Classic cocktail · Guided recipe

Lynchburg Lemonade

Lynchburg is the Tennessee town where Jack Daniel's is distilled, which tells you what whiskey the drink was built around. Bourbon works fine. What matters more is keeping the soda to about twice the whiskey, or it stops tasting like whiskey at all.

Preparation~2 minSuper easyStrengthMediumabout 15% ABVMethodBuilt in glass7 guided stepsIngredients4Tall (highball) glass

Highball

In the glassBourbon · Triple sec / Cointreau · Fresh lemon juice · Lemon-lime soda

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Make it with guidanceOne clear action at a time, with timers built in.

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What goes in

Ingredients

An empty clear highball glass with tall straight sides and a substantial base. — Serving glassHighball glass

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.

Tools to set out

jigger or measuring spoon

Compare all glass types

Scale to your tall (highball) glassWe’ll remember this glass size.

Bourbon45 ml
Triple sec / Cointreau15 ml
Lemon-lime soda90 ml
Fresh lemon juice22 ml

Start making

From bottle to glass

Method

01
Ice the glass
Fill the glass with ice
02
Measure and pour
Pour 45 ml bourbon
- Bourbon
03
Measure and pour
Add 15 ml triple sec / cointreau
- Triple sec / Cointreau
04
Measure and pour
Add 22 ml fresh lemon juice
- Fresh lemon juice
05
Top gently
Top with 90 ml lemon-lime soda
- Lemon-lime soda
06
Stir around the ice
Stir gently to combine
07
Finish the drink
Finish it — add a lemon slice

Know your drink

About the Lynchburg Lemonade

An Old Fashioned, Whiskey Sour and sparkling whiskey highball in a warm library bar.

Lemonade from a dry county

Lynchburg sits in Moore County, Tennessee, which has been dry for most of the past century. The distillery there can sell you a commemorative bottle at the visitor center and not much else. The joke buried in the name is that a lemonade this spiked would have been difficult to buy anywhere inside the town limits.

Two things fix a weak one. Squeeze the lemon fresh, because bottled juice goes flat under carbonation, and build it in the glass rather than shaking. Shaking knocks the fizz out of the soda before it ever reaches anyone, and once the sugar and citrus are set this drink is mostly texture.

Common questions

Lynchburg Lemonade FAQ

Can I use Jack Daniel's instead of bourbon?

That's the whiskey it was built on, and it suits the drink better than most bourbons because it's a little sweeter and less oaky. Any wheated bourbon does the same job. A high-rye bourbon fights the triple sec rather than joining it.

What can I use instead of lemon-lime soda?

Club soda plus another 5 ml of syrup gets you a drier version that most people end up preferring. Ginger ale also works and adds a little heat. Skip diet soda; the sweetener sits oddly on top of the triple sec.

Why does mine taste like nothing but soda?

Usually the glass. A pint glass full of ice takes far more soda than 90 ml, so the whiskey ends up at a fifth of the drink. Use a 300 ml highball, pack it with ice, and stop pouring soda when it reaches the top.

Two parts soda to one of whiskey. Is that a weak drink?

Around the same as a large glass of wine. Sixty milliliters of spirit stretched across roughly 200 ml of finished drink lands just over 10 percent. It goes down like lemonade, which is the part worth keeping an eye on.

What ingredients are in a Lynchburg Lemonade?

A classic Lynchburg Lemonade calls for 45 ml (1.5 oz) Bourbon, 15 ml (0.5 oz) Triple sec / Cointreau, 22 ml (0.75 oz) Fresh lemon juice, 90 ml (3 oz) Lemon-lime soda. That single-serve spec scales cleanly — the recipe above converts it to oz and multiplies it for 2–4 drinks.

How strong is a Lynchburg Lemonade?

A standard Lynchburg Lemonade is roughly 15% ABV once mixed (before ice melt softens it further). That makes it about as strong as a glass of wine.

Is a Lynchburg Lemonade shaken or stirred?

A Lynchburg Lemonade is built directly in the glass over ice — no shaker required. Add the ingredients in order and give it a brief, gentle stir.

Sharpen the technique