Green Tea Shot
Irish whiskey, peach schnapps, sour and a splash of lemon-lime soda, shaken and served as a shot. There is no tea in it; it is green, it goes down easily, and it is the bar shot of the 2010s.
Built to the standard modern spec; not yet tested in our kitchen. How we test.
The recipe.
Scaling adjusts quantities only. Prepare shaken drinks in individual portions.
Let’s make a good drink.
Add the whiskey, peach schnapps, lemon juice and syrup to a shaker.
Fill with ice and shake hard for 8 to 10 seconds.
Strain into one large shot glass or split between two small ones.
Top with a splash of lemon-lime soda and serve at once.
A thoughtful finish
- Fresh lemon and a little syrup instead of sour mix makes a shot you would actually choose to drink twice.
- Shake it cold. A warm shot of this is cloying; a cold one is sharp and quick.
- The soda goes in after the shake, or it foams out of the tin.
Common mistakes
- Sour mix from a gun. It is most of what gives the drink its reputation.
- Skipping the splash of soda, which lifts it.
- Serving it as a long drink. It is a shot; over ice it is a thin peach sour.
A few good questions.
Is there green tea in a Green Tea Shot?
No. The name comes from the pale green colour of the finished shot. It is Irish whiskey, peach schnapps, sour and soda.
Why Jameson?
Habit and marketing; the shot is so associated with the brand that bars call it a Jameson Green Tea. Any Irish whiskey works.
How strong is it?
Around 20% ABV — a shot's worth of whiskey and liqueur in a two-ounce pour. It is not a strong shot by shot standards.
What is a White Tea Shot?
The same recipe with vodka in place of whiskey. It is paler and blander.
Variations
- Kamikaze Shot — Vodka, lime and orange liqueur.
- Lemon Drop Martini — Vodka, lemon and sugar, as a cocktail.
- Whiskey Sour — The grown-up version of the same idea.
- B-52 — Coffee liqueur, Irish cream and orange liqueur, layered.
Where it comes from
c. 2010s · United States
Contested. More than one origin is claimed for this drink. We show the competing accounts rather than pick one.
The Green Tea Shot has no inventor and no tea. It appeared in American college and sports bars in the early 2010s, almost always made with Jameson — the brand is so attached to it that it is sometimes called a Jameson Green Tea — plus peach schnapps, sour mix and a splash of Sprite, shaken and strained into shot glasses. The pale green colour of the finished shot gave it the name. It spread by word of mouth and bartender memory rather than through any book, and it has outlasted most of its contemporaries because it is cheap, quick and not unpleasant.
Sources
- Difford's Guide, Green Tea Shot, 2018 (reference)
- Robert Simonson, Modern Classic Cocktails, 2022 (book)
- Punch, 'The Rise of the Shot', 2019 (article)
Strength. About 0.75 US standard drinks at an estimated 13.1% ABV, estimated from the ingredients and technique, not measured. What that means.
A little character in every sip.
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