Pousse-café is a stylish word for “layered” drink. Layered drinks are carefully poured one upon the other in a shot glass or equivalent tumbler using a spoon or bar spoon.

The French term Pousse-café means “Pushes Coffee,” which is a good way of saying this style of shooter works well as a coffee chaser. This is probably the case because most Pousse-café drinks are sweeter and work well after a cup of coffee.

While many Pousse-café drinks will layer three separate alcohols, some will push as many as six unique alcohols into a cordial glass or champagne flute.