Meet the inventor of the “Honey Deuce” – and get the recipe.
MERCER ISLAND, Wash. — Every August during the US Open tennis tournament, this cocktail starts showing up on social media posts. It’s called the Honey Deuce, it sells for $22. In 2023 there was more 450,000 of these drinks sold at the US Open.
That’s nearly $10 million worth of pink drinks with tiny ‘tennis balls’ on top.
The man who came up with this cocktail? Mercer island’s Nick Mautone back in 2005 when he was a brand ambassador for Grey Goose Vodka.
“We were charged with creating the signature drink for the US Open,” he said.
Inspiration arrived for Mautone, a former managing partner at New York’s famed Gramercy Tavern, when he was making a fruit salad at home.
“As I’m making these honeydew melon balls, I just looked at them, then I looked at my wife and …