Classic cocktail · Guided recipe
Fuzzy Navel
Start makingPeach schnapps and orange juice — a soft, fuzzy, fruity highball that couldn’t be simpler.
In the glassPeach schnapps · Orange juice
See exact amounts
What goes in
Ingredients
Set up before you pour
Use a highball glass.
The tall, straight shape leaves room for plenty of ice and mixer while keeping a long drink lively.
- Standard size
- 350 ml11¾ oz
- Ice & serve
- Fill it with fresh ice cubes.
- If you don’t own one
- Use a Collins glass or any tall, straight-sided tumbler.
- jigger or measuring spoon
- Peach schnapps45 ml
- Orange juice120 ml
From bottle to glass
Method
- 01
Ice the glass Fill the glass with ice
- 02
Measure and pour Pour 45 ml peach schnapps
Peach schnapps
- 03
Measure and pour Add 120 ml orange juice
Orange juice
- 04
Stir around the ice Stir gently to combine
- 05
Finish the drink Finish it — add an orange slice
Know your drink
About the Fuzzy Navel
The schnapps that isn't
Peach schnapps as sold in America barely predates this drink. The sweet, low-proof style arrived in the early 1980s and the Fuzzy Navel arrived with it, one of a handful of two-ingredient highballs built to sell a new bottle. German Schnaps is a different thing entirely: a dry, unsweetened fruit brandy that would make this glass undrinkable.
Fuzzy is the peach skin and navel is the orange, which is the whole of the name. Bartenders have offered livelier explanations over the years, but this one has the advantage of being obvious. It also tells you what to fix when the drink disappoints, since there is nothing in it but those two things.
Common questions
Fuzzy Navel FAQ
Why does mine taste like candy?
Because most peach schnapps is closer to syrup than to spirit: 15 to 20 percent alcohol and a great deal of sugar. Drop to 30 ml, top up with a little more juice, and add a squeeze of lemon. Acid is the only thing that stops peach flavoring from coating your mouth.
What makes it a Hairy Navel?
A shot of vodka on top of the same build. It lifts the drink from about 5 percent to something closer to a real cocktail and thins out the sweetness at the same time. If you find the standard version cloying, this is the fix most bars reach for.
Can I use a proper peach liqueur instead of schnapps?
That's the single best change you can make. A crème de pêche built on real fruit tastes of peach skin and stone rather than peach sweets, and it carries less sugar. Giffard and Mathilde both make one, and either changes the drink from confectionery to fruit.
Can I mix a pitcher an hour ahead?
Mix the schnapps and any vodka ahead, but hold the orange juice until people arrive. Juice starts oxidizing within about thirty minutes and goes dull and slightly bitter, and there's nothing else in this glass to cover for it. Pour over fresh ice in each glass rather than into the pitcher.
What ingredients are in a Fuzzy Navel?
A classic Fuzzy Navel calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Peach schnapps, 120 ml (4 oz) Orange juice. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.
How strong is a Fuzzy Navel?
A standard Fuzzy Navel is roughly 5% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it a relatively light, sessionable drink — similar in strength to a beer.
Is a Fuzzy Navel shaken or stirred?
A Fuzzy Navel is stirred, not shaken. It contains no citrus juice, so stirring keeps it crystal clear and silky instead of cloudy and aerated.
Sharpen the technique
Skills used in this recipe
How to stir a cocktail for a silky finish
Control chilling and dilution without adding the bubbles and texture of a shake.
Read the guide
Cocktail ice: cubes, crushed ice and dilution
Understand why ice is an ingredient—and choose the right shape for every drink.
Read the guideWhere to go next
