15 Classic Southern Cocktails You Should Try At Least Once

Whether you're curious about the cocktails of the South or are visiting a Southern state and want to know what to try, there are plenty of classic Southern cocktails to wet your whistle. The actual ingredients of a few are still well-kept secrets, but there are plenty of recipes all over the internet to give you a chance to try them even if you're nowhere near a bar that serves them.

Several of the drinks on our list feature the famed Southern spirit, bourbon. While there are plenty of cocktails being served in other Southern states, it seems that Alabama, Louisiana, and Florida are the states that have the most enduring classics. We tried to choose ones that have been around for decades or centuries. In fact, two of the oldest even have connections to George Washington. So, Southerners have been enjoying a good strong drink for quite a while. We've rounded up a list of the 15 most popular classic Southern cocktails to inspire your next drink.

The oldest classic Southern cocktail is probably Milk Punch. While there's a citrusy clarified English-style milk punch, New Orleans, Louisiana made its own variety in the 1600s. You can make bourbon milk punch or brandy milk punch with spices, a sweetener, and of course milk or cream (or both) as a base. The New Orleans version has a milky appearance and is spiced rather than citrus-flavored.

While it didn't invent the drink, Brennan's in the French Quarter has keept the drink popular since the 1940s. Brennan's version contains both milk and cream, bourbon or brandy, and simple syrup infused with vanilla beans. Freshly-ground nutmeg serves as a garnish. You can also serve it with or without ice, hot, with both brandy and rum, or with cinnamon added to the nutmeg garnish. So, there's no one way to make this delicious drink. We've only tried it hot with bourbon and cinnamon.

The Southern cocktail called the Cherry Bounce has the distinction of being Raleigh, North Carolina's official cocktail and is known as North Carolina's oldest drink. Cherry Bounce is a brandy cordial infused with sour cherries and spices which goes back at least to George Washington, who counted it among one of his favorite drinks. In fact, when Washington traveled, he sometimes brought a canteen of cherry bounce with him. The drink made its way to a tavern in Raleigh in the 1760s where it flourished and supposedly helped seal a land deal for the capital.

Making Cherry Bounce is very time-consuming. The Mount Vernon version takes at least a couple of weeks to make and involves first infusing brandy with freshly-mashed cherries, cherry juice, sugar, and then with whole spices. Rather than make your own, you can always buy bottled a version that you can sip on today. 

Another of the earliest classic Southern cocktails is Chatham Artillery punch (also known as C.A.P.). While the drink is still around, its origin story hasn't fared as well. Savannah's Chatham Artillery is the oldest military unit in Georgia, and the punch was popular there for parties and send-offs. Perhaps George Washington drank it while visiting in 1792, or perhaps the Republican Blues militia first had it an 1850s party. Nobody really knows, and its ingredient list isn't firm either. Today's C.A.P. is basically any alcoholic tea or juice punch you have in Savannah.

The earliest ones had sparkling wine with equal parts bourbon, brandy, and rum. Plus, there was a little lemon and sugar in it. Another version featured catawba wine instead of sparkling, added gin and Bénédictine (a French herbal liqueur), and included tea and orange juice, as well as other ingredients. You can still find the fruity drink in bars all over Savannah, with plenty of trendy and experimental ingredients.

Like Long Island iced tea, it continues to have a reputation for being ridiculously strong and able to knock you on your backside before you know what hit you (punch pun intended). Thus, it's collected a few nicknames like "killer of time" and "vanquisher of men."

If you ask anyone to name a classic Southern cocktail, Mint Julep will likely come to mind. Specifically, you probably think of hot Southern summer nights, fancy hats, and the Kentucky Derby. With nothing but Kentucky bourbon, simple syrup, crushed ice, and mint leaves, these can hit hard if you down enough of them. And down them people do. According to the Kentucky Derby, they sell 120,000 mint julep drinks on the Friday before and the Saturday of the race.

