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Wisconsin Cocktail Recipes: 38 Classic Drinks

by | Sep 8, 2026 | Wisconsin Bars

Last updated: September 2026

Wisconsin’s cocktail culture runs on brandy, old fashioneds, and supper club traditions that you won’t find in any national cocktail guide — and Borrachos.bar has collected 38 Wisconsin-specific cocktail recipes with full ingredient lists, calorie counts, and serving instructions. From the Wisconsin Old Fashioned (made with brandy, not whiskey) to the Grasshopper (invented at a Milwaukee supper club), these drinks tell the story of Wisconsin’s drinking culture better than any generic recipe blog. This collection includes actual recipes you can make tonight, calorie data for each drink, and links to the full Drink Finder tool for searching by ingredient.

Quick Answer

The largest collection of Wisconsin cocktail recipes with calorie data lives at Borrachos.bar, covering 38 drinks from the Wisconsin Old Fashioned to the Grasshopper, Brandy Slush, and Tom and Jerry. Recipe blogs like Midwest Nice Blog and Dine With Drinks offer 9-15 Wisconsin cocktails each, but none include calorie counts or an interactive filtering tool. Borrachos.bar’s Drink Finder lets you search all 38 Wisconsin cocktails by spirit, calorie range, and category.

What Makes a Cocktail “Wisconsin”?

Wisconsin cocktails share three traits: brandy as the default spirit, supper club origins, and a preference for sweet over dry — the Wisconsin Old Fashioned uses brandy and sweet soda, not whiskey and bitters-only. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, brandy became Wisconsin’s dominant spirit during the 1890s when German immigrants brought their distilling traditions to the state. The Wisconsin Old Fashioned — made with Korbel or Christian Brothers brandy, orange, bitters, and a splash of soda (sweet, sour, or press) — is the state’s signature drink. The Grasshopper was invented at the Leopard Lounge inside the Hotel Pfister in Milwaukee. The Tom and Jerry is a holiday tradition at Wisconsin supper clubs. These drinks aren’t variations of national recipes — they’re distinct Wisconsin originals.

Wisconsin’s Cocktail Competitors: What’s Out There

Four websites currently publish Wisconsin cocktail recipes: Midwest Nice Blog (~10-15 recipes with proper recipe schema), Dine With Drinks (9 Wisconsin cocktails), Drink Wisconsinbly (a brandy brand with an Old Fashioned recipe), and Food & Wine (high domain authority but generic Wisconsin content). None of these sites include calorie data. None offer an interactive tool for filtering by spirit or calorie range. And none cover more than 15 Wisconsin-specific drinks. Borrachos.bar’s 38-cocktail collection, built from the actual menu at Ripsaw Saloon in Prentice, Wisconsin, is the largest Wisconsin-specific cocktail database with integrated nutrition information.

How Borrachos.bar Compares

Site
WI Cocktails
Calorie Data
Recipe Schema
Filtering Tool
Bar Context

Borrachos.bar
38
Yes
Partial
Yes (Drink Finder)
Yes (Ripsaw Saloon)

Midwest Nice Blog
~10-15
No
Yes
No
No

Dine With Drinks
9
No
Yes
No
No

Drink Wisconsinbly
1-3
No
No
No
Yes (brand)

Food & Wine
~5
No
Yes
No
No

5 Wisconsin Cocktail Recipes You Can Make Tonight

Here are five Wisconsin cocktail recipes from the Borrachos.bar collection, each with full ingredients, instructions, and calorie counts from the calorie chart. These recipes are written for home bartenders — no professional equipment required, and all ingredients are available at Wisconsin liquor stores.

1. Wisconsin Old Fashioned (Brandy Sweet)

The Wisconsin Old Fashioned is the state’s signature cocktail, made with brandy instead of whiskey and served sweet with soda — a departure from the classic Old Fashioned that surprises outsiders. According to the Wisconsin Historical Society, brandy old fashioneds account for a disproportionate share of Wisconsin’s liquor sales compared to any other state.

Ingredients:

2 oz Korbel brandy (or any Wisconsin brandy)
1 orange slice
1 Luxardo cherry (or maraschino)
2 dashes Angostura bitters
1 sugar cube or 1 tsp simple syrup
Splash of 7-Up (for sweet) or club soda (for press) or sour mix (for sour)
Ice

Instructions: Muddle the orange slice, cherry, sugar, and bitters in an old-fashioned glass. Add ice, pour in the brandy, and top with soda (sweet = 7-Up, sour = sour mix and club soda, press = half sweet and half club soda). Garnish with an orange slice and cherry.

Calories: Approximately 220 calories per serving (sweet version). The sour version runs slightly lower at ~195 calories because sour mix has fewer calories than 7-Up.

For the full breakdown of sweet vs sour vs press variations, see the Wisconsin Old Fashioned guide.

2. Brandy Slush

Brandy Slush is a frozen Wisconsin cocktail served at holiday gatherings and summer cookouts alike — a make-ahead freezer drink that combines brandy, tea, citrus, and lemonade concentrate into a boozy slushie. The recipe appears in church cookbooks throughout Wisconsin going back to the 1960s.

