Buttery Nipple Shot: Recipe, Layering Tips and the Slippery Nipple Difference

The first cold evening of October always sends us to the back of the liquor cabinet, where a bottle of butterscotch schnapps has been waiting since last winter. Uncap it and the kitchen smells like the candy dish at a grandparent’s house. Pour a little into a shot glass and float some Irish cream over it. That is a buttery nipple, the shot people giggle while ordering and then quietly ask for again.

The name is silly, and the drink is better than it sounds. Two sweet liqueurs, both fairly low in alcohol, stacked so the first sip is cool cream and the finish is warm brown sugar. You need no shaker and no skill beyond a steady hand.

The classic buttery nipple recipe

Our Buttery Nipple uses two ingredients in a two-to-one ratio: one ounce of butterscotch schnapps (the recipe names DeKuyper ButterShots) and half an ounce of Irish cream. The schnapps goes in first, and the Irish cream rests on top in a pale, toffee-colored band.

If you prefer even halves, Buttery Nipple #2 pours half a shot of butterscotch schnapps and half a shot of Baileys. That version tastes creamier and a little less like a hard candy. We lean toward the two-to-one pour when everything is ice cold, because chilling mutes sweetness and the butterscotch needs the extra room to show up.

Neither version is a strong shot. Butterscotch schnapps is typically bottled at around 15 to 20 percent alcohol, and Baileys sits at 17 percent. So a buttery nipple lands well below a shot of straight vodka. That gentleness is a big part of its charm at a party.

How to layer it so the line stays clean

Layering works because the heavier liquid stays below. Sugary butterscotch schnapps is the heavier of the two, which is why it always goes in first. The difference is small, though, so a gentle pour matters more than anything else.

Chill both bottles for an hour, or put the shot glasses in the freezer. Cold liquids blend less eagerly.
Pour the butterscotch schnapps into a narrow shot glass, filling it about two-thirds.
Turn a bar spoon upside down and touch its tip to the inside of the glass, just above the schnapps.
Pour the Irish cream very slowly over the back of the spoon so it fans across the surface instead of plunging through.
Lift the spoon as the cream rises, and serve right away while the line is crisp.

If the two blur together, nothing is lost. Give it a swirl and it tastes exactly the same, like the bottom of a butterscotch sundae. Our guide to layered shots walks through the spoon technique in more detail, with taller stacks to practice on once this one feels easy.

Buttery nipple vs. slippery nipple

These two get mixed up constantly, partly because they share a build and a punchline. The slippery nipple swaps the butterscotch for something sharper. Slippery Nipple #2 is the version most bartenders know, sambuca and Baileys in equal parts, and it tastes of black licorice softened by cream. Our main Slippery Nipple listing goes another way and floats peppermint schnapps over Irish cream, which drinks like an after-dinner mint.

So the quick rule: butterscotch makes it buttery, anise or mint makes it slippery.

One more naming tangle is worth knowing. The recipe called The Real Slippery Nipple is really a buttery nipple with grenadine at the bottom: grenadine, Carolans Irish cream and ButterShots. If a friend insists theirs is the real one, they may be describing a third drink entirely.

Variations we like

With grenadine

The Actual Buttery Nipple starts with a teaspoon of grenadine, then the butterscotch schnapps, then the Irish cream. Grenadine is the densest of the three, so it pools at the bottom in a ruby layer, and the last sip tastes like the cherry on a sundae.

With a cherry kiss

Buttery Nipple With A Cherry Kiss plays the same idea with a teaspoon of cherry liqueur between equal half-ounces of butterscotch schnapps and Baileys. It is a little more grown-up than the grenadine version and a lovely shade of rose where the layers touch.

Spicy, for bonfire night

The Spicy Buttery Nipple splits the glass into thirds: butterscotch schnapps, Hot Damn cinnamon schnapps and Irish cream. It tastes like a caramel apple from a fall fair and warms you down to your boots. That is exactly what we want around a fire pit in late October.

Coffee and cream

For a deeper, almost mocha version, Kelly’s Buttery Nipple adds Kahlua in equal parts with the butterscotch schnapps and Baileys, then crowns the glass with whipped cream. The Leaky Buttery Nipple drops the Irish cream entirely and uses Kona coffee liqueur with a splash of plain cream.

People also search for a chocolate buttery nipple. None of our listed versions use chocolate, but a quarter ounce of chocolate liqueur poured under the Irish cream works beautifully and keeps the layers in order.

With vodka

Plenty of bars add vodka to stiffen the shot, usually a quarter to half an ounce shaken over ice with the butterscotch schnapps before the cream goes on. It tastes less like candy and more like a proper drink. Shaking costs you the clean layer, though, so we serve this one as a chilled shooter and stop worrying about the stripes.

Where it fits on the shelf

A bottle of butterscotch schnapps will make far more than buttery nipples. Our roundup of butterscotch schnapps drinks runs through its other jobs, from hot cider to milkshakes. The Irish cream half of the shot has its own big family in our Baileys shooters list. And if your cabinet holds a few half-finished liqueurs from last year’s parties, let CocktailBuilder sort out what those bottles can make together before you buy anything new.

Wipe the spoon between every shot. A film of Irish cream on its back makes the next pour drip and break through instead of spreading. With a clean spoon, the tenth glass of the night layers as neatly as the first.

Last modified on October 4, 2026