Jiggle It

Jell-O shots — they're not just for wastrels anymore!

by Drew Lazor

Courtesy of My Jello Americans

Many of us remember our very first beer, but it takes a certain type of person — and a certain knack for not automatically striking traumatic drinking experiences from memory — to remember her very first Jell-O shot.

Media native Maureen Sheehan was still a Jell-O shot virgin at age 17. Then her older, college-age cousin (it's always the older, college-age cousin) hooked her up with a bunch of chilled high-proof treats at a Halloween party. A sauced Sheehan proceeded to wrestle "an Elvis" down a flight of stairs and sing along to the whole of Billy Joel's 1973 album Piano Man.

"The shots were so pretty," Sheehan recalls, "how [could] a little lady control herself?"

I guarantee, though, that the shots Sheehan now makes with Corinne Kete are much prettier. The Fishtown-based duo runs My Jello Americans, a religiously updated blog that showcases the most intricate and original gelatin-based alcoholic treats I have ever seen. Starting with a base of Knox, Alsa or agar-agar and relying on novelty ice-cube trays, candy molds or cookie cutters to crank out various shapes, Sheehan and Kete string together elements like sweeteners, fruit, ice cream, food coloring, nuts and, of course, booze with such cheffy, artistic precision that it's easy to forget Jell-O shots are stereotypically the currency of wastoid college chicks. These are what Grant Achatz would knock back were he in a frat.

Courtesy of My Jello Americans

Recent creations include the SNAPricot Cobbler (above, top; using Art in the Age's new SNAP liquor along with gelatin, fresh apricot, apricot syrup and molasses); vivid blueberry vodka and pear vodka shots that could be mistaken for shimmering emeralds and sapphires from deep within the Cave of Wonders (below); and an unreal Neapolitan ice cream sandwich that employs strawberry, vanilla and chocolate vodkas and ice creams to create the signature tricolor layering (above, bottom).

My Jello Americans was conceived during the intense snowstorms of this past winter, when Sheehan and Kete were trapped inside. "We went on a spree," says Kete, a former student in the Art Institute's interior design program. There is trial and error, but the pair has landed on a handful of reliable base recipes that they modify along the way.

Courtesy of My Jello Americans

Sheehan and Kete served their shots to the public last week at a First Friday opening at Part Time Studios ("People were really surprised, in a good way, that the shots were so strong," says Kete), but for now, My Jello Americans exists online only. They are, though, working on a zine that will feature detailed recipes and instructions. Until that drops, you'll have to take Sheehan's word for it when it comes to the gamut of reactions My Jello Americans shots tend to elicit: "Good, bad, indifferent, excited, fainting, wide eyes and sticky fingers."