Springbok Shot

A South African layered shot of creme de menthe and Amarula in the colors of the national rugby team.

The Springbok Shot is a South African party shooter combining Amarula Cream Liqueur — one of the country's most distinctive and internationally recognized spirit products — with green crème de menthe, whose layered gold-and-green colors reference the Springboks, South Africa's national rugby union team. Amarula was created from the fruit of the marula tree (Sclerocarya birrea), a medium-sized tree native to sub-Saharan Africa whose fruit — oval, yellow-skinned when ripe, with a tart, tropical aroma — has been used by indigenous African communities for food, oil, and traditional fermented beverages for thousands of years. The commercial Amarula Cream Liqueur was developed by the South African Distillers company (now Distell) and launched in 1989, combining the marula fruit distillate with fresh cream in a formula that positioned it directly against Baileys Irish Cream in the global cream liqueur category. Amarula became one of South Africa's most commercially successful spirit exports, available in over 100 countries by the 2000s. The Springboks rugby team, whose green and gold colors and springbok antelope emblem made them one of the most visually recognized national sports teams globally, returned to international competition after South Africa's post-apartheid readmission to world sport in 1992 and won the Rugby World Cup in 1995, 2007, 2019, and 2023.