How the US Open’s Honey Deuce Put Tennis on the Drink Map

Probably the most stylish accent in New York Metropolis round Labor Day is a pink-hued, honeydew ball-topped cocktail. The drink is the enduring Honey Deuce, a $23 vodka lemonade offered by the a whole lot of 1000’s on the U.S. Open, the tennis Grand Slam that takes place in Queens, New York, on the finish of each summer season. 

Whereas followers of the U.S. Open actually come for the tennis, drinks have turn out to be one other fundamental occasion. Seven of the 25 official companions of the Grand Slam are beverage manufacturers and drinks-based experiences have turn out to be part of the leisure. Gray Goose offered 556,000 Honey Deuce cocktails throughout the 2024 U.S. Open, the very best on document, and there have been a plethora of cocktail options, from occasion newcomer Dobel Tequila’s Paloma cocktail to a basic Aperol Spritz. 

However how did tennis, a historically hush-your-cheers sport, turn out to be one of many booziest occasions within the enterprise?

It began with water and beer

In 1989 Evian turned the official water sponsor of the U.S. Open and has been main the cost in beverage-centric partnerships for the occasion ever since. Evian’s success at positioning their water alongside the prosperous market usually related to the game served as an inspiration for partnerships to return. 

“Within the mid 1990’s Evian Pure Spring Water was the bottled water within the U.S.,” says Teresa Saputo-Crerend, who served as advertising and marketing companies director to Evian Pure Spring Water from 1995–2000. “The elegant 750ml glass bottle was a staple on the most talked about eating places in New York and it was the water of alternative for well-liked celebrities. For the reason that model was an icon of trend, health and tradition, partnering with the best tennis occasion within the best metropolis on the planet made clear sense.” 

Apart from being the one water model provided for buy on-site, Evian labored product placement into their contract in a number of methods. Bottles are positioned in branded coolers on the court docket, tucked into tennis luggage, and each participant should have a branded water bottle in entrance of them throughout press conferences. “The [press conference] clause appears to have remained and has clearly paid off in at the moment’s age of viral media,” says Saputo-Crerend.  

Evian’s savvy product placement within the early years helped garner exponentially extra consideration to their model because the occasion has grown. The size of at the moment’s Open is drastically completely different from the one Evian first sponsored again in 1989, when the event welcomed 416,855 attendees in comparison with 2024, throughout which the occasion surpassed a million followers for the primary time. On August 26, 2024, the primary day of final yr’s event, a a single-day attendance document for the occasion was set with 74,641 followers. Evian can also be the official water sponsor of Wimbledon, the London-based Grand Slam that happens yearly in June.

Heineken joined as an official sponsor a number of years after Evian in 1994, and 2025 marks their thirty first yr with the occasion. The model continues to harness the eye of the U.S. Open to focus on new initiatives. Final yr, the nonalcoholic Heineken 0.0 launched restricted version cans for his or her flagship providing, retitled L0VE.L0VE, named for the beginning rating of 0-0 in tennis, alongside a nationwide marketing campaign the place shoppers may win tickets to the Open.

The Honey Deuce enters the court docket

The early-to-mid aughts have been an thrilling time for tennis for a number of causes. Roger Federer’s breakout success garnered worldwide consideration and fame, and the Williams’ sisters fast ascent to tennis royalty introduced well-deserved consideration to the ladies’s sport. Additionally, the Honey Deuce cocktail made its first look on the U.S. Open.

The Honey Deuce is a tart and candy cocktail made with Gray Goose vodka, lemonade, and Chambord raspberry liqueur, topped with three good spheres of honey dew melon skewered onto a cocktail choose. Gray Goose tapped bartender and restaurant trade veteran Nick Mautone to create a refreshing and easy-to-make cocktail suited to the occasion’s late-summer climate. 

“After enjoying round with a number of completely different recipe iterations, [Mautone] was at a farmers’ market on Lengthy Island when he noticed a carton of spherical honeydew,” says Aleco Azqueta, Gray Goose VP of promoting, North America. “It hit him proper there that they appeared identical to iridescent tennis balls, and that recent honeydew wanted to be the cocktail’s star garnish. The remainder of the recipe fell into place from there.”

Gray Goose has been a associate of the event since 2006 and launched the drink a yr later. They’ve offered over 2.8 million Honey Deuces via 2024, and it is risen from $14 to a whopping $23 per drink. In keeping with enterprise influencer Joe Pompliano, final yr the cocktail yielded over $10 million in gross sales.

The cocktail has solely grown in reputation regardless of its rising value, a testomony to Gray Goose’s success with advertising and marketing the Honey Deuce as a must-get event attraction and cultural image. “The Honey Deuce has developed a much bigger cult following than we may have imagined,” says Azqueta. 

The drink has impressed trend collaborations and is being remade at bars and eating places throughout New York. So many bars shall be recreating the Honey Deuce that Gray Goose launched a  “warmth map” the place customers can discover the closest cocktail to their zip code. Emirates, one other associate of the U.S. Open, can also be serving the Honey Deuce on flights to and from New York Metropolis throughout the length of the event. 

You possibly can benefit from the Honey Deuce at The American Categorical Centurion Lounge and innovation takes on it may be discovered on the U.S. Open’s American Categorical Fan Expertise the place cardmembers have entry to creamy, frozen variations of the trendy basic. To not depart kids out of the cross-branding extravaganza, a scrumptious mint chocolate chip ice cream coloured like a tennis ball is now additionally provided in collaboration with Van Leeuwen.

Extra followers means extra alternatives

The previous few years have seen an enormous growth in tennis viewership as the game has turn out to be extra accessible to a bigger viewers. Netflix’s documentary Break Level helped pave the way in which for a youthful era of followers as did the rise in tennis influencers, particularly the romantic companions of American tennis stars like Taylor Fritz, Tommy Paul, and Frances Tiafoe whose vital others have effectively over 1 million Instagram followers mixed. 

Aperol and Maestro Dobel tequila joined the U.S. Open drinks lineup in 2023, every providing cocktails aimed toward a brand new era of tennis followers. “We noticed a rise in U.S. client curiosity in premium tequilas in addition to increasing curiosity in tennis, significantly amongst a youthful multicultural viewers,” says Lander Otegui, senior vp of promoting at Proximo Spirits.

Past signature cocktail choices matched with tennis gamers like Aryna Sabalenka and Taylor Fritz, the model additionally launched the Dobel Tequila Membership, an on-site house serving Mexican dishes by superstar chef Enrique Olvera.

Whereas Dobel is bringing a style of Mexico to the U.S. Open, Aperol has been channeling Italy. The famed aperitif model serves Aperol Spritzes throughout the event grounds, positioned as a lower-ABV different. “From the beginning, our major goal was to infuse the event with a slice of Italian tradition,” says Andrea Sengara, Campari America’s vp of promoting. “We aimed to interact with shoppers in a well-known setting by creating on-site locations that encourage neighborhood and togetherness.” 

The Italian espresso model Lavazza has additionally had a presence on the U.S. Open since 2015, however expanded their choices this yr to incorporate a whole menu of basic and inventive Espresso Martinis. 

Moët & Chandon Champagne was the latest addition to the beverage lineup this yr. Their $32 a glass Moët & Chandon Impérial prices a premium, however is available in a chrome-colored wine glass that has turn out to be a sought-after memento for followers. 

Nevertheless, for those who get caught with a drink on the jumbotron, you might be anticipated to chug the contents of your glass earlier than the followers start to boo. Some issues by no means change.