distillations | By Kyle Branche

Lay
ered
drinks:
Liqueurs Show Off
Their Stripes

T he inspiration for creating layered drinks came to me in the

late 1980s. After years of bartending and getting to know all the
products available for the bar, I wanted to start creating some
of my own signature drinks. As I trekked my way through many flavor
ideas and ingredient combinations in a wide range of drink categories,
I discovered the magic of multilayered drinks. Seeing liqueurs float on
top of each other or sink below others, forming distinct colorful bands, I
was mesmerized. But I also began to understand the physics behind the
photograph by max wanger

art and to appreciate these special old spirits. I imagined that resourceful
bartenders or mixologists would enjoy a similar experience as they
experiment at crafting these multisensory marvels.

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 “
I made many layered drinks
during my nightclub days,
and I still love to prepare
them today whenever I get the chance.
Customers love watching these drinks
being prepared on the bartop (hopefully
under a favorable light that highlights
each band as the cocktail is built). After
the finishing touches are added, the
drinks become a visual and palate-
pleasing work of art.
To layer a drink, pour the densest
ingredient into the appropriate glass
(shot, martini, pony, tulip, snifter,
or pousse glass) first. Pour each
subsequent liqueur very slowly over the
back of a bar spoon or a maraschino
cherry held just above the previous layer
or set against the inside of the glass, so
that the liquid cascades gently down
on top. I’ve found that if liqueurs are
chilled prior to layering, they can create
a stronger and longer-lasting separation
and also may be more appealing to the
palate. (Go to the “Blade Runner” video
segment on isantemagazine.com.)

Avalanche
Hiram Walker Spearmint Schnapps
Baileys Irish Cream
Jägermeister

Blade Runner
Trader Vic’s Grenadine
DeKuyper Peachtree Schnapps
Bols Blue Curaçao
Grand Marnier
Blue Ice Vodka (chilled)

Perfect Lover
Marie Brizard Parfait Amour
Kamasutra Ginseng Coconut
photographs by greg nesbit

Damiana Liqueur

Bonfire
Rose’s Grenadine
Disaronno Amaretto
Bacardi 151 rum
(light on fire, then blow out)

For creating drinks using

Champagne Supernova
the recipes at right, choose Angostura Grenadine
your glass (which will Leroux Blue Curaçao
determine your drink size), Marie Brizard Parfait Amour
and carefully pour the Midori Melon Liqueur
ingredients in the order DeKuyper Blueberry Schnapps
listed using the technique DeKuyper Apple Barrel Schnapps
recommended. Champagne (chilled)

Kyle Branche uses a
hydrometer to measure the
specific gravity of a spirit.
Post-Coffee Pleasure
The original category name for a layered drink is pousse-café (French
for “after coffee”). The classic concoctions usually consisted of three
layers of liqueurs, and the typical glass held no more than 2 ounces.
The pousse-café was usually sipped on the side or, as the name
implies, enjoyed after coffee as a spirited liquid form of dessert.
Pousse-cafés are made by pouring liquids in order of density,
from heavy to light, so that they remain in distinct bands within the
glass. There’s a rule of thumb to always keep in mind: the more
sugar content in a given liqueur, the heavier it tends to be. The
more alcohol content in a given liqueur, the lighter in weight it
is. Another way to view this is the lower the proof, the thicker the
liqueur; the higher the proof, the thinner the liqueur. Densities of
liqueurs will also vary slightly from one brand to another.
The layered effect of the pousse-café was created by very carefully
drizzling the densest liqueur over a small spoon or maraschino
cherry into the small glass first; the second most dense liqueur
followed, and so on, with the least dense liqueur on top. If liqueurs
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A Matter of
gravity
To measure a spirit’s or liqueur’s specific gravity, you’ll
need a tool called a hydrometer, a sealed, graduated tube,
weighted at one end, that sinks a certain depth into the fluid
to be measured. The graduations allow for the measurement
of the fluid’s specific gravity. The instrument can be found at
many scientific supply outlets. You will need a hydrometer
that is calibrated between 1.00 and 1.22, and you will also
need a 250 mL graduated cylinder to hold the fluid. These
tools are fairly inexpensive, but they are made out of glass
and are delicate.
The higher the number in specific gravity, the thicker the
liqueur is. Gravity, viscosity, and density are all terms used to
describe the weight or thickness levels of these liquid spirits.
(Go to “Liqueur Gravity File” and the “Hydrometry” video
segment on isantemagazine.com.)
are chilled prior to layering, they will create a stronger and
longer-lasting separation, as well as being more appealing
to the palate.
My creations have included the three-layer Perfect Lover,
the four-layer Batmobile, the five-layer Blade Runner, and
the six-layer Horizontal Departure, as well as Champagne
Supernova, Bad Medicine, Leopard Skin, and Consider
Me Gone. Most of these libations fall into a bar-specialty
category I call the “multilayered super shooter.” They are
built in a chilled martini glass and designed for two to
four people to straw-shoot together. The imbibers watch as
the bottom layer disappears into the straw followed by the
others, until the drink is gone. The last layer is usually the
kicker, lightest in weight and last to hit the palate.
Pricing and Promotion
Initially, consider pricing all layered drinks in a range that
fits well with the rest of your current pricing for high-end
spirits or nonlayered specialty drinks on the bar menu. You
can price larger shared martini super shooters a couple of
dollars higher because they often require more prep time
and they are “special entertainment” drinks.
Management and staff should view the multilayered
drinks made with legendary liqueurs as after-dinner liquid
photograph by max wanger
desserts for customers who may be a little too full from
the main meal to consume a food dessert. Pousse-cafés
with coffee or tea after a meal provide a wonderful closing
to the dining experience. Since the profit margins of a
pousse drink and a dessert food could be very similar or
identical, your servers can take out a snifter/pousse tray as
 “ For the pousse-café, the idea was
to sip one layer at a time, but often some
cad would swig the whole thing in one gulp.
The most common layered drink of modern
times is probably the B52. . . . [and] the B52
family of drinks is much more popular in the
UK. —Marco Dionysos
a primary or secondary dessert tray, or you can have two servers
go to the table with both the liqueur and the dessert trays at
the same time.
In nightclubs and lively bars, the bartenders can prepare
a couple of super shooters and leave them on display on the
bar top. In the past when I prepared multilayered drinks as
visual enticements, many customers would be eyeing them with
noticeable excitement. I never had a problem selling them.
photograph by greg nesbit
When servers took just one out on a tray with a few straws, they
would have no trouble attracting takers. And when these drinks
are shared by as many as four people, the alcohol consumption
per person is moderate. It’s the fun of the experience of the
shared drink that builds repeat customers, not the kick from
the alcohol.
Honey Bear Latte
By Marco Dionysos, cocktail consultant and
bartender, Clock Bar, San Francisco
½ oz Kahlúa Coffee Liqueur
½ oz Bärenjäger Honey Liqueur
½ oz Baileys Irish Cream Liqueur
Steamed milk
Foamed milk
Espresso
In Sherry glass, layer in order Kahlüa,
Bärenjäger, and Baileys. Build a tiny latte on top
by layering steamed milk and then foamed milk.
Allow foam to settle before pouring small shot of
espresso in center of foam. Espresso will settle
between layers of milk.
In venues where the vibe is conducive for a
bartending show at a booth or banquette, try
developing a Benihana table-service technique
out on the floor. Have trained bar staff make
layered preparations tableside, wheeling a fully
stocked liqueur cart, complete with glassware
and liqueurs chilling in crushed ice, to your
guests.
By using this drink category as both an after-dinner sipper and
a dessert, you ensure that customers can’t help but remember
these multilayered specialties for their next visit. Layered
drinks are an exciting word-of-mouth specialty. Build on this
excitement by creating a special menu with high-quality images
of your layered specialties, with the after-dinner pousses in one
section and the super shooters in another.
Your layered-drink offerings are limited only by the
imaginations of your bar chefs. Have them utilize your backbar
liqueur selection to create classic and novel-tasting combinations.
Research and bring in some new, interesting, and obscure
liqueurs for bar use and practice—products that customers can
find only at your establishment. Turn the time-honored pousse-
café into the next big thing at your operation.
santÉ | SEPTEMBER 2008 71
 Pousse Café
“
By Dale DeGroff, cocktail consultant and president,
A properly Museum of the American Cocktail, New Orleans
made pousse-café is
a visual masterpiece. ¼ oz grenadine
Although it may not be ¼ oz dark crème de cacao
the best-tasting cocktail ¼ oz green crème de menthe
you’ve ever tried, it ¼ oz blue curaçao
will certainly be the ¼ oz Luxardo Maraschino Liqueur
most beautiful. . . . The ¼ oz triple sec
number of ingredients ¼ oz brandy
is actually irrelevant,

