Celebrating our Southern heritage with the best cocktails from history
Ask any American to name their favorite cocktail, and odds are they will name a Southern concoction. The cocktail wasn’t technically invented in the South, but it was certainly popularized and perfected among the moonlit magnolias and sweet tea accents of pre-prohibition apothecaries, hotel bars, and kitchen tables south of the Mason-Dixon line.
The South has blessed the world with an assortment of ambrosial libations that include the Sazerac, Mint Julep, Old Fashioned, Rum Runner, Grasshopper, Hurricane, and even the Gin Fizz, but outside of a Derby party or post-Thanksgiving drinking session with grandpa, when was the last time you had a Mint Julep or an Old Fashioned?
Margaritas, Mojitos, and Martinis top the list of the country’s most popular drinks and they are all fine cocktails, but there’s a time and place for everything. Margaritas and Mojitos are delightful with a spicy cochinita or while munching on chips and queso fundido. A Vesper Martini, shaken until ice cold and topped with a paper-thin slice of lemon peel is virtually required when wooing Ursula Andress at the baccarat table.
But enjoying a fresh Southern cocktail is the only sensible response to the absurd incongruity of modern Southern life. If I was forced to sip a curaçao-laced Mai Tai while warm summer Tennessee rain pelted down upon the rooftops I am certain my soul would begin to slowly escape through my tear ducts.
Every Southerner should have at least five classic Southern cocktails they call upon when the occasion arises—such as the celebration of sunset or the onset of thirst. A great place to start is with America’s first cocktail—the Sazerac.
Both the apothecary behind the Peychaud’s bitters and the Sazerac House bar in New Orleans claim to have created this legendary drink. It was initially made using Sazerac de Forge et Fils Cognac (hence the drink’s name) before bartenders began replacing that with Rye Whiskey along with Absinthe, bitters, and a sugar cube.
Matt Ballard, bartender at Chattanooga’s Main Street Meats, loves the Sazarac, but warns that “It takes precision to make it shine. This particular drink has the potential to hold the trophy for the best or the worst cocktail you can have.” To get you on the right track, here’s the original recipe from The Sazerac Bar in New Orleans.
The Original Sazerac
- 1 sugar cube
- 3 dashes Peychaud’s Bitters
- 1 ½ oz Sazerac, Jim Beam, or Rittenhouse Rye Whiskey
- 1/4 oz Herbsaint Absinthe
- Lemon peel, for garnish
Directions:
1. Pack an Old-Fashioned glass with ice.
2. Place the sugar cube and 3 dashes of Peychaud’s Bitters into a second Old-Fashioned glass and crush the sugar cube.
3. Add the Rye Whiskey to the bitters and sugar.
4. Empty the ice from the first glass and coat inside of the glass with the Herbsaint, discarding any that remains.
5. Strain the whiskey/bitters/sugar mixture from the second glass into the first glass and garnish with lemon peel.
Bellying up to the bar and ordering a “Ramos Gin Fizz” will result in your bartender a) smiling and giving you the coveted “nod of respect” or b) looking at you with the hate of 1000 Hans Grubers.
This labor-intensive Southern classic is a simple mix of gin, citrus, orange blossom water, cream, and egg white that is shaken for up to 15 grueling minutes to create the drink’s signature booze-soaked cloud of egg-white meringue.
Henry C. Ramos served the drink at his Imperial Cabinet Saloon in the 1880s and insisted that the drink be shaken for an arm-meltingly long time to achieve its ethereal texture. The drink became so popular that bars would hire “shaker boys” specifically to emulsify the drink while employing Brian Flanaganesque theatrical flourishes to entertain waiting clients.
I recommend it as a morning-after drink to sip as you groggily check your phone for drunk texts or pantsless photos of yourself from the night before. The cream and egg white line your stomach, the sugar, orange flower water and citrus give you a little boost of energy and freshness, while the gin provides the all-important hair of the dog.
It’s like an alcoholic Orange Julius—smooth and refreshing for you, a morning workout for your bartender.
The Classic Ramos Gin Fizz
- 1½ oz Old Tom gin
- 1 oz simple syrup ½ oz fresh lemon juice
- ½ oz fresh lime juice
- 1 oz egg white 2 oz heavy cream
- 3 dashes orange flower water
- Chilled club soda
Directions:
1. Add ice to the glass to chill and set aside.
2. Add all the ingredients except the soda to an ice-filled shaker and shake vigorously 100 times.
3. Remove ice from the glass and strain mixture into the glass from a distance of at least one foot to ensure froth.
4. Top with club soda.
Few drinks evoke the image of genteel Southerners sipping drinks on wraparound porches as vividly as the Mint Julep. The first juleps came from Virginia (sorry Kentucky) and were nothing more than rum cut with a little sugar and muddled mint. These “mint slings” were an “antifogmatic”—an early morning hit of booze meant to help cure whatever ailed you.
