Bible Belt

The Bible Belt cocktail typically combines bourbon or Tennessee whiskey — reflecting the drink's American Southern identity — with citrus juice, triple sec or orange liqueur, and simple syrup. The combination places it in the whiskey sour family, with the orange liqueur adding depth beyond a standard sour. Some recipes include a splash of ginger beer for fizz.

The Bible Belt is shaken with ice and served either straight up in a chilled coupe or over fresh ice in a rocks glass, depending on preference. An orange slice and maraschino cherry — the classic sour garnish combination — is standard. Some bartenders use a branded Tennessee whiskey to emphasise the Southern American theme.

The Bible Belt is a colloquial term for the region of the American South and Midwest where evangelical Protestant Christianity exerts a strong cultural influence, stretching from Texas through the Carolinas. The cocktail plays on the irony that this region — historically associated with Prohibition-era temperance movements — also produces some of America's most celebrated whiskeys, including Tennessee whiskey and Kentucky bourbon. The name is a playful cultural commentary on this contradiction.