What Is Alabama’s Favorite Cocktail?

Fact Checked by Jim Tomlin

There aren’t many elixirs that soothe whatever it is that ails you quite like a stiff drink. And residents of the Yellowhammer State have a clear cocktail of choice.

In Alabama, the Old Fashioned is the state’s top cocktail, while the Manhattan and Cosmopolitan are a close second and third, respectively, which follows a trend across the nation. BetAlabama.com prepared this list as folks in the state await legal Alabama sportsbooks.

Alabama’s Favorite Cocktails

Place First Second Third
Cocktail Old Fashioned Manhattan Cosmopolitan

Popular Alabama Cocktail Recipes

The Old Fashioned dates back to the late 19th century, though the exact creator of the bourbon-based drink is in dispute. The Pendennis Club in Louisville and the Waldorf-Astoria Hotel in New York City both claim to have created the drink.

The Manhattan traces its roots to the Manhattan Club in New York City in the 19th century. It was invented by Iain Marshall using rye whiskey, sweet vermouth and bitters with a maraschino cherry as garnish.

Finally, the Cosmopolitan mixes vodka, Cointreau, lime juice and cranberry juice together in a martini glass, with roots dating to New England in the 1970s.

BetAlabama.com took a break from covering developments in the effort to legalize Alabama sports betting apps to research this topic, with National Cocktail Day coming March 24. We used VinePair’s 50 Most Popular Cocktails of 2023 as a starting place for the research, the checked Google Trends volume for “Cocktail” from Jan. 1 to March 15 to find the most popular cocktails in each state.

Most Popular Cocktails In Nation

Nationally, the Manhattan was the most popular drink of choice on a state-by-state basis, with 41 states including the bourbon and sweet vermouth standard in their top three and 23 having it as their No.1 cocktail.

Alabama’s other top cocktails are popular around the country, too. The Old Fashioned (top three in 25 states and first place in five states) was the choice named second most often, behind the Manhattan. The martini made the top three in 22 states and was first place in seven of them; then came the Cosmopolitan, which was a top-three choice in 15 states and No. 1 in five of them.

Alabama’s western neighbors in Mississippi picked the martini as its favorite cocktail, as did Tennessee. Among other states that border Alabama, Georgia chose the negroni and Florida favored the Manhattan.

Author

Christopher Boan

Christopher Boan has been covering sports and sports betting for more than seven years, including stops at ArizonaSports.com, the Tucson Weekly and the Green Valley News.

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