You Don't Need US Open Tickets To Get Its Famous $10 Million Cocktail
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In 2006, as an official sponsor of the US Open, Grey Goose tapped hospitality pro Nick Mauntone to create a signature beverage for the Grand Slam. They wanted something charming and memorable that could be easily produced in mass quantities. And not only did he deliver on the latter—450,000 cocktails were sold inside the Billie Jean King National Tennis Center grounds just last year—but the former, too.
Since its inception in the early aughts, the Honey Deuce has become so much more than just a concession stand staple or the most popular beverage in sports. The iconic beverage, which combines Grey Goose vodka, fresh lemonade, and Chombard with three artfully speared honeydew melon balls on top—has crept its way into mainstream cocktail culture. You no longer need tickets to the US Open to sip on the famous cocktail, which made over $10 million in sales in 2023.
While Grey Goose has released Honey Deuce innovations of its own, including the Frozen Honey Deuce, bars and mixologists have added their own spin (or, ahem, topspin) to the drink. Popular New York City bar Jacs on Bond uses Yuzu liqueur while Dante has incorporated Midori liqueur, pineapple juice, salted honey, and San Pellegrino into its own recipe.
"Many bars have chosen to make their own spin on the deuce, something I find quite flattering," Mauntone tells Delish. "My personal favorite is to make the honey deuce in a large glass and top it with your favorite style of sparkling wine. It becomes a bit drier and fizzy yet still refreshing."
The Honey Deuce no longer just another stadium drink. It's splashed across tennis merch and has found it's way to 140 bar menus across New York City.
"The first year the drink was served, I believe 30,000 were sold—far outpacing whatever the previous year's cocktail sold," he continues. "From there it went viral…even in the pre-Instagram days! People would walk out of the bar holding the signature cup and giggling over the melon balls and then the next person had to have one! Once social media took hold and pictures were posted all over Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter the drink sales skyrocketed from there."
Non-ticket holders can drop their zip code in the Grey Goose drink tracker to hunt down a dinner spot that's shaking up Honey Deuces—American Bar, Fouquet's, and Pebble Bar are just a few personal faves. At-home viewers can sip the cocktail from their couch, too. The vodka maker found an even easier way to deliver its drink to the masses in 2022: a pre-made canned cocktail that's shipped straight to your front door via DoorDash or Cocktail Courier.
Even Bartesian, a high-end cocktail machine that's like the bougie cousin to Keurig, has added a Honey Deuce pod to its portfolio of flavors.
"We have witnessed tremendous growth with the cocktail beyond the stadium. It’s considered to be one of the best-selling cocktails in sports," Grey Goose vice president of marketing Aleco Azqueta said.
Emirates kicked off the tournament this year by taking the Honey Deuce to new heights—literally. The official sponsor, which hosts its own luxury suite experience inside Arthur Ashe, added the cocktail to its in-flight menu. "We wanted to bring a bit of that US Open experience [to] the skies," divisional vice president Essa Sulaiman Ahmad said.
Guests traveling to and from New York City during the tournament can sip on the beverage while catching live matches at 27,000 feet. It's also available in select Emirates lounges across the U.S.
And while you can now sip the Honey Deuce from practically anywhere beyond the Billie Jean King Center gates, if you are planning to attend the US Open this year, you can order the beverage from concessions, inside the American Express Fan Experience (which also offers the frozen iteration), the Centurion Lounge, and private suites across the stadium.
"When we first set out to create a cocktail for our partnership with the U.S. Open we wanted to create something that paired well with the food served at the concession stands and that would be a refreshing serve in the hot New York summer sun,"Azqueta said. "As someone who was in the room when the cocktail was first created almost two decades ago, it’s been amazing to see the cocktail go from simply a stadium concession to a cultural phenomenon, at some of the top bars in New York City, in the hands of A-list celebrities, across social media feeds worldwide, and even on the back of t-shirts."
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