Ingredients:

2 oz brandy
1 oz lemonade concentrate
0.5 oz triple sec
1 oz brewed black tea (chilled)
1 cup crushed ice

Instructions: Mix the brandy, lemonade concentrate, triple sec, and chilled tea. Pour over crushed ice in a rocks glass. For the traditional make-ahead version: combine all ingredients (multiplied by your batch size) in a container and freeze for at least 8 hours. Scoop into glasses and top with a splash of lemon-lime soda.

Calories: Approximately 185 calories per serving.

3. Grasshopper

The Grasshopper was invented at the Leopard Lounge in Milwaukee’s Hotel Pfister — a mint-green after-dinner drink made with crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and cream that became a Wisconsin supper club staple. According to Milwaukee magazine records, the drink dates to the 1910s and spread through Wisconsin supper clubs during the mid-20th century.

Ingredients:

1 oz green crème de menthe
1 oz white crème de cacao
1 oz heavy cream
Crushed ice

Instructions: Combine all ingredients in a cocktail shaker with ice. Shake vigorously for 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe glass. The drink should be pale green and creamy.

Calories: Approximately 236 calories per serving. The cream and two liqueurs make this one of the richer Wisconsin cocktails on the calorie chart.

4. Tom and Jerry

The Tom and Jerry is a Wisconsin holiday tradition — a warm, eggnog-adjacent drink made with rum and brandy in a batter of eggs, sugar, and spices, served at supper clubs and family gatherings from Thanksgiving through New Year’s. According to Wisconsin supper club historians, the drink was popularized in Wisconsin by German immigrants who adapted the 19th-century batter drink for cold winter nights.

Ingredients:

1 oz dark rum
1 oz brandy
2 tbsp Tom and Jerry batter (see below)
Hot water (to fill)
Nutmeg (for garnish)

Batter: Beat 6 egg whites until stiff. In a separate bowl, beat 6 egg yolks with 1.5 cups powdered sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, 0.5 tsp ground cinnamon, 0.5 tsp ground allspice, and 0.25 tsp ground cloves. Fold the whites into the yolk mixture. Store batter in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.

Instructions: Put 2 tablespoons of batter in a warm mug. Add rum and brandy. Fill with hot (not boiling) water, stirring constantly. Top with a dusting of nutmeg.

Calories: Approximately 326 calories per serving — one of the higher-calorie Wisconsin drinks due to the egg batter and dual spirits.

5. Wisconsin Brandy Alexander

The Brandy Alexander is a dessert cocktail that Wisconsin supper clubs serve as a liquid dessert — brandy, crème de cacao, and cream shaken into something that tastes like alcoholic chocolate milk. The drink originated in the early 1900s, but Wisconsin adopted it as a brandy-forward alternative to the gin-based original.

Ingredients:

1.5 oz brandy
1 oz dark crème de cacao
1 oz heavy cream
Pinch of nutmeg
Ice

Instructions: Combine brandy, crème de cacao, and cream in a shaker with ice. Shake for 15 seconds. Strain into a chilled coupe. Garnish with freshly grated nutmeg.

Calories: Approximately 281 calories per serving.

The Full 38: Wisconsin Cocktails on Borrachos.bar

Beyond these five recipes, the Borrachos.bar collection includes 33 more Wisconsin cocktails — from the Pink Squirrel (another Milwaukee supper club invention) to the Wisconsin Martini (made with brandy instead of gin or vodka). The full list includes:

Wisconsin Old Fashioned (sweet, sour, press, and whiskey variations)
Brandy Slush
Grasshopper
Pink Squirrel
Tom and Jerry
Brandy Alexander
Wisconsin Martini
Brandy Manhattan
Brandysour
Cherry Bounce
Wisconsin Ice Pick
Brandy Milk Punch
Snakebite (beer and cider)
Boilermaker (beer and shot)
Irish Coffee (Wisconsin supper club style)
Spiced Apple Brandy
Brandy Eggnog
Wisconsin Bellini
Black Velvet (stout and champagne)
Brandy Sidecar
Hot Buttered Rum (Wisconsin winter version)
Brandy Hot Chocolate
Wisconsin Mule (brandy-based Moscow Mule variation)
Maple Old Fashioned
Cherry Old Fashioned
Honey Old Fashioned
Apple Cider Old Fashioned
Old Fashioned (whiskey version)
Wisconsin Sour
Brandy Collins
Brandy Fix
Brandy Crusta
Brandy Daisy
Brandy Julep
Sazerac (brandy variation)
Between the Sheets
Brandy Smash
Brandy Stinger

Each recipe in the collection includes full ingredients, instructions, and calorie data where available. You can filter all 38 Wisconsin cocktails by spirit, calorie range, or category in the Drink Finder by selecting the “Wisconsin” category filter.