The popularity of juleps really took off when a trendy, new ingredient was added—crushed ice. Ice had been a luxury in the South, but as giant blocks were being sent to ice-deprived regions, one of the first things Southerners did was to cool down their juleps.
After the Civil War, whiskey began to replace brandy and rum, but making juleps with rum or rye is still perfectly acceptable, no Southern court will convict you.And by the way, Mint Juleps are a perfect drink for any day of the year. They should not require, as Jonathan Miles wrote, “a televised horse race and a bunch of Yankees doing Foghorn Leghorn imitations” to be enjoyed.
The Classic Mint Julep
- 10-12 mint leaves
- 1/4 oz Turbinado Syrup (see below)
- 1 oz Four Roses Yellow Label Bourbon
- 1 oz Knob Creek Kentucky Straight Bourbon
- Mint sprig (for garnish)
- Powdered sugar (for garnish)
Directions:
1. In a julep cup or rocks glass, add mint leaves and turbinado syrup. Lightly press with a muddler, then add both bourbons.
2. Fill the cup ¾ with crushed ice and stir 12-14 times to dilute.
3. Top off the cocktail with a small dome of crushed ice. Garnish with a straw, sprig of mint and a dust of powdered sugar.
To make Turbinado syrup: Heat two parts raw, unrefined sugar to one-part water in a saucepan over medium heat until dissolved. Remove from heat, cool and store in the fridge.
Some classic Southern cocktails seem dangerously close to that pinnacle of 70s white trash mixology affectionately referred to as “trash can punch.” Chatham Artillery Punch is Savannah, Georgia’s contribution to Southern cocktails, as well as a direct attack on the human liver.
This potent libation was reportedly created to honor George Washington’s visit to the Chatham Artillery and its original recipe called for full bottles of cognac, bourbon, and Jamaican rum along with a handful of citrus.
During their notoriously raucous “meetings” the punch would be served in horse buckets where the artillerymen would drink it as if it would cure syphilis. Good times.
If you’re having a party and want to provide everyone a guaranteed express train to drunktown, try out David Wondrich’s old-school recipe and party like it’s 1885.
Classic Chatham Artillery Punch
- Lemon oleo-sacchrum
- 1 pint fresh lemon juice
- 1 750 ml bottle VSOP cognac
- 1 750 ml bottle bourbon whiskey
- 1 750 ml Jamaican-style rum
Directions:
1. Mix oleo-sacchrum with the lemon juice. Stir and strain into an empty 750 ml bottle. Add water to fill any remaining space in the bottle, seal and refrigerate. 2. To serve, fill a two-and-a-half gallon punch bowl with ice and pour in the bottled oleo-sacchrum.
3. Add the cognac, bourbon, and rum. 4. Top off with three bottles of chilled brut champagne. 5. Stir, serve and enjoy the show.
To make oleo-saccharum: Peel the zest of 12 lemons and firmly muddle the peels with 2 cups of light raw sugar. Cover and let the mixture sit in a warm place for about an hour. Muddle the mixture again, and it’s ready to use.
Finally, I’d like to pay homage to an old favorite of mine; the drink that comes with bail money; the one the only—Jack & Coke. It’s not the South’s finest cocktail, but it is a Southern cocktail so I borrowed the Coca-Cola syrup recipe from the folks at BourbonBlog and reengineered the Jack and Coke into something that’ll hopefully help keep whiskey snobs from bursting a blood vessel.
Jack & Coke
- Coca-Cola Syrup
- ¼ cup Mexican Coca-Cola
- ¼ cup sugar
Directions:
1. Bring the Coke to a simmer in a very small saucepan. 2. Add sugar and stir until dissolved.
3. Allow to cool, then refrigerate until ready to use.
Cocktail
- 2 oz. Jack Daniels Old No. 7
- ¼ oz Coca-Cola syrup
- 1 dash Regan’s Orange Bitters
- No garnish
Directions:
1. Add the Jack, syrup, and bitters in a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Shake vigorously, then strain into a cocktail glass.
3. Drink.
Mike McJunkin is a native Chattanoogan, currently living abroad, who has trained chefs, owned and operated restaurants, and singlehandedly increased Chattanooga’s meat consumption statistics for three consecutive years.