CORONADO Magazine - September 2024

Goodbye Summer, Hello Honey Deuce!

By CHRISTINE JOHNSON

Photo by HATTIE FOOTE

What is it about sporting events that inspire great cocktails? There are Mint Juleps for the Kentucky Derby, Pimm’s Cup for Wimbledon, and The Azalea cocktail for The Masters. The month of September gives us another delicious and refreshing cocktail inspired by a very popular sport in Coronado: TENNIS!

The U.S. Open tennis tournament is held annually in New York (Flushing Meadows, to be exact), and in 2024 is from August 19 through September 8. Known as the “fourth major” in tennis circles, it signifies the end of the professional tennis season and two weeks of partying for tennis fans and New York City. If you have never been to the Open, it is the experience of a lifetime. Picture sitting in a football-sized stadium watching a tennis tournament. Now, envision the crowd being as rowdy as a football crowd. It is a spectacle that, for the last two decades, has its own trademark cocktail.

The (Grey Goose) “HONEY DEUCE” is the official drink of the U.S. Open. It’s not only a fun drink that represents the game, but it’s the perfect drink for the end of summer.

The drink gets its name from 40/40…which is the deuce score in a tennis game. The garnish on the cocktail is honeydew melon balls, which perfectly replicate tennis balls and make you feel like you are at the Open. It’s a true celebration of the tournament, whether you are sitting in New York or on your couch at home supporting your favorite player. Time to sit back, relax, and pour yourself a Honey Deuce.

INGREDIENTS

1 ¼ ounce Grey Goose vodka

3 ounces fresh lemonade

½ ounce raspberry liqueur (Chambord)

Three honeydew melon balls

MIXOLOGY

Fill a chilled highball glass with cubed ice and add Grey Goose vodka. Top with fresh lemonade and raspberry liqueur. Garnish with a skewer of one or multiple honeydew melon balls.