in at around 4 for strength.
How to drink a shot
Temperature makes almost all the difference with shots. Straight from the cupboard, a sweet shot is sticky and syrupy. Straight from the freezer, it's thick and cold, and much better balanced.
Ice-cold from the freezer
Put the bottle in the freezer for at least four hours. Then pour 2 to 4 cl into a chilled shot glass. The sugar keeps it from freezing; it just gets thicker. The cold also takes away some of the sweetness. That's why you taste the salt in an ice-cold dropshot, not just the sugar. Fill the glasses just before serving them.
The right glass →Straight from the bottle
Flügel, Kleiner Klopfer, and Kleiner Feigling come in 2 cl bottles, sold in boxes of ten to forty. Chill them in the fridge for a few hours or in a bucket of ice water for fifteen minutes. The ritual is all part of it. Tap the bottle on the bar, put the cap on your nose, toast, and down it in one. At big parties and in bars, the same shot is often served from a chilled dispenser. A few bottles are kept at serving temperature, so you can fill several glasses at once.
More shot recipes →Mixed as a long drink
Pour 4 cl of shot into about 150 ml of cola, 7-Up, or sparkling water in a highball glass filled with ice. This makes a bottle go further when sharing, without everyone having to drink shots. Dropshot and Salmari go best with cola. Have Sourz with 7-Up, and Boswandeling with pineapple or orange juice.
Salmari and cola recipe →Popular shots to make at home
Your shot doesn't have to come from just one bottle. These four show up on almost every menu and at every party.
Shots
The collection of the best-known shot recipes, from sweet to sour and layered to creamy.
Jägerbomb
A shot glass of Jägermeister dropped into half a glass of energy drink. You can also make it with Flügel.
B52
Coffee liqueur, cream liqueur, and orange liqueur poured in three neat layers.
Apple Pie Shot
Apple juice, cinnamon liqueur, and vanilla: the shot that tastes like warm apple pie.The right glass for shots
A shot glass is small by design. The portion stays limited, and your drink stays cold until the last sip. If you’re hosting a party, you’ll want plenty of them, and they need to be sturdy. These are the glasses we recommend.
Questions about shot drinks
Can’t find your question here? Check out our cocktail recipes or get in touch.
Go to the cocktail recipes →What percentage of alcohol is in a shot?
Why should you put a shot in the freezer?
Is a shot the same as a shot of tequila or vodka?
What are some tasty shots, and what kinds are there?
How many cl is a shot, and how big is a shot?
Does a bottle of shots need to be refrigerated after opening?
Buy shots
Want the bottle delivered straight to your door? Order shots online from Gall & Gall. Gall & Gall has 35, including 4 on sale.
Prices as of November 5, 2026, as provided by Gall & Gall. You can check the current price and stock at Gall & Gall. Glazen.nl receives a small commission if you buy something through these links; it won't cost you anything extra. No 18, no alcohol.
