Pickleback Shot

Jameson followed by dill pickle brine — Reggie Cunningham at Bushwick Country Club, Brooklyn (c. 2006–2008), the acetic acid and salt resetting the palate.

The Pickleback Shot is an American bar tradition that emerged from Brooklyn's early 21st-century craft drinking scene: a shot of whiskey — most commonly Jameson Irish Whiskey — followed immediately by a shot of dill pickle brine as a chaser. The preparation was popularized at Bushwick Country Club, a bar at 618 Melrose Street in the Bushwick neighborhood of Brooklyn, New York, around 2006-2008, where bartender Reggie Cunningham began serving the combination. The phenomenon was documented by New York food media and spread nationally with unusual speed, appearing in bars across the United States within years of its Brooklyn origin. The specific mechanism by which pickle brine neutralizes whiskey's burn is partly chemical and partly physiological: the sodium chloride and acetic acid in pickle brine provide a saltiness and mild sourness that reset the palate after the spirit's heat, while the umami from the fermentation process provides a savory counterpoint. The Pickleback generated significant interest in pickle-flavored beverages and pickle-centric bar culture, spawning pickle-infused spirits, pickle Bloody Marys, and a broader American culinary moment for fermented, salty, acidic flavors.