Juleps had their start in medieval England, where they were simple sweetened medicinal remedies made with herbs and liquor. With bourbon nonexistent, these earliest juleps were made with rum and brandy. When juleps first landed in Virginia in the late 1700s, they were being made with rum rather than whiskey. Different states made regional juleps, like Georgia's brandy-centric peach julep. It wasn't until a phylloxera invasion decimated grape crops in the 1800s that bourbon juleps became a thing.

In its earliest days, you really wouldn't find them on the menu of a Kentucky bar, as they were reserved for drinking in public while watching the Kentucky Derby. It was a 1917 cocktail guide called "The Ideal Bartender" that helped the bourbon-laden mint julep become popular beyond the Kentucky Derby.

Even if you haven't tried a Sazerac before, you likely recognize the name of the inventor, Antoine Amédée Peychaud from Peychaud's Bitters. The drink originated at the Sazerac Coffee House in the French Quarter in 1838 with a French brandy called Sazerac-de-Forge et Fils, simple syrup, and bitters. The base alcohol for the drink changed from brandy because of the 1800s grape crop decimation we mentioned earlier, substituting in options like rye whiskey, absinthe, and bourbon. Today, Sazerac rye whiskey is a common choice. Plus, the drink contains a sugar cube, absinthe or Herbsaint (an anise-flavored substitute created during the absinthe ban), Peychaud's Bitters, and a lemon peel.

Sazerac has been New Orleans' official cocktail since 2008, with The Sazerac House being built in 2019 to celebrate this drink. While there are plenty of places to enjoy a Sazerac in New Orleans, you can still drink one at the beautiful Sazerac Bar in the Roosevelt Hotel, which was the site of the original Sazerac Coffee House where the drink was invented.

You may remember Texas runaway, Holly Golightly, drinking Mississippi Punch in New York in "Breakfast at Tiffany's." The drink's origins are unclear, but it showed up in Jerry Thomas' "How to Mix Drinks, or the Bon Vivant's Companion" in 1862 and has been made ever since. While Thomas was from New York, he bartended all over the South. The drink has evolved over the years, as drinks do, but Thomas' version started with a wine glass full of brandy, shaken together with half a glass each of rum, bourbon, and water, along with powdered sugar and lemon juice. It was served over shaved ice with orange pieces and seasonal berries as punch garnishes. Eventually, it became a cocktail rather than a punch bowl drink.

Today's version is generally one part lemon juice and simple syrup to two parts bourbon and dark rum and four parts cognac. Some recipes have changes, such as using honey or simple syrup instead of sugar or allowing you to swap out brandy with cognac. Whether you consume it as a punch or cocktail, just be aware that someone may have to peel you off the floor if you keep these coming because they're strong.

Another of the many classic drinks that came out of New Orleans is the Ramos Gin Fizz. Henry "Carl" Ramos created the drink (originally called New Orleans Fizz) in 1888, the second year his Imperial Cabinet bar was open. It's a creamy, fizzy gin citrus drink. It was so popular and required so much shaking to make it foam up (2 to 10 minutes), that he sometimes had  20 to 35 "shaker boys" working at a time to meet demand, especially during Mardi Gras season.

While the country was still in the throes of Prohibition, Ramos finally revealed the recipe to the New Orleans Item-Tribune on his deathbed in 1928 so the recipe wouldn't die with him. In 1935, a couple of years after the end of Prohibition, The Sazerac Bar saw how popular the drink was becoming again and bought the rights to the drink's name.

Other than from gin, Ramos gin fizzes get their flavors from orange blossom water, lemon juice, and lime juice. Meanwhile, its foam comes from half and half or heavy cream and egg whites, while its fizz comes from soda water. It also contains simple syrup to sweeten it, and some people even add vanilla extract.

