Polar Bear Shot

A mint-chocolate shot that tastes like a York Peppermint Patty, served ice cold for maximum refreshment.

The Polar Bear shot recreates the flavor profile of mint-chocolate confections — most closely the York Peppermint Pattie, introduced by the York Cone Company in York, Pennsylvania in 1940, and After Eight, the British mint chocolate wafer produced by Rowntree's since 1962 — in a two-ingredient shot format. Both candies share the same essential architecture: dark chocolate as the outer shell and a smooth, intensely mentholated peppermint filling, creating a contrast between bittersweet and cooling that has made the flavor combination one of the most reliably popular in the confectionery world. The shot replicates this with crème de cacao — the chocolate liqueur that has appeared in bartending manuals since at least the early 20th century — and peppermint schnapps. White crème de cacao, which carries chocolate flavor without the brown color of the dark version, produces the pale, almost white shot that earns the polar bear name, evoking both the Arctic color and the cooling menthol sensation. The peppermint schnapps provides the concentrated mint intensity, and the two components in combination genuinely evoke the candy they reference. The Polar Bear became a reliable dessert shot on American bar menus through the 1990s and 2000s, favored for its accessible sweetness, recognizable flavor reference, and low barrier to appeal.