What to mix with bourbon
Updated November 2026 · BourbonTown Tours
Mix bourbon with whatever matches how much of the whiskey you want to keep tasting: a long mixer such as soda water, ginger beer or cola stretches it into a highball, while bitters and sugar, sweet vermouth or mint syrup build a short drink around it. No mixer is right in itself, and no brand of bourbon is the one to mix with.
691 five-star reviews · Tripadvisor Travelers' Choice 2024, 2025, 2026 · 3,000+ private tours since 2012
Quick facts
- Federal rules allow nothing to be added to bourbon except water.
- Long mixers stretch bourbon into a highball; the classic short drinks are built around it.
- The IBA Old Fashioned and Boulevardier recipes both allow bourbon or rye.
- The IBA Manhattan specifies rye whiskey, so a bourbon Manhattan is a variation.
- Churchill Downs calls the Mint Julep the official drink of the Kentucky Derby since 1938.
The amount of bourbon you want to taste sets the mix
Mixing bourbon works as a scale. At one end sits bourbon with a splash of water or a few cubes of ice, where the whiskey is almost all you taste; how proof, age and grain make a bourbon taste smooth explains what that dilution does to the heat. In the middle sit the short classics, which add sugar, bitters, vermouth, Campari or mint while the whiskey still carries the drink. At the far end is the highball, where a long mixer stretches the bourbon furthest. Neither end is better; pick your place on the scale and the mixer follows.
Angel's Envy lists the everyday choices in its own guide to bourbon mixers: water, soda water or club soda, tonic water, cola, ginger beer, lemonade, and juices such as orange, lemon, grapefruit and cranberry.
Bourbon brings grain and barrel, and nothing else
The federal rule that defines bourbon, 27 CFR 5.143, reads like a short recipe card. Corn supplies at least 51% of the grain, the new spirit may not exceed 160 proof off the still, then enters new charred oak barrels at no higher than 125 proof, the bottle holds at least 80 proof, and both the distilling and the aging take place in the United States. The coloring, flavoring and blending materials that the same rule permits in plain rye, wheat and malt whiskies, within limits set by 27 CFR 5.155, are barred from bourbon; water is the one permitted addition.
What a bourbon tastes of therefore comes from how it was made and aged, never from an additive, so any added sweetness, bitterness, fruit or fizz in a bourbon drink was put there by the mixer. The barrel supplies the color too, as what color bourbon is, and why the barrel decides it explains.
The mash bill changes what the mixer meets. Bulleit's flagship bourbon carries a significantly higher share of rye than most mainstream bourbons, and our guide to visiting the Bulleit Distillery describes the result as bold, spicy and dry, so the same ginger beer meets a spicier whiskey there than in a bourbon heavier in corn. The Kentucky bourbon distilleries in our directory each settle those proportions for themselves.
Official recipes fix four classic whiskey drinks
The International Bartenders Association (IBA) publishes specifications for three of the short classics, and Churchill Downs publishes its Mint Julep recipe.
| Drink | Whiskey | With it | Method | Garnish |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Old Fashioned (IBA) | 45 ml bourbon or rye | 1 sugar cube, a few dashes each of Angostura bitters and plain water | Sugar muddled with bitters and water, ice and whiskey added, stirred | Orange slice or zest, cocktail cherry |
| Manhattan (IBA) | 50 ml rye | 20 ml sweet red vermouth, 1 dash Angostura | Stirred with ice, strained into a chilled cocktail glass | Cocktail cherry |
| Boulevardier (IBA) | 45 ml bourbon or rye | 30 ml Campari, 30 ml sweet red vermouth | Stirred, strained | Orange zest (or lemon) |
| Mint Julep (Churchill Downs) | 2 oz bourbon | 1 tablespoon mint simple syrup | Crushed ice, then syrup and bourbon | Fresh mint |
The Manhattan is the one IBA recipe here that names rye alone: a bourbon Manhattan, common as it is, departs from that recipe, and how rye whiskey and bourbon differ covers the grain behind the swap.
The Old Fashioned shows the whiskey most plainly, because sugar, bitters and a little water are all that stand beside it. The IBA Boulevardier sets 45 ml of whiskey against 30 ml each of Campari and sweet red vermouth. A 1927 cocktail book printed it as equal parts Campari, Italian vermouth and bourbon.
The Mint Julep belongs to the Kentucky Derby
The Mint Julep is the one classic here tied to a single event. Churchill Downs dates it on its own pages: its recipe page gives 1938 as the year the julep became the Derby's official drink, and its traditions page places the change in the 1930s, when the track first ordered souvenir julep cups in 1937.
The measure in the table depends on a syrup made the day before: two cups of sugar and two cups of water boiled for five minutes, six to eight sprigs of mint added, then refrigerated overnight.
Frequently asked questions
What is the best mixer for bourbon?
No single mixer is the best; the right one depends on how much of the bourbon you want to keep tasting. A distillery's own guide lists water, soda water, cola, ginger beer and lemonade among the everyday choices, and any of them stretches the bourbon in a highball.
Is bourbon good with Coke?
It can be, if you want a long drink more than you want to taste the whiskey. Cola appears on a distillery's own list of everyday bourbon mixers, and as with any long mixer, every extra pour takes the drink further from the bourbon. To let the bourbon show, keep the cola short.
What do you mix with bourbon for beginners?
A highball is the easiest start: bourbon topped with ginger beer, soda water or lemonade, adjusted a little at a time. Once you know what you like, try an Old Fashioned, which is little more than bourbon, sugar, bitters and water, and shows far more of the whiskey.
What is the most popular bourbon cocktail?
There is no official ranking. The Mint Julep has a published figure behind it: Churchill Downs says more than 125,000 are served over Kentucky Oaks and Kentucky Derby weekend at the track. The Old Fashioned, which the IBA lists with bourbon or rye, is another classic built around the whiskey.
Can you mix bourbon with water or ice?
Yes, and they are the lightest mixers of all, leaving the most bourbon to taste. The classics use them too: the IBA Old Fashioned calls for a few dashes of plain water, and the Churchill Downs julep calls for crushed ice.
Taste the bourbon before you choose its mixer
To pick a mixer, know the bourbon first. We do that by putting two house styles on the same day. Maker's Mark uses red winter wheat as its second grain and lands sweet and round. Four Roses runs a bourbon mash bill with about 35% rye and lands drier and spicier. Taste both neat and the mixer choice gets easy: the rounder bourbon carries ginger ale, and the spicier one holds up in a Manhattan. For a group that wants the cocktail itself, Woodford Reserve runs a Classic Mixology Experience in its Gristmill House tasting bar, built around drinks such as the Old Fashioned, and a Mint Julep class in April and May. Our private bourbon days in Kentucky, planned around what you like to drink, are built on the distilleries whose bourbons you want to taste.
On a Maker's Mark and Four Roses day, the vehicle carries your group only, as on all 3,000+ private tours we have run since 2012, so the neat-then-mixed comparison runs at your pace.