A bartender named Walter Bergeron created the Vieux Carré while working at the Swan Room (now the Carousel Bar) in New Orleans' lovely Hotel Monteleone in the 1930s. The Carousel Bar's version of this spicy, herby, and fruity drink features Sazerac rye whiskey and Peychaud's Bitters like Sazerac does. However, it also contains cognac, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine, and Angostura bitters. All of that adds up to a unique drink that's spicy, herbal, and has some honey, vanilla, and anise notes.

You can still have a Vieux Carré at the Carousel Bar next time you're in New Orleans. And, yes, the bar looks like a carousel and still rotates a bit every 15 minutes. Although, we learned the hard way that getting a seat at the bar is a challenge if you don't have time to wait around for someone to leave since there are only 25 seats. Luckily, there are plenty of other places in the city that will make one for you so you don't have to invest in all the ingredients yourself. Also, if you're wondering how to say it in the local dialect, just ask for a "vyuh car-RAY."

In the 1940s, a decade after the Vieux Carré became popular, a new drink took New Orleans by storm: the Hurricane. With hurricanes blowing through the Gulf Coast fairly regularly, it's a fitting name. However, the hurricane's original glass, which looked like a hurricane lamp, that gave the drink its name. The tropical rum-infused hurricane cocktail first came out of Pat O'Brien's bar (a former speakeasy), located in the French Quarter. He supposedly created it while trying to come up with a drink to use up all the extra rum he had to purchase in a package deal with other liquors.

The distinctive tropical flavor of this rum-infused drink comes from passion fruit syrup, although these days, you may one with other fruit juices, like orange juice. The original also contained lime juice, simple syrup, and grenadine, which are still common ingredients.

If your friends tell you that you have to try a hurricane while you're in New Orleans, they're not wrong because it's delicious. Most recipes call for about four ounces of rum. So, take it from us that you might need someone to guide your disoriented self back to your hotel if you're on foot because a single drink may be stronger than you expected (been there, done that).

There's no verifiable origin story for the Texas classic cocktail, ranch water, but legend has it that a Fort Davis rancher created it in the 1960s. Others say that it came about from the simple act of ranchers adding soda water to their tequila to turn it into a drink with a little something more. It's possible the White Buffalo Bar in Marathon, Texas, was the first to serve it. However, it started its journey toward becoming a classic when he Cedar Door in Austin, Texas, popularized in the 1970s and 1980s.

This simple drink is slightly more complicated than just soda water and tequila since it also contains lime juice. It's also commonly made with Mexico's Topo Chico sparkling mineral water rather than ordinary soda water. Some bars add a bit of orange liqueur, and the drink generally comes with ice and a lime wedge. If you want to get fancy, you can line the rim with chili powder and lime zest.

Anyone who's ever spent much time in Alabama like we have knows that football is a big deal, especially on game day. While Alabama and Auburn football fans both celebrate game days with plenty of liquor, the Alabama slammer was made famous by Alabama football fans. The drink showed up in the "Playboy Bartender's Guide" in 1971. However, Harry's Bar, which opened in 1972 near the University of Alabama in Tuscaloosa claims to have made it famous, although there are other tales of it coming from the University of Alabama campus itself in 1975. The Alabama Slammer contains Southern Comfort whiskey, amaretto, and sloe gin as its alcoholic components. Earlier versions used lemon juice, but modern versions use orange juice. Popular garnishes for this sweet and fruity drink are orange wedges and maraschino cherries.

It's supposedly the signature drink of the university's football team. While it's popular on game days for tailgate parties and other places people drink around Tuscaloosa on game day, it's also popular year around. 

Tom Cruise's 1988 movie "Cocktail" sealed its fate to become known beyond Alabama. For a while, you could even get a pitcher-full at TGI Friday's. And it's still on the menu at bars around the country.

