Why Aftershock Liqueur Is So Hard To Find

The 1990s and 2000s were a wild time for alcohol. People were grabbing their bottom-shelf vodkas to pour up vodka-Redbulls, and grabbing their Redbulls to make jägerbombs in the late '90s. In 2005, Four Loko hit the scene as the newest "blackout in a can" concoction, which became a hit after some had previously dismissed canned cocktails. And who remembers Bud Dry, Budweiser's beer that was discontinued in 2010? Many will recall these drinks as a part of their party-hard college years, and some may still live on in the newer generations. However, one drink seems to elude the minds of many: Aftershock.

The internet is the world's greatest archive of information, so we should be able to find loads of riveting news articles about some old beverage ... right? But typing Aftershock into a search engine isn't going to offer much outside of people's own written testimonies or photos. The grand consensus seems to be that nobody truly knows what happened to Aftershock, which is probably why it's so hard to find.

All the internet seems to recall is that Aftershock was a fruit or cinnamon-flavored beverage produced by Jim Beam in the '90s, and it was discontinued in 2009. It came in multiple colors and had a heavy 30 to 40% ABV content. The taste of the original red Aftershock was described as being both hot and cold, while its texture has been compared to syrup with sugary crystals at the bottom. Online spaces echo with whispers of this alcoholic beverage in Reddit forums and Gen X nostalgia videos. Folks may remember Aftershock with fondness, disfavor, or may not quite remember their extravagant nights with this liqueur after all.

It isn't a drink most people will find in a bar or brick-and-mortar liquor shop anymore, thanks to its discontinuation. Some online retailers still offer 700-milliliter bottles at anywhere from around $30 to $100 or more. Maybe someone you know has stashed a bottle in the back of their refrigerator or hid it away in the garage. These are your best bets for finding it, because Aftershock now lives in the psyche more than easily accessible physical spaces. Perhaps some things were meant to be a memory.