A snakebite cocktail is only made with two ingredients: hard cider and beer. In the United States, we tend to make a snakebite with a dry stout like Guinness. But, when it originated in the United Kingdom back in the 1980s, they also paired hard cider with lager. The most important ingredient is (in our humble opinion) the cider. In this recipe, we use Clarksburg Semi-Sweet Hard Cider. The sweetness of this cider cuts through the roasted malt flavor of the dry stout for a balanced sip.
The trick to this easy cocktail is to pour the stout over the back of a spoon to help guide it down the side of the glass so it floats on top of the hard cider without mixing. This might take a few tries to get right, but the visual effect of the stacked colors is worth the practice! Since a dry stout tends to contain less sugar and be slightly lower in alcohol content than hard cider, it will float on top of the higher-density cider layer.
If you want to add an extra zing to this cocktail you can also add a dash of blackcurrant cordial, which would then change the name to a “diesel” or, “snakebite and black.” But we think it’s delicious with just the Clarksburg and stout.
One last tip: Don’t chill the glass. It can kill the carbonation!
