Wimbledon’s Signature Drink Deserves Its ‘Honey Deuce Moment’
There’s a running joke that New York’s hottest bar each summer isn’t in Manhattan or Brooklyn — it’s out in Queens at the U.S. Open Tennis Championships.
That’s thanks to the recent sensation that is the Honey Deuce, a vodka, lemonade, and Chambord cocktail (mostly) only available at the USTA Tennis Center during the two-week tournament. Despite the $23 price tag, over half a million of the Instagrammable cocktail were sold last year.
The Honey Deuce has become so popular, in fact, that it now makes cameo appearances at some of the city’s top bars during the Open. Last year riffs showed up at the acclaimed Dante and the Michelin-starred Korean steakhouse Cote.
But the Honey Deuce isn’t the only seasonal must-have to transcend its sporting-event origins.
There’s also the Mint Julep — around since the 18th century, but officially tied to the Kentucky Derby since 1938. Today, no bar hosting a Derby party would dare skip the bourbon classic.
The Masters has the Azalea cocktail — as pink as the course’s flowers — consisting of vodka, lemon juice, pineapple juice, and grenadine. The tournament publishes its official recipe online and even sends out RTDs to excited non-attendees every year. They quickly sell out.
All of which makes me wonder: Isn’t it about time Wimbledon’s longtime signature cocktail, the Pimm’s Cup, started getting a little more love stateside?
No. 1 Cup
Unlike the Honey Deuce or Azalea, the Pimm’s Cup is no modern creation. The cocktail’s eponymous ingredient, Pimm’s No. 1 Cup, has been produced since 1823. The amber “tonic,” a gin-based liqueur infused with a secret blend of citrus and herbs, was originally created by bar owner James Pimm as a digestive aid. (Other numbered Pimm’s Cups, from 2 through 6, were introduced over the following century, though none remain in production.)
The Pimm’s Cup cocktail, introduced in the following years, is typically now served as a warm-weather highball. Today, it’s a choose-your-own-ingredients mix of Pimm’s No. 1 Cup, a carbonated lemon-flavored drink (like Sprite or 7Up), citrus juice, and a medley of fruit and herb garnishes, typically strawberries, cucumbers, and mint.
Credit: VinePair
The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club began serving Pimm’s at the Wimbledon Championships in 1971 at a specially designated Pimm’s bar. Still, despite the brand being formally introduced to the United States in 1940, and mega-conglomerate Diageo taking it over in 1997, Pimm’s has never really gained a foothold in the country.
“You’d be hard-pressed to find a venue in America, a big hotel, say, or a popular restaurant that would have an entire case of Pimm’s on hand,” says Chris Montero, chef at New Orleans’ Napoleon House. “Mostly, they might have one old bottle you have to knock the dust off.”
Yet, I believe this is the summer for the Pimm’s Cup to finally take off across the country, for three reasons:
1. Americans finally enjoy herbal liqueurs.
“Britain’s answer to Campari in a way,” Tim McKirdy, VinePair managing editor, labeled Pimm’s in an episode of “Cocktail College.”
2. Americans have always loved fruit-salad-laden pitchers of cocktails.
“A single-service [punch] kind of related to a sangria,” Aaron Gregory Smith, then-executive director of the USBG, explained in the same podcast episode.
3. Most of all, Americans love refreshing, batched cocktails we can drink all day long.
That’s the Pimm’s Cup in a nutshell — light, effervescent, and low-proof enough to warrant multiple rounds.
In other words, Americans can — and should — start to embrace the Pimm’s Cup.
How Pimm’s Can Steal My Sunshine
Unfortunately, most viral cocktails these days seem to become ubiquitous thanks only to the invisible hand of powerful multinational conglomerates.
Take the Aperol Spritz.
Until about 2015, Aperol — the low-ABV Italian amaro at the heart of the spritz — had very little brand recognition in the U.S., and the Aperol Spritz was virtually absent from most bar menus. That began to change when Gruppo Campari, Aperol’s owner, launched a major push positioning the Aperol Spritz as “sunshine in a glass.”
The company sent beautifully branded scooters, carts, and bars to high-profile events and locations like the Hamptons, Coachella, the “White Lotus” set, and even the U.S. Open — often selling or giving away oversized Aperol Spritzes in branded glassware ideal for Instagram posts.
