Purple Nurple Shot

Vodka, blue curaçao, and cranberry juice — the blue-and-red combination that gives this shot its vivid purple color, and the 1980s-1990s body-referencing naming convention that gave it its memorable name.

The Purple Nurple Shot is a sweet-tart vodka shooter that gets its vivid purple color from the combination of blue curacao and cranberry juice -- red and blue mixing to produce the shot's signature violet hue -- and its irreverent name from 1980s and 1990s bar culture that favored provocative, body-referencing drink names. "Purple Nurple" is documented with real variation across bar-recipe sources: some versions swap the vodka for coconut rum or Malibu, some add triple sec or a raspberry liqueur like Chambord alongside or instead of the blue curacao, and the exact ratios shift from source to source. Across the most independent recipes found, blue curacao and cranberry juice are the two most consistently repeated ingredients, with vodka as the most common base spirit -- the combination reflected in this recipe. Like the related Purple Hooter and other purple-hued vodka shooters of the era, the Purple Nurple became a fixture of American bars through its combination of memorable name, approachable flavor, and striking color.