The Better Way to Make the U.S. Open’s $23 Honey Deuce at Home

As someone who loves both tennis and a tipple, I should be the Honey Deuce’s biggest fan. There’s just one problem: It’s too sweet for me. That’s not surprising when you look at what goes into this vodka cocktail: Chambord (a jammy raspberry liqueur) and lemonade—which is basically a Trojan horse for sugar.

Still, there’s no denying the Honey Deuce has become an icon of the U.S. Open, right down to its instantly recognizable garnish of honeydew melon balls that look like tiny tennis balls.

And people really love it: Nearly 740,000 Honey Deuces were sold at the 2025 U.S. Open. At $23 a pop, that’s almost $17 million in sales for this one cocktail alone.

The drink has become so synonymous with the tournament that tennis star Tommy Paul and influencer Paige Lorenze even served Honey Deuces at their wedding this summer—a fitting choice considering the couple first met in person at the 2022 U.S. Open.

If you’re like me and prefer your drinks a little less sweet, I have two ways to get in on the Honey Deuce fun: a more spirit-forward martini version served at St. Cloud Rooftop at The Knickerbocker in New York City and a mocktail version I created that’s crisp, not-too-sweet, and practically made for a hot day at the stadium.

There’s also a fitting bit of lore behind the martini riff. The Knickerbocker claims to be the birthplace of the Dry Martini, so putting its own spin on the U.S. Open favorite felt like the perfect—ahem—match.

The goal wasn’t to reinvent the drink completely. Instead, Chris Miller, director of food and beverage at The Knickerbocker, says the team wanted to preserve the flavors that make a Honey Deuce immediately recognizable—vodka, raspberry, citrus, and melon—but give them a more polished, cocktail-bar treatment. “The result gives the drink a little more elegance while still being fun and immediately recognizable,” he says.

• Keep the sweet ingredients in check: “Balance is really the key,” Miller says. “You want to taste the vodka, raspberry, citrus, and honey without any one ingredient taking over.” And be especially careful with the Chambord and honey syrup. “One of the biggest mistakes would be adding too much honey syrup or Chambord,” Miller says. “It should still drink like a martini rather than a sweet fruit cocktail.”
• Don’t swap in lemonade: Fresh lemon juice is particularly important here. Rather than relying on lemonade alone, its acidity helps counter the sweetness of the Chambord and honey syrup and keeps the finished drink from veering into cloying territory.
• Get it really cold: Temperature matters, too. Miller recommends using fresh lemon juice, shaking the cocktail well with plenty of ice, and serving it in a properly chilled martini glass.
• Keep the signature garnish: Don’t skip the honeydew melon balls. Those little green “tennis balls” are what instantly signal Honey Deuce, no matter what glass you serve it in.

The Knickerbocker’s Honey Deuce Martini

Recipe from St. Cloud Rooftop at The Knickerbocker

• 1 1/2 oz Grey Goose vodka (the official vodka of the U.S. Open)
• 1/2 oz Chambord
• 3/4 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 oz honey syrup (1:1 mixture of honey and warm water)
• Glass: Martini glass, chilled
• