End a great meal with a cold, creamy Mudslide cocktail. This Mudslide drink recipe shakes together vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream, and heavy cream for an ice-cold cocktail that tastes like dessert!
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About this Mudslide drink recipe
If you’re looking to impress your friends with your cocktail-making skills, the Mudslide is the perfect dessert drink to showcase your know-how.
A Mudslide is a shaken cocktail made with vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream liqueur and cream. The drink itself doesn’t contain chocolate but is often garnished with chocolate sauce or shavings.
According to the Cayman Islands Tourism Association, the Mudslide recipe was invented at the Wreck Bar & Grill at the Rum Point Club on Grand Cayman island.
Allegedly, someone ordered a White Russian. However, the bartender was out of cream, so he substituted Baileys — and thus, the Mudslide was born.
While some recipes contain a scoop of vanilla ice cream, the original Wreck Bar version does not.
This cocktail is super easy to shake up, so you can impress your friends in no time. Whether you serve it with dessert or in addition to dessert is up to you!
What’s the difference between a Mudslide and a White Russian?
If you think that the Mudslide drink sounds similar to a White Russian, you’re not alone. They have very similar flavor profiles, with just a small difference.
The White Russian is made with vodka, coffee liqueur (Kahlua) and cream. The Mudslide is made with all those ingredients, plus Irish cream liqueur.
The Mudslide is also typically garnished with chocolate sauce and/or chocolate shavings, while the White Russian is commonly served without a garnish.
Recipe testing notes
- Heavy cream is a must for this recipe. I have tested this recipe with alternatives, and only heavy cream gives the drink the right thick and creamy consistency. If you must, half-and-half can work, but the resulting drink is quite a bit thinner.
- Shake, shake, shake! Use cold cream, plenty of ice cubes in your cocktail shaker *, and shake the drink well. This will make sure the drink is super cold and agitate the cream to create a thick, velvety consistency. Shake until the outside of the shaker is very cold and the sound of the ice inside changes.
- Rim the glass with chocolate sauce for the prettiest finish. You can drizzle the sauce around the inside of the glass, but I find that rimming the glass looks nicer without overwhelming the cocktail with chocolate.
- Chocolate shavings are optional but add that “something special,” especially for guests. You can easily make your own chocolate curls by melting chocolate and spreading it in a thin layer on a pan, then freeze it and scrape it out of the pan. You can run a vegetable peeler * down the side of a chocolate bar to create thin curls.
Ingredients & essentials
👇 For full measurements and step-by-step instructions, scroll down to the printable recipe card. It’s all there waiting for you!
The Mudslide is made up of 4 basic ingredients, so it’s an easy one to mix up any time.
The base of the cocktail is vodka. As with any cocktail, use the best alcohol you can afford! My go-to vodka brands right now are Tito’s, Deep Eddy, Reyka and Absolut.
A cheap vodka will taste cheap and stand out in your drink — and not in a great way — so stick to the $15-20 range if you can!
The coffee flavor of the Mudslide cocktail comes from the addition of coffee liqueur. Kahlua and Tia Maria are two of the most well-known brands.
Making homemade coffee liqueur is worth it if you’re up for it. You can make it with your favorite coffee beans and vodka. It makes a great gift for the coffee cocktail lover in your life!
The ingredient that makes the Mudslide unique is Irish cream. Irish cream is a creamy alcoholic liqueur made with notes of vanilla, chocolate, coffee and Irish whiskey. It is opaque and creamy, with a slight brown color.
Baileys Irish Cream is perhaps the most ubiquitous brand of Irish cream here in the States, but many other brands are available, including Molly’s, Carolan’s, Kerrygold and St. Brendan’s. You can also make a homemade Irish cream liqueur.
Finally, you’ll need heavy cream (also called whipping cream). Make sure it is nice and cold!
Make sure you also have a cocktail shaker *, Hawthorne strainer *, and a jigger.
For glassware, a martini glass or stemless glass makes this drink feel fancy. You could also serve it in a curvy cocktail glass.
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Garnish options
The garnishes are what take this cocktail over the top. I like chocolate syrup around the rim of the glass and chocolate shavings on top, but you could use just about anything chocolate, such as:
- chopped chocolate
- mini chocolate chips
- whipped cream
- chopped candy bars
- chopped nuts
- caramel sauce
- melted chocolate
Variations
There are lots of versions of the Mudslide out there. Here are a couple to try:
Frozen Mudslide: Throw all the ingredients of this simple creamy cocktail in a blender with a few scoops of ice cream to make it like a boozy milkshake. Vanilla is classic, but you could also use coffee or chocolate ice cream for a twist.
Non-alcoholic Mudslide: Since this drink is made of three types of alcohol, there isn’t always a virgin option available. However, with zero-proof spirits, there’s a way! Mix up equal parts cream, Lyre’s Coffee Originale * and a non-alcoholic Irish cream (make homemade Irish cream and leave out the whiskey).
Serving suggestions
This dessert drink is so good with anything that has a rich chocolate flavor. Try it with a batch of double chocolate cookies or a slice of Guinness chocolate cake.
It would also go well with anything caramel- or coffee-flavored, like tiramisu trifle or caramel popcorn.
FAQ
If you need to make a dairy-free version, I would try using dairy-free creamer in place of the heavy cream. Dairy-free creamers have a thicker, more velvety texture than dairy-free milk alternatives and will get closer to the thick texture you get from the heavy cream in the original.
Make sure you also use dairy-free Irish cream liqueur, such as Baileys Almande. Any chocolate-based garnishes will also need to be dairy free.
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Mudslide Cocktail
ingredients
- chocolate sauce for garnish
- 1 ounce vodka
- 1 ½ ounce coffee liqueur such as Kahlùa
- 1 ½ ounce Irish cream liqueur such as Baileys
- 1 ounce heavy cream
- chocolate curls for garnish
instructions
- Prepare a martini glass *. Drizzle chocolate syrup on the inside of the glass or dip the rim into the sauce.chocolate sauce
- To a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream and cream. Shake well.1 ounce (28 ⅓ ml) vodka, 1 ½ ounce (42 ½ ml) coffee liqueur, 1 ½ ounce (42 ½ ml) Irish cream liqueur, 1 ounce (28 ⅓ ml) heavy cream
- Strain into the prepared martini glass *. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.chocolate curls
notes
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