Create a free profile to get unlimited access to exclusive show news, updates, and more!
Reba McEntire's Christmas Twist on an Old Fashioned Cocktail Is Ingenious
The Queen of Country says it's “the perfect cocktail for your holiday parties.”
If you’re ever invited to a holiday party at Reba McEntire’s house — fingers crossed! — you can expect one special cocktail to be served. The Happy’s Place star has a festive recipe for an old fashioned that infuses a classic Christmas flavor.
The Voice Coach said on Facebook that her “Limestone Gap Old Fashioned” is “the perfect cocktail for your holiday parties.” The recipe is featured in her best-selling lifestyle book, and you can also order it at her Oklahoma restaurant.
RELATED: Reba McEntire's Hack for Christmas Banana Pudding Uses a Surprising Secret Ingredient
Read on to learn what makes McEntire’s old fashioned so perfect for the holidays and how to make the tasty ingredient.
Reba McEntire makes a festive simple syrup for her Christmas old fashioned
While a traditional old fashioned is made with bourbon, bitters, and simple syrup, McEntire makes her simple syrup with several sticks of cinnamon to make the cocktail taste just like Christmas.
To make McEntire’s cinnamon simple syrup, you’ll follow the same process — simmering one cup of water with one cup of sugar — and add a few cinnamon sticks to the mixture. In a post on Facebook, McEntire shared that she simmers the concoction for about two minutes to infuse all the flavors and says that the simple syrup can be kept in the fridge for up to two months for future use.
In addition to the cinnamon simple syrup, McEntire’s recipe for a holiday old fashioned also calls for bourbon, ice, a few dashes of orange bitters, a strip of orange zest, and a maraschino cherry.
RELATED: Reba McEntire’s Favorite Thanksgiving Side Gets People Fired Up Every Single Year
You can find the full recipe for McEntire’s old fashioned in her book, Not That Fancy: Simple Lessons on Living, Loving, Eating, and Dusting Off Your Boots. McEntire also shared the full recipe with TODAY.
Reba McEntire serves her Limestone Gap Old Fashioned at her Oklahoma restaurant
Beyond being a beloved actress, a lovable Coach on The Voice, and the Queen of Country, McEntire is also a restaurant owner. The singer opened Reba’s Place — a two-story restaurant, bar, and live music venue in Atoka, Oklahoma — in January 2023. On the drink menu, you can find the “Limestone Gap Old Fashioned” for $14.
“This drink really represents Reba's Place restaurant,” McEntire writes in her book, per TODAY. “Limestone Gap is significant to me because it is the place in Oklahoma where I have my ranch.” The area is also close to McEntire’s heart because it’s where her father, Clark, grew up.
RELATED: Where Is The Voice Coach Reba McEntire From?
In a video tutorial with Jenna Bush Hager on TODAY in April 2023, McEntire’s beverage manager, Laura Johnson, revealed they brand the cocktail’s big square ice cubes like Oklahoma ranchers would brand cattle.
Reba McEntire’s favorite drink is simpler version of an old fashioned
In 2012, McEntire shared with a fan on X that her “favorite alcoholic drink is whiskey and 7-up or sprite,” which is pretty close to an old fashioned. You still get the sweetness from the sugary soda and the alcohol from your favorite kind of whiskey.
Like her book’s title suggests, McEntire has described herself not all that fancy. She puts ketchup on everything, even ice cream, and loves tater tots so much that’s her nickname from her boyfriend, Happy’s Place star Rex Linn.
“I’m not that fancy. Even though I do like to wear sparkly tops and act like I’m pretty fancy on stage, I’m not,” she said in a video for CMT. “What you see is what you get.”
