Fiend at Court Unplugged
With the US Open in full swing, I have been wondering what the iconic traditional concession is for that event. After lengthy thought and consideration, it is clearly the Honey Deuce cocktail.
This year marks the 15th anniversary of when the Honey Deuce was first offered at the US Open. Since that time the tournament has sold over a million servings of the adult beverage. As evidenced by the social media accounts of my tennis friends who made it up to the tournament this year, posting a picture of a hoisted Honey Deuce with the Arthur Ashe center court in the background is an essential part of the fan experience. From those same sources, I also learned that a Honey Deuce will set you back $20 this year.
Until last evening, I had never tried the concoction. Quite frankly, I prefer beer and wine over mixed drinks in general. Fortunately, advanced bartending skills are not required to make the the Honey Deuce and the recipe is plastered (see what I did there?) all over the internet. I assume that the most authentic versions are those that explicitly list Grey Goose Vodka as the primary ingredient. The recipe included at the bottom of this post is the version from the Grey Goose website where it is touted as the official drink of the US Open.
Without the garnish of the honeydew melon balls, the cocktail would simply be called Chambord Lemonade. The melon balls are meant to resemble tennis balls and bring the clever (but painful) tennis pun to the table. I previously assumed that the melon balls were strictly for decorative and linguistic purposes, but found that they contributed a nuanced layer to the drinking experience. The honey dew melon balls are an essential ingredient.
Our taste test last evening came immediately after playing an hour and a half of tennis on a 100+ degree heat index day in Texas. I found the drink to be significantly better than beer or white wine under those circumstances. It is definitely going to pop up from time to time as an après tennis option on hot summer days.
I highly recommend the Honey Deuce.
Honey Deuce
Ingredients
- 1 ¼ oz GREY GOOSE® Vodka
- 3 oz Fresh Lemonade
- ½ oz Chambord®
- 3 Honeydew Melon Balls
Method
- Fill a chilled highball glass with cubed ice and add GREY GOOSE® Vodka.
- Top with fresh lemonade and raspberry liqueur.
- Garnish with skewer of 1 or multiple frozen honeydew melon balls.
- Data Drinks: Honey Deuce, The U.S. Open’s Top-Selling Cocktail, Forbes, 8/23/2019.
- Official Honey Deuce Recipe, Grey Goose Web Page, viewed 8/30/2021.
- Classy Drinks, but No Glass, at the Open, Mary Pilon, New York Times, August 29, 2012