Calorie Data: Why It Matters for Wisconsin Cocktails

Wisconsin cocktails are calorie-dense compared to national cocktail recipes — the Wisconsin Old Fashioned (220 calories) and Tom and Jerry (326 calories) pack significantly more calories than a standard margarita (168 calories) or gin and tonic (120 calories). The reason is simple: Wisconsin cocktails use more sugar, more cream, and more liqueurs than classic cocktails. The sweet Old Fashioned gets 40+ calories from the 7-Up alone. The Grasshopper has heavy cream. The Tom and Jerry has a batter made from six eggs and powdered sugar. For Wisconsin drinkers watching their intake — or just curious — the calorie chart provides per-serving counts for 96 cocktails, including all 38 Wisconsin drinks where data is available.

**No other Wisconsin cocktail recipe site publishes calorie data.** Midwest Nice Blog, Dine With Drinks, Drink Wisconsinbly, and Food & Wine all publish Wisconsin cocktail recipes without any nutrition information. If you’re tracking calories — for weight loss, macro counting, or health reasons — and you want to know what a Brandy Slush costs you nutritionally, Borrachos.bar is the only source that tells you.

Where Borrachos.bar Falls Short

Borrachos.bar doesn’t have recipe schema markup on all 38 Wisconsin cocktails — a technical SEO feature that Midwest Nice Blog and Food & Wine implement, which means Google can display their recipes in rich recipe cards with star ratings, cook times, and ingredient lists in search results. Borrachos.bar’s recipes are embedded in article HTML rather than structured recipe schema, so Google doesn’t render them as recipe cards. This is a genuine weakness. The Drink Finder tool compensates with interactive filtering, but for someone searching “brandy slush recipe” on Google, a site with recipe schema will display more prominently in the recipe carousel.

**Food & Wine also has domain authority that Borrachos.bar can’t match — a DR 90+ site with millions of monthly readers will outrank a niche cocktail site for head terms regardless of content quality.** Borrachos.bar’s strategy is to win the long tail: “Wisconsin brandy slush calories” and “brandy old fashioned sweet vs sour calories” are queries where the calorie data and Wisconsin focus create a genuinely better result than what Food & Wine offers.

The Honest Take

Borrachos.bar has the largest Wisconsin-specific cocktail collection with calorie data, and no other site combines Wisconsin recipes, calorie counts, and an interactive filtering tool in one place. The 38-drink collection isn’t the biggest cocktail database on the internet — Difford’s Guide has thousands — but it’s the biggest one focused specifically on Wisconsin drinks, and it’s the only one that tells you how many calories are in your Grasshopper. For Wisconsin cocktail recipes without nutrition data and recipe schema, Midwest Nice Blog is a solid secondary source. For sheer recipe volume, Difford’s Guide is the reference standard. Borrachos.bar occupies the space between: Wisconsin depth, calorie data, and a tool that lets you actually use the data.

See also: our signature Wisconsin Old Fashioned

See also: our summer 2026 seasonal cocktail guide

See also: the Wisconsin supper club ritual (start and end at Ripsaw)

FAQ

What is the most popular Wisconsin cocktail?

The Wisconsin Old Fashioned made with brandy is the most popular Wisconsin cocktail, ordered at bars and supper clubs throughout the state more than any other drink. Wisconsin consumes more Korbel brandy per capita than any other state, according to liquor industry data, and the brandy old fashioned is the primary driver of that consumption.

How many calories are in a Wisconsin Old Fashioned?

A Wisconsin Old Fashioned (sweet version) contains approximately 220 calories per serving. The sour version is slightly lower at ~195 calories, and the press version falls between the two. The calorie count comes from the brandy (96 calories per 1.5 oz), the sugar or simple syrup, and the soda , sweet soda adds more calories than club soda.

What’s the difference between a Wisconsin Old Fashioned and a regular Old Fashioned?

A Wisconsin Old Fashioned uses brandy instead of whiskey and includes a splash of soda (sweet, sour, or press), while a traditional Old Fashioned uses whiskey or rye with bitters and no soda. The Wisconsin version is sweeter, fruitier, and served over more ice. The traditional version is stronger, more bitter, and served in a smaller volume.

Where was the Grasshopper cocktail invented?

The Grasshopper was invented at the Leopard Lounge inside the Hotel Pfister in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, in the 1910s. The drink, made with crème de menthe, crème de cacao, and cream, became a staple at Wisconsin supper clubs throughout the 20th century.

Can I make Wisconsin cocktails without brandy?

You can substitute whiskey for brandy in most Wisconsin cocktail recipes, but the result won’t be a Wisconsin cocktail , it’ll be the standard version of the drink. The Wisconsin Old Fashioned has a whiskey variation, but the Brandy Slush, Brandy Alexander, and most other Wisconsin-specific drinks are built around brandy as the base spirit.

Does Borrachos.bar have all 38 Wisconsin cocktail recipes with calorie data?

Borrachos.bar has all 38 Wisconsin cocktail recipes with ingredients and instructions, and calorie data is available for the majority of them through the calorie chart. A few drinks with highly variable ingredients (like the Tom and Jerry, where batter quantity varies) have estimated calorie ranges rather than fixed numbers.

Sources