photograph © 2008 by david kressler

but they should all be in Slowly and carefully pour each ingredient in the
identical quantities . . . order listed over the back of a spoon into cordial
be sure to instruct your glass, layering one on top of the other.
guest to drink the Pousse
Café layer by layer or risk Note: This recipe can be found in Dale DeGroff’s
breaking the bartender’s new book, The Essential Cocktail (Clarkson Potter
heart by stirring.” Publishers, clarksonpotter.com, $35), which will be
—Dale Degroff published in November 2008.

British TV series that ran on American PBS channels in the

<< Liqueurs, Past
& Present
Liqueurs have an interesting history, dating back hundreds
of years in Europe to when monks, who studied and
practiced herb science out in the wild, created potions
for medicinal purposes. Maceration, infusion, percolation,
and distillation production methods for various root, bark,
sap, leaf, seed, flower, fruit, and oil extractions from plants,
shrubs, and trees were invented and perfected to create
herbal remedies. But many of these medieval potions
were unpalatable and hard to swallow, so fruit essences
were added to hide the strong, pungent, and bitter flavors
of these tonics. Liqueurs were these evolutionary end
products.
Today the monastic connection to liqueurs is portrayed
in fictional recreations, and it is also very real. Cadfael, a
1990s, included a fictional depiction of the early stages of
the development of liqueurs, as Brother Cadfael, a twelfth-
century Benedictine monk (played by the estimable Sir
Derek Jacobi) practices his herbal avocation. An acclaimed
2007 documentary titled Into Great Silence, shot at the
Grande Chartreuse Carthusian monastery located in a
remote region of the French Alps, shows an intimate
look at a lifestyle rarely experienced by those outside the
brotherhood. The monks of the Grande Chartreuse opened
its doors to filmmaker Philip Gröning, who silently followed
the monks around as they performed their various daily
duties and activities.
When it comes to creating great new layered drinks,
there are more flavor choices available on the market today
than ever before. The variety and combinations of new and
traditional liqueurs and spirits are a lot of fun to play with,
and every layered drink has a story. Bartenders should take
the time to research the great liqueurs of the world, initially
by a virtual visit of Web sites to learn about their histories
and secrets. An actual tour of liqueur distilleries can be even
more rewarding and educational. (Go to “Liqueur World” on
isantemagazine.com.)
Kyle Branche is a Los Angeles–based private bartender,
working 150 celebrity events a year. His Cocktail Art product
line communicates bar knowledge with text, audio, video,
photography, and specialty drink cards. His Web site,
cocktailhotel.com, will be open soon.

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