Classic Colorado Bulldog Cocktail Recipe

There are some cocktails that seem like they have a bizarre combination of ingredients at first glance, and the Colorado Bulldog is a good example. Featuring vodka, coffee liqueur, cola, and everyone's favorite cocktail topper, heavy cream, this cocktail may have you scratching your head a little bit. "Looking at the ingredient list of this drink at first I thought it sounded so strange and not something I would want to drink," recipe developer Jessica Morone admits, "but it really just tastes like a boozy ice cream soda, [and] the coffee flavor from the coffee liqueur is very mild so it just adds a bit of extra flavor."

Once you can work past the odd ingredients list, it is pretty easy to see how this cocktail tastes pretty good. Morone opts to use vanilla vodka for her rendition of a Bulldog, which pairs nicely with the sweet cola and heavy cream. "This cocktail tastes like an adult version of an ice cream soda and that's what I love most about it," Morone adds, so any and all cream soda fans can officially get on board. If you're looking for a rich and creamy cocktail to add to your repertoire, then this Colorado Bulldog may be just the solution to your sweet tooth.

The ingredients list is short and sweet — you'll need vanilla vodka, coffee liqueur (such as Kahlúa), any type of cola, heavy whipping cream, and optionally a cherry for garnish. "I did two things in this recipe to make it even more like an ice cream soda than a standard Colorado Bulldog," says Morone, "and that was to use vanilla vodka rather than regular vodka, to make it more of like a vanilla ice cream flavor, and I increased the amount of cola in it."

Because this cocktail involves a fizzy liquid, it's best stirred, not shaken. So, fill your favorite cocktail glass with ice, then add in the vanilla vodka, coffee liqueur, and cola. Give the liquids a gentle stir to combine.

Pour the heavy cream into the glass and give it a gentle stir. You can opt to fully mix the cream into the cocktail, or you can follow Morone's lead and allow it to float at the top, which gives it that classic ice cream float look. Finally, top the drink off with a maraschino cherry — an optional garnish, but one highly recommended as it will complement the flavor of the cola nicely.

All that's left to do is sip and enjoy this creamy confection. As Morone explains, the Colorado Bulldog "is considered an after dinner drink, which makes sense because this really seems more like a dessert than a cocktail." If you're the type who enjoys to have actual food alongside your cocktail, Morone has a few suggestions. "It can be your only dessert, or you could pair this with an actual dessert like chocolate cake," she says. For those with a sweet tooth that can seemingly never be satisfied, this dessert combo just might do the trick.

And, if you want to enjoy the cocktail minus the booze, Morone says, "You can also make a non-alcoholic version of this by leaving out the vodka and swapping in a shot of espresso instead of the coffee liqueur."