Jim Beam Drinks: Orange, Lemonade, Ginger Ale and the Easy Highballs

Jim Beam was the bottle in my well. Three bars, same bottle. Not on the top shelf, not hidden either. Right at hand level, where the speed rail lives. That tells you what it’s for. It’s a mixing bourbon, and it’s a good one.

The White Label is Kentucky straight bourbon. Four years old, 80 proof, 40% ABV. Corn-heavy, so it reads sweet. Vanilla, a little caramel, some oak. Nothing in it fights a mixer. That’s why people ask how to drink it, and the honest answer is: tall, cold, with something fizzy or sour.

Here are the drinks I poured most. All of them are easy.

First, Jim Beam Orange

People search “Jim Beam orange recipes” a lot. So let’s be straight about the bottle. Jim Beam Orange is a flavored whiskey. Bourbon with natural orange flavor added. It’s bottled lower than the White Label, around 32.5% ABV if your label matches mine, so check yours. Because of the added flavor, it isn’t straight bourbon anymore.

It’s sweet. Very sweet next to the regular stuff. I’d use it in exactly the drinks below and cut the sugar elsewhere. Swap it in for the White Label, then go lighter on the soda or juice.

You don’t need the flavored bottle to get there, though. Orange and Beam already work. Every drink in the next section uses plain White Label.

Orange Jim Beam drinks

Orange Beam

The simplest one. Two ounces of Beam over ice in a rocks glass, five ounces of orange soda. That’s the Orange Beam. It tastes like a creamsicle that went to college. Want more bite? Pull the soda back to four.

Lynyrd Skynyrd

The Lynyrd Skynyrd splits the mixer. Two ounces of Beam, four of orange soda, four of orange juice. Collins glass, lots of ice, orange slice. The juice drags the sweetness down a notch. I like it better than the straight soda version.

Mitch’s Jim Beam Drink

This one is equal thirds. Jim Beam, Mountain Dew and Sunny Delight, a third of a pint each, stirred in a pint glass. Mitch’s Jim Beam Drink is not subtle. It’s a third bourbon. Respect it.

BeeGee OJ

For brunch people. One and a half ounces of Beam, three of orange juice, a splash of grenadine. That’s the BeeGee OJ. Basically a bourbon screwdriver with a pink sunset. If you’ve got Jim Beam Orange, this is where I’d use it.

Jim Beam and ginger ale

Ginger ale and Jim Beam is the drink I made more than any other. Not close. A guy would walk in, say “Beam ginger,” and I’d have it down before he got his wallet out.

The Jim Beam and Ginger is two ounces of bourbon, ice, and ginger ale to fill a 16-ounce glass. Stir once. That’s it.

Two tips. Use a dry ginger ale if you can, since the sweet ones bury the whiskey. And squeeze a lime wedge over the top. The lime wakes the whole glass up. For more heat, swap in ginger beer. Then you’re close to a Kentucky Mule.

Jim Beam lemonade

Bourbon and lemonade is a summer drink. It also works in October with the window open. Two ounces of Beam, five of good lemonade, tall glass, ice, lemon wheel. Done.

Want it to taste like a bar made it? Skip the jug lemonade. Use one ounce of fresh lemon juice, three-quarters of an ounce of simple syrup, two of Beam, then top with three ounces of cold water or soda water. Shake the first three with ice before topping. Night and day.

There’s also a house-style version. Jim Beam’s Clermont Lemonade builds an ounce each of Beam, triple sec and sweet and sour, topped with four ounces of Sprite. Lemon slices and cherries on top. Clermont is the town in Kentucky where Beam is made. It’s a sweet drink. I poured a lot of them at weddings. Nobody ever sent one back.

For the Tennessee side of this idea, see the Jack Daniel’s blackberry lemonade.

Easy Jim Beam cocktails with no soda

Bourbon Sour

The one real cocktail every bar should nail. The Bourbon Sour is two ounces of bourbon, one ounce of fresh lemon juice and half a teaspoon of bar sugar, shaken hard and strained into a chilled glass with an orange slice. Beam is perfect here. Cheap enough to practice with, sweet enough to round out the lemon. If it’s too tart, bump the sugar. Don’t reach for sour mix.

Old Fashioned

Beam makes a fine Old Fashioned. Sugar, a few dashes of bitters, a big cube, orange peel. The bitters matter more than people think. Our guide to the best bitters for an Old Fashioned covers which ones I’d buy.

The highball shortlist

Some nights you want zero effort. These are two-ingredient builds.

Jim Beam and Coke: two ounces of Beam, ten of Coca-Cola.
Beam and 7: equal parts, three ounces each of Beam and 7-Up. Strong. Lemon-lime softens it.
Commodore Highball: Beam and Coke with two lemon wedges squeezed in. The lemon fixes the cola’s sweetness. Try it once and you won’t go back.

More mixers, ranked by how well they hold up, are in what to mix with whiskey.

How to drink Jim Beam neat

People forget this one. Beam neat is fine. A splash of water opens it up. One ice cube if it’s warm out. It won’t taste like a $60 bottle. It isn’t supposed to.

Black Label is the step up. It’s aged longer and bottled a little stronger. It holds its own in a Manhattan or a sour. The White Label is still my pick for anything with soda.

Got half a bottle of Beam and a fridge full of random stuff? Tell CocktailBuilder what’s on your shelf and it’ll show you what you can mix tonight.

Fill the glass all the way with ice. Half a glass melts fast and waters the drink down. A full glass stays cold and stays strong.

Last modified on October 4, 2026