What To Mix With Fireball For A Cinnamon Toast Crunch Flavored Drink

If you've been writing Fireball off as the totem of frat house mini fridges and Jell-O shots, you've been seriously underestimating this warming, versatile, accessible cinnamon whisky liqueur. Cereal-lovers, today's cocktail tip is for you: For a Cinnamon Toast Crunch-flavored drink, mix Fireball with RumChata. As its portmanteau title suggests, RumChata is a combination of Caribbean rum and horchata, the traditional Mexican beverage made with rice, maple syrup, vanilla, and cinnamon. The interplay of cinnamon-y Fireball and RumChata's sweet, creamy fantasia emulates that toasty, cinnamon sugar flavor profile fans expect from Cinnamon Toast Crunch.

In fact, the cereal has a long history of linkage to the creamy liqueur. When RumChata first hit the market in 2009, founder Tom Maas embarked on a Midwest publicity tour, hitting bars to help the new liqueur gain popularity. Per the lore, after one fated bar stop, a young patron in their 20s who was totally turned-on by Maas's liqueur described the taste to fellow patrons as "the milk left over after eating a bowl of Cinnamon Toast Crunch" (via Vinepair). Subsequently, Maas started bringing boxes of the cereal along with him on his press tour, asking bartenders to serve RumChata alongside a cereal shooter to drive the concept home. 

For the Cinnamon Toast Crunch flavor, follow Maas's lead and rip Fireball and Rumchata as a shooter. Just combine the two ingredients in equal parts in an ice-filled cocktail shaker, shake to chill, and strain into shot glasses.

If shots aren't you're style, you could stretch this spiced combo into a longer mixed drink by combining two parts Fireball, two parts RumChata, and three parts coconut milk. Shake over ice and strain into an ice-filled rocks or Collins glass. Not totally vegan, due to RumChata's cream, but accessible to lactose-sensitive cereal fans. For a fancy-feeling touch, you could serve this frothy sipper in a chilled Coupe glass garnished with a floating star anise, or dust the surface of the drink with a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar (there's an ideal balanced ratio for that, by the way). 

If you're feeling ambitious, you could hit your glass with a crushed Cinnamon Toast Crunch cereal rim, adhered to the glass with honey. This dessert-like sipper would even work with a scoop of vanilla ice cream in a blender for a boozy milkshake. The relatively tame ABV (RumChata's 13.75% combined with Fireball's 33%) will also keep the ice cream from melting too quickly in your glass.

A full liter bottle of RumChata runs for $34.99 at Total Wine & More, perfect to stock in your home bar for adding satiny mouthfeel to all of your go-to cocktails — or just spiking your Saturday morning cuppa joe (what's up, DIY White Russian cocktail?) Pro tip: Unlike plant-based horchata, RumChata is made with Wisconsin dairy cream, so it's a good idea to stash an opened bottle in the fridge to help maximize its shelf life.