Shots can be savored and sipped slowly, but let’s be honest: The name and the tiny glassware suggest they should be gulped down in one go — a burst of flavor that vanishes just as quickly as it arrives. At their best, shots are either a small pour of a delicious spirit or a miniature cocktail designed to get the party started.
Far on the other end of the spectrum, shots are vile concoctions that — no matter how offbeat a drinker’s palate may be — no one would actually willingly order. These drinks exist merely as fuel for dares and pranks. Although many shots fit this criteria, one cursed potion ranks more gnarly than the rest and makes Jeppson’s Malört look like Pappy Van Winkle: the Jersey Turnpike.
The shot goes by many other names: Buffalo Sweat, the L.A. Freeway, Gray Snail, Birthday Shot, and — oddly — Matt Dillon. But all point back to the same foul concoction: a collection of bar mat drippings poured into a shot glass. Tradition dictates that if the mat doesn’t have enough juice to fill the glass, the bartender should ring out their bar towel into the shot to top it off.
Given that there’s no real “spec,” the Jersey Turnpike shot can include anything behind the bar, from single malt Scotch and bottom-shelf vodka to olive brine, orgeat, and Angostura bitters — or, realistically, a mix of all five. Whatever ends up in the glass, drinkers (victims) can expect it to range from mildly disgusting to downright revolting. As one bartender who asked to remain anonymous tells VinePair, “We used to sprinkle Parmesan cheese on top of them back in the day.”
It may come as no surprise that the infamous ritual has no known inventor or birthplace. Like other dare shots, such as the Cement Mixer (Baileys Irish Cream and Rose’s Lime Cordial) and the Smoker’s Cough (Jägermeister and mayonnaise), someone had to be the first to make it, but it likely proliferated via word of mouth. It also doesn’t help that the shot goes by “Jersey Turnpike” and “L.A. Freeway,” which makes tracing its origins that much more difficult.
History and the internet, however, do provide some clues as to when the shot was born. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan signed the National Minimum Drinking Age Act, which threatened to deny all 50 states of annual federal highway funds unless they increased their drinking age from 18 to 21. By 1988, every state had complied. The act had good intentions, but it did give rise to an unruly binge-drinking culture among youths across the U.S., as it turned would-be legal drinkers into pre-gamers who’d drink as much as possible behind closed doors before attending social functions. In the years that followed, shots like the aforementioned Cement Mixer and Smoker’s Cough entered the picture.
As for the Jersey Turnpike shot, the earliest internet reference dates back to an Urban Dictionary definition from January 2004. Since then, several videos have been posted on YouTube featuring bartenders preparing — and drinking — the beverage. More recently, it’s been the subject of Reddit threads. A year ago, a Reddit user actually shed some light on the name of the shot, claiming that “it’s called the Jersey Turnpike because all the different liquors through the night represent all the exits on the Jersey Turnpike.”
“One time I was out drinking on my day off. I racked up an $80 tab, and the bartender said he would clear my tab if I drank a Jersey Turnpike,” another bartender who also asked to remain anonymous, tells VinePair. “Another person threw in $40, so I went for it. Surprisingly, it actually wasn’t that bad.” Unless there’s money on the line, it’s safe to say that when a Jersey Turnpike slides across the bar, nobody wins.
