Photo: wordpress · CC0
A Honey Deuce is vodka and lemonade over ice, topped with a float of black raspberry liqueur and garnished with three honeydew melon balls. The standard build is about 1.5 ounces vodka, 3 ounces lemonade and half an ounce of liqueur poured last so it sinks in a ribbon.
What Goes in a Honey Deuce
It is a four ingredient drink, which is exactly why the proportions matter. There is nothing to hide behind. Use a lemonade you actually like on its own, because it is the largest component by volume.
| Component | Amount | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vodka | 1.5 oz | Neutral, well chilled |
| Lemonade | 3 oz | Tart beats sweet here |
| Black raspberry liqueur | 0.5 oz | Poured last, not stirred in |
| Honeydew melon | 3 balls | Scooped with a small melon baller |
| Ice | Fill the glass | Cubes, not crushed |
How to Build the Drink
- Scoop three balls from a ripe honeydew with a small melon baller and set them aside. Chill them if you have time.
- Fill a tall glass to the top with ice cubes. A packed glass melts slower than a half full one.
- Pour in the vodka, then the lemonade, and give it one quick stir.
- Float the raspberry liqueur over the back of a bar spoon so it sinks slowly and streaks the drink instead of mixing flat.
- Drop the melon balls on top and serve immediately, before the layers blur together.
Where the Honey Deuce Came From
The Honey Deuce is the signature cocktail of the US Open tennis tournament in New York, where it is poured by the thousands every year during the two week run. The name is a tennis joke. A deuce is the score when both players are tied at forty, and the honeydew garnish supplies the honey half. The three melon balls are shaped and colored to look like tennis balls sitting in the glass, which is the whole reason the drink photographs so well and why it spread far beyond the grounds in Flushing Meadows.
Prices and pour sizes at the tournament change from year to year, so check the official US Open site if that matters to you. At home the recipe is the same drink regardless.
Getting the Melon Balls Right
This is the part most people rush. A pale, underripe honeydew gives you hard green marbles that taste like nothing. Pick a melon that feels heavy for its size, has a creamy yellow rind rather than a bright green one, and gives slightly at the blossom end. Scoop the balls from the thickest part of the flesh, near the center but clear of the seed cavity, so they come out round instead of crescent shaped.
If you are making a batch for guests, ball the melon ahead and keep it in a sealed container in the refrigerator. Do not freeze the melon balls. They turn watery and mushy as they thaw in the glass, and they dilute the drink faster than the ice does. For a pitcher version, scale the vodka and lemonade, keep the liqueur out, and float it in each individual glass at serving time so every guest gets the layered look.
