Skittle Bomb

Cointreau dropped into Red Bull — named for Skittles (Britain 1974, US 1979, absorbed into Mars via Wrigley in 2008), a British nightclub staple of the 2000s.

The Skittle Bomb is a bomb shot combining Cointreau orange liqueur dropped into a glass of Red Bull energy drink, named for Skittles — the fruit-flavored chewy candy that was first manufactured in Britain in 1974 before being introduced to the American market in 1979. Skittles were initially produced by a British confectionery company before their American rights were licensed and eventually absorbed into the Mars, Inc. confectionery portfolio through the company's acquisition of the William Wrigley Jr. Company in 2008. The candy's fruit-flavor assortment — including orange as its most prominent variety — and its brightly colored appearance inspired the Skittle Bomb's name, as the Cointreau's concentrated orange flavor and the Red Bull's sweet-and-caffeinated combination create a drink that evokes the candy's fruit-forward sweetness. The drink became commercially popular in British and European nightclubs during the 2000s as energy drink bomb shots — the Jägerbomb, the Skittle Bomb, and various house variations — became one of the most commercially significant bar categories, the caffeine and taurine of Red Bull complementing the liqueur's alcohol in a combination that nightclub culture adopted enthusiastically.