I Tried A Flaming Dr. Pepper, A Very Popular Shot In The South, And It Was Delicious

I grew up in Houston, but since I went to college in upstate New York and moved directly to New York City after graduating, I never really got to go to bars in Texas.

I visited my sister in Austin this weekend and went bar hopping through the city's famous 6th Street. At a bar called Cheers, which mostly serves specialty shots, I tried something called a Flaming Dr. Pepper. I had never heard of a Flaming Dr. Pepper shot before, but it's apparently very popular in the south.

Here's how it works.

You pour a small amount of light beer into a pint glass. You then fill a shot glass with 3/4 amaretto almond liqueur and 1/4 Bacardi 151. You then set the shot on fire and dunk it in the beer and chug it. Somehow, the mixture of amaretto, Bacardi, light beer, and fire make the concoction taste like a Dr. Pepper soda.

They do it a bit differently at Cheers. Instead of simply lighting the shot on fire, the bartender takes a swig of Bacardi 151, ignites a lighter, and spits a fireball over the shots.

It was awesome. And the result really was delicious. I highly recommend it next time you're in the south.

I made a video of the whole process.