How classy Jell-O shots became the boozy treat of the season

This holiday season, an unexpected treat has stepped into the limelight and onto the buffet table at many a festive gathering: the Jell-O shot. But the shot in question, which is currently going viral on TikTok and popping up on high-end menus across New York City, is nothing like the ones you probably remember from the sticky basement of a college frat party. Instead, these treats are sleek, refined, classy, and coveted—in short, the opposite of electric green slime in a plastic cup. 

Brooklyn-based Solid Wiggles, cofounded by pastry chef Jena Derman and mixologist Jack Schramm, is among the pioneers of this Jell-O shot revival. Founded in 2020, the company describes its mission as “reimagining the nostalgic Jell-O shot” with its “cocktail jellies” that double as edible art. Flavors include margarita, espresso martini, and mezcal negroni, all presented in eye-catching cubes with expertly layered colors, flavors, and designs. A 40-piece, full-menu sampler costs $115.

After just five years in business, Solid Wiggles are on the menu at 20 bars and restaurants in the U.S., including NYC’s ultrapopular restaurant Tatiana, helmed by James Beard award-winning chef Kwame Onwuachi. According to Derman, the brand’s sales have roughly doubled every year for the past three years, and it’s gearing up to release its own cookbook with Penguin Random House in 2026.

A clear trend is emerging: the Jell-O shot is getting a rebrand as a classy treat for a more mature drinker (foodie?) In a growing number of circles, it’s no longer a kitschy throwback, but instead a fashionable food statement.

The Jell-O shot’s tasteful rebrand

To get a taste of the Jell-O shot’s newfound popularity, one need only search the term on TikTok and browse through some of the most popular videos. 

“Maturing is realizing your friends will take jello shots if you call them ‘edible cocktails,’” reads the caption of one recent TikTok with 13,000 likes, starring Jell-O shots with encased maraschino cherries cut into cubes.

Another TikTok of “lychee martini jello-shots with cherries,” once again artfully cubed (and this time dusted in powdered sugar), amassed nearly 140,000 likes in just two days. And a third YouTube Short, also sharing a lychee martini shot recipe, recently surpassed half a million views.

“I’m 27, and a real shot sends chills through my literal spine these days,” creator @babytamazz explains in the clip. “I’m still gonna take them, but a Jell-O shot is just preferred at this time. Plus, they’re so fun and bitchy and an awesome party pull.”

Perhaps the most popular video, though, was created by the publication Punch and features Solid Wiggles’ unique take on the Jell-O shot. Derman says it’s now been viewed more than eight million times across social media, leading to what she described as a “colossal” spike in sales just before the holidays. 

Solid Wiggles has spent five years trying to convince consumers that the Jell-O shot can be cool—and, clearly, it’s paying off. 

Recipe for success

Derman and Schramm met back in 2014, when they both worked at the popular dessert spot Milk Bar. They parted ways when Derman pursued commercial bakery consulting and Schramm went on to work in upscale cocktail bars. After reconnecting during the pandemic, they founded Solid Wiggles.

“In 2020, all the bars that I was working at were closed,” Schramm says. “Jena, ever entrepreneurial, was working on this jelly project where she was using coconut water as a clear base to make these big, elaborate, beautiful jelly centerpieces, but wanted to branch out into some new flavors. She reached out to me because I had centrifuge expertise to make juices clear, and we met at her apartment and made some really tasty jellies.”

That first day, Schramm recalls, he said, “Let’s put some booze in these”—and the pair haven’t looked back since.

Not your mother’s Jell-O shot

Jelly desserts have existed for centuries, from France in the Middle Ages to Mexico City in the ‘40s, but Solid Wiggles is perhaps the first business to pioneer the edible Jell-O shot art category.

Though creative uses of gelatin often evoke an ill-advised recipe from the 1950s (savory Jell-O salad, anyone?), Derman says Solid Wiggles customers are a “grown and sexy” crowd. These are folks who are sick of just bringing a bottle of wine to a dinner and want to wow their hosts with something new.

“We spend all this time making it so that when it finally hits your mouth, you can’t distinguish any of the textures—it all should read as one,” she says. “It should come across as being really simple, even though it’s not so simple.”

Schramm believes one of the main factors driving enduring interest in the dessert is that it’s broadly nostalgic.

“I think the nice thing about Jell-O in general is it’s not limited in terms of demographics that enjoy it,” Schramm says. “It’s sort of universally enjoyed by all ages, all demographics—even frat bros grow up at some point and want something delicious that’s also a little bit more beautiful.”