Bazooka Joe

Blue Curaçao layered with Baileys — named for the Bazooka Joe cartoon Topps introduced in 1953, the blue color referencing bubble gum packaging more than flavor.

The Bazooka Joe Shot is a novelty dessert shooter named for Bazooka Joe, the cartoon mascot introduced by the Topps Chewing Gum Company alongside the comic strips wrapped inside each piece of Bazooka bubble gum. Bazooka bubble gum itself was first produced by the Topps Company in 1947, immediately after World War II — the name referencing the bazooka anti-tank rocket launcher used by American soldiers — but the distinctive Bazooka Joe character with his eye patch and friends, whose comic strip appeared on a small wax paper comic inside each piece of gum, was introduced in 1953. The Topps Company had been in the bubble gum and trading card business since its founding in 1938 in Brooklyn, New York. Bazooka Joe remained a cultural fixture for decades before Topps retired the original comic format in 2012 in favor of QR codes, a decision that generated significant nostalgic media coverage. The shot combining Blue Curaçao and Baileys Irish Cream creates a blue-white color combination vaguely reminiscent of the gum's packaging, and the sweet, fruity-cream flavor profile evokes the candy's approachable sweetness rather than any specific flavor of the gum itself.