Milk is the most popular official state drink in the US. Twenty states have picked it, and 14 of them did so in the 1980s. This map shows each state’s official drink, including the 17 states that don’t have one.
Why it’s nearly all milk
Lobbying, mostly. In the early 1980s the US dairy industry was left with a huge surplus of milk and cheese after federal subsidies, and it spent the decade promoting milk. A number of states named it their official drink along the way, including several that aren’t known for dairy.
The ones that went their own way
Ohio went first of anybody, choosing tomato juice in 1965. Florida chose orange juice, Massachusetts and New Jersey chose cranberry juice, and Arizona chose lemonade. Washington chose coffee and Rhode Island chose coffee milk. Indiana’s official drink is water. Maine’s is Moxie, a soft drink that started out around 1876 as a patent medicine called Moxie Nerve Food.
Nebraska picked milk and Kool-Aid in the same year, 1998. It can justify that, because Edwin Perkins invented Kool-Aid in Hastings, Nebraska, in his mother’s kitchen.
The ones with alcohol
Alabama’s state spirit is one particular brand of whiskey, Clyde May’s. Maryland and Virginia both have rye whiskey, Delaware and Maryland both have the Orange Crush cocktail, and Wisconsin has the brandy old fashioned. Nevada added Picon Punch in 2025. Maryland now has three official drinks, including milk, which seems like a lot.
The states marked Nothing aren’t on the list I used, and that includes Texas and California. As far as I can tell, they’re still deciding.
If you like this sort of thing, see the number of ski resorts in each state or the most popular Halloween candy in each state.
Sources: Wikipedia on state beverages, The Takeout, Wikipedia on Kool-Aid, Wikipedia on Moxie.
See every state
| State | Official drink (year) |
|---|---|
| Alabama | Clyde May's Whiskey (2004) |
| Alaska | Nothing |
| Arizona | Lemonade (2019) |
| Arkansas | Milk (1985) |
| California | Nothing |
| Colorado | Nothing |
| Connecticut | Nothing |
| Delaware | Milk (1983), Orange Crush (2024) |
| Florida | Orange juice (1967) |
| Georgia | Nothing |
| Hawaii | 'Awa (2018) |
| Idaho | Nothing |
| Illinois | Nothing |
| Indiana | Water (2007) |
| Iowa | Nothing |
| Kansas | Nothing |
| Kentucky | Milk (2005) |
| Louisiana | Milk (1983) |
| Maine | Moxie (2005) |
| Maryland | Milk (1998), rye whiskey (2023), Orange Crush (2025) |
| Massachusetts | Cranberry juice (1970) |
| Michigan | Nothing |
| Minnesota | Milk (1984) |
| Mississippi | Milk (1984) |
| Missouri | Nothing |
| Montana | Nothing |
| Nebraska | Milk (1998), Kool-Aid (1998) |
| Nevada | Picon Punch (2025) |
| New Hampshire | Apple cider (2010) |
| New Jersey | Cranberry juice (2023) |
| New Mexico | Nothing |
| New York | Milk (1981) |
| North Carolina | Milk (1987) |
| North Dakota | Milk (1983) |
| Ohio | Tomato juice (1965) |
| Oklahoma | Milk (2002) |
| Oregon | Milk (1997) |
| Pennsylvania | Milk (1982) |
| Rhode Island | Coffee milk (1993) |
| South Carolina | Milk (1984), tea (1995) |
| South Dakota | Milk (1986) |
| Tennessee | Milk (2009) |
| Texas | Nothing |
| Utah | Nothing |
| Vermont | Milk (1983) |
| Virginia | Milk (1982), rye whiskey (2017) |
| Washington | Coffee (2011) |
| West Virginia | Nothing |
| Wisconsin | Milk (1987), brandy old fashioned (2023) |
| Wyoming | Nothing |
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