Squashed Frog Shot

Midori melon liqueur with a Baileys float — the cream layer creating the frog's pale belly, Midori launched at Studio 54 (opened April 1977) in June 1978.

The Squashed Frog Shot is a visual novelty shooter whose name and appeal derive entirely from the layered appearance produced when green Midori melon liqueur is combined with a float of Irish cream — the cream's density slightly less than the liqueur beneath it, creating a layered effect in the glass that the viewer is invited to interpret as a flattened amphibian. The visual novelty shot genre, which produced dozens of preparation-specific names through the 1980s and 1990s, relied on the same theatrical logic as the layered shooter category generally: the visual drama of floating, curdling, or color-contrasting liquids made the drink interesting before tasting it and gave the drinker a performance to share socially. Midori, the Japanese-produced melon liqueur made by Suntory from two varieties of premium Japanese muskmelon, was launched in the United States at a party held at Studio 54 in New York City in June 1978. Studio 54, the Manhattan discotheque that became the defining venue of the late 1970s New York social scene following its opening by Steve Rubell and Ian Schrager in April 1977, was the most publicized nightclub in America at the time. Suntory's choice of Studio 54 for the North American Midori launch was a deliberate positioning of the spirit within the glamorous, transgressive nightlife culture that dominated American entertainment media in the late 1970s. Midori's vivid green color and sweet, tropical melon flavor made it a natural ingredient for visually dramatic cocktail presentations.