Fireball Shots: 11 Cinnamon Shooters, From Easy to Evil

Few bottles took over the shot game like cinnamon whisky did. Sweet, spicy, and warm going down, it’s built for slamming, and it mixes into dessert-style shooters as easily as it goes down on its own.

A quick note on ingredients: the recipes below are written with cinnamon schnapps, the category Fireball belongs to. Anywhere you see it, pour Fireball cinnamon whisky instead for that signature red-hot kick. Here are eleven worth making, roughly in rising order of menace.

11 cinnamon whisky (Fireball) shots

Cinnamon Toast Crunch

Cinnamon schnapps and vanilla vodka, the way our recipe makes it, though that version is a 3 oz pour over crushed ice, a short drink rather than a shot. To shoot it, cut it to half an ounce of each, or do what most bars do under this name and pour equal parts Fireball and RumChata. Either way it genuinely tastes like the bottom of the cereal bowl. See recipe

Oatmeal Cookie

Cinnamon whisky, butterscotch schnapps, and Irish cream. Warm, spiced, and dessert-sweet. See recipe

Cinnamon Roll

Irish cream with cinnamon schnapps stirred through it. Frosting up front, Fireball heat on the way down. See recipe

Apple Pie Shot

Written with vodka, apple juice, and a dash of cinnamon, but swap the vodka for Fireball and you’ve got the pie and the oven. See recipe

G Bomb

Equal parts vodka and cinnamon whisky. Two bottles, zero effort, plenty of heat. See recipe

Pro tip: Keep both bottles in the freezer. Ice-cold takes the burn from harsh to smooth.

Candy Fireball

Cinnamon whisky and vodka topped with ginger ale. The ginger ale stretches it into a fizzy, sippable shot that would fit right in with the rest of the candy shots. See recipe

Chocolate Snake Bite

Creme de cacao, coffee liqueur, cinnamon whisky, and Irish cream. Like a spiced chocolate truffle. See recipe

Red Dragon’s Breath

Cinnamon whisky and a shot of whiskey. All heat, no filler — kin to everything in our whiskey shots lineup. See recipe

Starry Night

Goldschläger and Jägermeister with a few ounces of energy drink. Gold flakes, herbal bite, and cinnamon sparks; sub Fireball for the Goldschläger if glitter isn’t your thing. Energy-drink shooters like this one are half the bomb shots genre. See recipe

Body Slammer

Cinnamon whisky, tequila, and Tennessee whiskey. Three brown spirits and a lot of regret. Proceed accordingly. See recipe

Four Horsemen

Overproof rum, cinnamon whisky, Jägermeister, and peppermint liqueur. The infamous one. One is plenty. See recipe

Four more, once the first eleven are gone

Less famous, still worth a tray. One leans on apple, cinnamon whisky’s best friend after ice; the apple shots and fall shots roundups go deeper there.

Cinnamon Toast #3

Amaretto and cinnamon schnapps, half an ounce each, shaken and strained. Almond takes the edge off the burn; what’s left tastes like the sugared crust on a pastry. See recipe

Pro tip: Shake it hard. Amaretto pours syrupy at room temperature and needs the ice to loosen up.

Golden Cinnamon Apple

A dash of grenadine in the glass, then Goldschläger and sour apple pucker on top. No shaking. The grenadine sinks and the whole thing goes amber. See recipe

Pro tip: Fireball in place of the Goldschläger shifts the color from gold to copper. The taste barely moves.

Hot Damn Dew

An ounce of Hot Damn cinnamon schnapps stirred into a can of Mountain Dew over ice. Tall, neon green, and sugary enough that the cinnamon comes through as spice, not fire. Fireball does the same job. See recipe

Atomic Fireball

Grenadine on the bottom, Fireball in the middle, a quarter ounce of 151 rum on top. Named after the jawbreaker, layered like a traffic light. The 151 is there so you notice. See recipe

Pro tip: Pour the 151 over the back of a spoon so it sits on the whisky instead of dropping through it.

If you’re missing a bottle

• No Fireball. Goldschläger, DeKuyper Hot Damn, and Aftershock all work. Goldschläger runs 43.5% ABV and drier, so the dessert shots come out hotter and less sweet.
• No Irish cream. RumChata fits the Oatmeal Cookie and Cinnamon Roll and brings its own cinnamon along. In a pinch, any cream liqueur.
• No vanilla vodka. Plain vodka plus two drops of vanilla extract gets the Cinnamon Toast Crunch most of the way there.
• No Jägermeister. Any amaro keeps the Starry Night and Four Horsemen honest.
• No overproof rum. Regular rum in the Four Horsemen. You lose proof, not flavor.

Frequently asked questions

What is Fireball?

Fireball is a cinnamon-flavored whisky, around 33% ABV (66 proof). It’s sweet and hot from the cinnamon, which is why it’s so popular as a shot.

What mixes well with Fireball?

Apple cider, ginger ale, cola, and root beer are easy mixers, and it layers into dessert shots with butterscotch schnapps, Irish cream, and coffee liqueur.

Should Fireball be served cold?

Yes. Straight out of the freezer, the cinnamon burn smooths into a warm, sweet finish. Most people shoot it ice-cold.

Is Fireball actually whiskey?

It’s a cinnamon whisky, meaning Canadian whisky sweetened and flavored with cinnamon. Purists argue about the label, but it drinks like a flavored liqueur.

How many shots are in a bottle of Fireball?

A 750 ml bottle holds about 25 oz: 17 shots at 1.5 oz, or 25 at the 1 oz pours most of these recipes use. The 1.75 L handle holds 59 oz, so 39 to 59.

Can you make Fireball shots ahead of time?

The ones without cream or soda, yes. Batch the G Bomb, Red Dragon’s Breath, or Body Slammer in a bottle, keep it in the freezer, and pour straight into glasses. Build the Irish cream and soda shots as you serve.

Few things clear a tray faster than a round of cinnamon whisky, hot enough to wake everyone up and sweet enough that nobody complains. When the night graduates to real glasses, what to mix with Fireball picks up where the tray leaves off. Otherwise pour a round, then dig into the full cinnamon whiskey recipe collection or browse more shots and shooters when you’re ready for the next one.

Last modified on September 3, 2026