It turns out that Alabama football fans were fairly busy creating iconic Southern cocktails in the 1970s. A campus bar near the stadium at the University of Alabama turned the yellow hammer drink into a game day classic. The name of the drink not only references the state bird but also references part of Alabama's "Rammer Jammer" football cheer.  Gallettes started making this drink in 1976, and when game days roll around, they have to be ready to serve 2,000 to 4,000 of these. The bar has always used the same recipe for this fruity libation and has never given away its secrets, but people have made some guesses.

Those attempting to make yellow hammers elsewhere or at home tend to mix together vodka, light rum, amaretto, and orange liqueur for the alcohol with orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine giving the drink its fruity flavor. Then, they serve it over ice.

If you're in Tuscaloosa, you have to try the drink. Co-owner Jeff Sirkin told Bleacher Report, "You wouldn't go to the Kentucky Derby and not have a mint julep. You wouldn't come to Tuscaloosa and not have a Yellow Hammer."

Tropical fruity drinks were flowing in the South in the 1970s. Heading on down to the Florida Keys, Bartender John Ebert (nicknamed Tiki John) was busy inventing the Rum Runner at the Holiday Isle Tiki Bar. Supposedly it came about by throwing together random leftover ingredients he had around the bar, including rum, fruity liqueurs, and fruit juices. The name comes from the history of illegal rum runners who would smuggle Caribbean rum via boat off the Florida Coast during Prohibition a few decades earlier.

Like the yellow hammer, the ingredient list includes orange juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine. However, that's where the similarities stop other than lots of rum. It also contains lime juice (sometimes) and fruity liqueurs, like blackberry liqueur and banana liqueur, making it super fruity and rummy.

The Holiday Isle Tiki Bar still exists at the Postcard Inn in Islamorada, Florida. Its Rum Runner currently features high-proof rum; banana, blackberry, and blueberry liqueurs; and lime juice.

While the Bushwacker was invented in the Virgin Islands in the 1970s, anybody who's spent any time on Alabama's and Florida's Gulf Coast has encountered it on cocktail menus. Bartender Angie Conigliro created this tropical twist on the White Russian at the Ship's Store in St. Thomas, naming it after a dog called Bushwack. However, it was a vacationing bartender from the Sandshaker Lounge in Pensacola who brought this coffee- and coconut-flavored drink to Florida in 1975.

After debuting in Pensacola, it became so popular along the Gulf Coast that there were Bushwacker festivals in the 1980s. The Gulf Shores and Orange Beach Tourism has put together a Bushwacker Trail guide that lists 50 places you can get this iconic drink in those two cities. 

There are several recipes for Bushwackers. Generally, they contain rum, Kahlúa, and crème de cacao, and crème de coconut as their base liquors, but they may also contain coconut rum instead of regular rum, vodka, Baileys Irish cream, chocolate-flavored liqueur, Frangelico. Dairy products, and plenty of ice make them creamier and cold. Whipped cream, chocolate sauce, cherries, and even nutmeg might be the toppings. Be careful because these Frappuccino-like drinks can take you by surprise before you know it, as we've seen up to 12 ounces of liquor in a single-serving recipe. So, there's a reason they might come with two straws.

While Lynchburg Lemonade is named after the city in Tennessee where the Jack Daniel's Distillery is located and contains Jack Daniel's whiskey, this classic cocktail is another one that came out of Alabama. The Huntsville, Alabama bar where it was created in the 1980s is only about an hour away from Lynchburg. However, when Lynchburg lemonade showed up on the Jack Daniel's website in the cocktail recipe section, the creator of the whiskey lemonade drink, Tony Mason, sued the whiskey company and lost. 

There are plenty of versions out there, but all of them contain Jack Daniel's whiskey. All the other ingredients vary, containing some combination of freshly-squeezed lemonade and simple syrup (sometimes also freshly-squeezed limeade, too), lemon-lime soda, sour mix, and triple sec or Cointreau. The version on the Jack Daniel's website contains one part each of whiskey, triple sec, and sour mix, diluted with four parts lemon-lime soda.