12 Honey Deuce Riffs to Try at NYC Bars This US Open Season
To some, peak melon season means biting into sweet and juicy slices of honeydew on the beach. To tennis fans, the ripe summer fruit signals that it’s time to knock back a Honey Deuce. Star tennis players of the US Open come and go, but the one darling of the tournament that makes an appearance year after year is the iconic pink cocktail made with Grey Goose Vodka, lemonade, and raspberry liqueur.
The Honey Deuce — with its signature garnish of three melon balls — has become so popular among US Open attendees and viewers worldwide that now, bars serve riffs on the drink in time with the annual tournament. Grey Goose even partners with some bars to serve the original Honey Deuce in its branded, Instagrammable cup off the courts.
There’s no better place to enjoy a Honey Deuce or one of its spinoffs than in the US Open’s home base of New York City. Here are 12 Honey Deuce- and melon-inspired drinks to sip on this US Open season.
Clemente Bar: The Sour Love
Credit: @theclementebar – instagram.com
Clemente Bar — the art-filled watering hole located above world-famous fine dining destination Eleven Madison Park — is honoring the tried-and-true vodka cocktail with the Sour Love. The cocktail brings together Grey Goose, tomato gin, aloe, and muskmelon liqueur with green tomato and watermelon juices. The concoction is then clarified with coconut milk. The result is less of a deuce than an all-out ace: The transparent cocktail, served in a rocks glass and garnished with a skewer of pickled watermelon and honeydew, gives a fresh, silky spin on the classic drink’s sweet, fruit-forward flavor profile.
Gem: The Honey Deuce Slushy
Credit: @gem.nyc – instagram.com
For a zero-proof Honey Deuce but with the same, familiar flavors, Nolita’s Gem proves that it isn’t just the booze that keeps fans coming back to the Honey Deuce — it’s the tangy, sweet-and-sour taste. Gem is currently offering a slushy, booze-free version of the drink. A mixture of honeydew, raspberry, and lemon juice come together in a piquant, tart, and refreshing frozen drink — served with a melon ball, of course.
Sake No Hana: The Love Set
Sake No Hana in Manhattan’s Lower East Side brings an elegant take on the courtside classic. The Love Set — a play on tennis terms — is a blend of sparkling wine and cassis with a muskmelon ball garnish. On the side comes an oyster studded with caviar, a briny complement to the currant-forward drink.
Muku: Morning Dew
At Muku, a kaiseki counter in Tribeca, beverage director Steve Kim adds a French and Japanese spin to the classic Honey Deuce. For the Morning Dew, he combines shochu, green Chartreuse, honeydew, citric acid, and ginger beer. The Morning Dew is built into a highball glass and adorned with a shiso flower.
Bar Blondeau: 40 Love Spritz
Credit: Ikenna S. for Bar Blondeau
Another playful tennis pun, the 40 Love Spritz, served at the rooftop Bar Blondeau in Williamsburg, brings the flavors and appearance of a Honey Deuce into an entirely new frontier. The cocktail takes the original flavors of the Honey Deuce — vodka, Chambord raspberry liqueur, and lemon — but adds soda water to bring a fizzy, refreshing energy to the mix. The final product is a blush-pink spritz garnished with a pale-green cucumber, mimicking the colors of the original drink.
Bar Fiori: Deuces Wild
Credit: Paolo Verzani for Bar Fiori
Bar Fiori, the accompanying cocktail lounge to Midtown’s Ai Fiori, is serving up a menu of sparkling cocktails in honor of the US Open called the Grand Slam Spritz. Paying homage to the vodka, lemonade, and raspberry classic is the Deuces Wild, all coming together in spritz form. The drink features melon liqueur, natural lemon flavor, lemongrass, and grapefruit juice.
Confidant: Lil’ Melon
Though it might not be an exact variation of the Honey Deuce, Confidant’s Lil’ Melon offers another great way to celebrant melon season. This cocktail ditches the honeydew for cantaloupe, imparting a rounder and more savory melon flavor. The bright-orange drink combines cantaloupe, cucumber gin, sherry, and lemon — a beautiful balance between sweet, savory, and funk. The garnish — skewered cantaloupe pieces — recall the classic honeydew balls that fans will find at Arthur Ashe Stadium.
Forgione: Sake-Tini
Credit: Emily Rivero for Forgione
Forgione beverage director Cara Patteson crafted the Sake-Tini with Haku vodka, sake, and a homemade honeydew and cucumber cordial. Served in a coupe and adorned with the signature skewer of three melon balls, this cocktail balances refreshing, floral qualities with boozy strength.
Beefbar: The Honey Deuce
Credit: Tribeca Hospitality Group for Beefbar
Tribeca’s Beefbar collaborated with Grey Goose for beverage director Robert Giles to take a spin on the tournament classic. Beefbar’s Honey Deuce is a mixture of vodka, black raspberry liqueur, yuzu, and lemonade. The ensemble is garnished with the classic honeydew balls that are rolled in “electric dust,” a zingy salt mixture.
Queens Tavern: The English Garden Deuce
Queens Tavern in Hudson Yards also partnered with Grey Goose for a unique spin on the tennis lovers’ favorite. The English Garden Deuce brings vodka, dry vermouth, apple liqueur, honey, and lemonade together into the signature branded glass.
Elcielo: Elcielo New York Honey Deuce
Elcielo, a fine dining Columbian restaurant in Midtown, brings the flavors of the classic Honey Deuce with different ingredients and techniques. Honeydew soda, juice of the Southeast Asian-native kaffir lime, and raspberry-infused vodka come together for a light-bodied sipper.
The Tusk Bar: The Honey Deuce
Chic NoMad destination Tusk Bar — the cocktail-slinging appendage to the restaurant Brass — is featuring the Honey Deuce in an altogether new environment. If you don’t have the chance to sip it courtside, enjoy the same build in over a marble bar and beneath dim-lit chandeliers, served in a highball glass.
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