By 2018, sales of the once-obscure liqueur had jumped 48 percent and the The New York Times declared the Aperol Spritz the “drink of the summer.”
Likewise, the Honey Deuce was purpose-built by U.S. Open sponsor Grey Goose, generating over $12 million in sales at the 2024 event, with approximately 556,000 served.
Diageo hasn’t pushed Pimm’s in the same way, though.
In February of last year, on the heels of a 19 percent drop in annual sales, Diageo put Pimm’s on the market, saying it planned to focus on higher-end whiskey and tequila brands like Johnnie Walker, Talisker, Lagavulin, and Don Julio. It was said that Pimm’s annual retail sales came in at $109 million — just 0.2 percent of Diageo’s global revenue. But no buyer emerged. By October 2024, Diageo had taken Pimm’s off the market.
Pimm’s in the House
Perhaps Diageo could have invested more in pushing Pimm’s in a country that doesn’t yet know it needs it. (No one at Diageo responded to my interview request.) A logical starting point might be studying the one place stateside where the Pimm’s Cup has long reigned.
In 1914, Joe Impastato purchased New Orleans’ legendary Napoleon House. Whiskey was, and still is, popular in the city, but “Uncle Joe,” as he was known, wasn’t a fan. What he was a fan of, thanks to his travels through Europe, was the Pimm’s Cup.
“It was refreshing and light and citrusy with these herbal notes,” says Napoleon House’s chef Montero. “He thought it would be perfect for our climate with these 100-degree temperatures.”
“The Pimm’s Cup is not an aggressive drink. It’s like a lot of the new cocktails that are fruity with some herbal notes, and are completely palatable to the current cocktail scene.”
Today, Napoleon House is said to sell either the most or second-most Pimm’s No. 1 Cups in the world, depending on whom you ask. The bar serves the original Pimm’s Cup, a Watermelon Pimm’s Cup, the Englishman’s Pimm’s Cup (fortified with London Dry gin), and even a frozen Pimm’s Cup. According to Montero, the restaurant goes through 12 cases (or 72 liter bottles) of Pimm’s No. 1 per week and he tries to keep 100 cases on hand at all times.
Like the frozen Irish Coffee at the Erin Rose or The Hurricane at Pat O’Brien’s, the Pimm’s Cup has become a must-order for tourists visiting the Napoleon House — even if most have never heard of it before.
“Probably 75 percent or more of our guests are having their first-ever Pimm’s Cup,” Montero says. “Many of them need to be told what is in it.”
Most visitors fall in love with it immediately. Montero notes that while everyone is a critic today when it comes to food and drink, that’s rarely the case with the Pimm’s Cup.
“It gets an astonishing percentage of positive reviews because it’s just so drinkable,” he says. He compares it to another New Orleans staple, the Sazerac, which is Napoleon House’s No. 2 best seller, but a drink far too spirit- and anise-forward for most casual drinkers to enjoy.
“The Pimm’s Cup is not an aggressive drink,” Montero says. “It’s like a lot of the new cocktails that are fruity with some herbal notes, and are completely palatable to the current cocktail scene.”
It’s Time
On July 1, the Napoleon House celebrated National Pimm’s Cup Day. Programming included a Pimm’s Cup special and unique variants, a Napoleon lookalike contest, and, perhaps most importantly, all guests received a recipe card to recreate the cocktail at home.
I hope many in attendance will head back to various corners of the country where they might introduce this brilliant summer cocktail to regions and people who have yet to fall for it.
Whether making a single Pimm’s Cup for yourself, or multiple pitchers for family and friends, you’ll find it’s an easy cocktail to make — no jiggers necessary — and an easy cocktail to personalize, too.
Add some Pimm’s No. 1, fortify with a spirit if you’d like, maybe dash in some bitters, definitely some citrus soda or ginger ale, a splash of citrus juice, fruits and herbs of your choice — and a lot of ice.
“I’m 70-ish years old. As a young man I was a liquor salesman. I watched the rum decade and when vodka became king, and then whiskey and Scotches,” says Montero.
“Maybe Pimm’s is just waiting its turn. Maybe it’s time.”
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