End a great meal with a liquid dessert like the Mudslide cocktail. This after-dinner drink is full of chocolate, coffee and vanilla flavor and makes a stunning presentation instead of — or in addition to! — a chocolate dessert.
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Mudslide drink recipe
Dinner parties are a great way to impress your friends with your cooking skills. But why not show off your drink skills too?
The Mudslide is the perfect dessert drink to showcase your know-how. Whether you serve it with dessert or in addition to dessert is up to you!
Decorated with a chocolate sauce rim and chocolate curls on top, this sweet drink is made with vodka, coffee, liqueur, Irish cream and cream.
It’s super easy to shake up, too, so you can impress your friends in no time.
More dessert cocktail recipes: Espresso Martini • Colorado Bulldog • Nutty Irishman • Tiramisu Martini
Why you’ll love this recipe
This four-ingredient dessert drink is the perfect end to a great night for a few reasons:
- Even with just a few ingredients, it’s an impressive dessert cocktail for anyone with a sweet tooth.
- It’s super easy to shake up. No bartending skills required.
- You can decorate this delicious drink however you like!
What is a Mudslide drink?
A Mudslide cocktail is a drink of vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream liqueur and cream. The drink 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 (made with vodka, Kahlua and cream). 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.
Tools & glassware
To make this drink, a cocktail shaker is a must. A Hawthorne strainer and a jigger for measuring are also essential tools for your bar setup.
For glassware, a martini glass or stemless version makes this drink feel fancy. You could also serve it in a curvy cocktail glass.
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The Mudslide only has four ingredients, plus any garnishes like chocolate sauce:
- vodka
- coffee liqueur (Kahlùa)
- Irish cream liqueur (Baileys)
- cream
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!
If you’d like to know more about vodka, dive into my Vodka 101 crash course.
Coffee liqueur
The coffee flavor of the Mudslide cocktail comes from the addition of the coffee liqueur. Kahlua and Tia Maria are two of the most well-known brands for coffee liqueur out there.
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!
Irish cream liqueur
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.
Cream
Heavy cream (also called whipping cream) is a must for this cocktail to make it smooth and creamy.
Half-and-half does work, but it’s a little thinner. Milk will be even thinner, and won’t thicken up, so I don’t recommend it.
You could try a non-dairy milk or unsweetened non-dairy creamers such as oat milk, soy milk or almond milk, but I haven’t tried them. Let me know in the comments if you do!
Garnishes
The garnishes are what take this cocktail over the top. I used 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 and substitutions
There are lots of versions of the Mudslide out there. Here are a few 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).
How to make a Mudslide cocktail
The classic Mudslide drink is an easy sweet treat to make anytime. Here’s how to make the famous Mudslide cocktail recipe:
Prepare a martini glass by adding a drizzle of chocolate syrup on the inside of the glass or rimming it on the glass. (Here’s a tutorial on how to rim a glass.)
Then, to a cocktail shaker filled with ice cubes, add vodka, coffee liqueur, Irish cream and cream. Shake well.
Strain the cocktail into the prepared glass. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.
Tips & tricks
Make chocolate curls to put on top. You can make them by melting chocolate and spreading it in a thin layer on a pan, then freeze it and scrape it of a pan. You can also experiment with thinly shaving a chocolate bar to yield curls.
Decorate the glass with chocolate sauce. Pour some on a plate and then roll the edge of the glass in it to coat. You can also drizzle it around the inside of the glass for a different look.
What to serve with a Mudslide
Chocolate, chocolate, chocolate! 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
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 cocktail includes vodka, coffee liqueur (Kahlua), Irish cream liqueur (Baileys) and cream. Some versions involve blending the ingredients with vanilla ice cream instead of cream to make a Frozen Mudslide.
More dessert cocktails
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Mudslide Cocktail
ingredients
- 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 sauce for garnish
- 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.
- To a cocktail shaker filled with ice, add vodka coffee liqueur, Irish cream and cream. Shake well.
- Strain into the prepared martini glass. Sprinkle with chocolate shavings.
notes
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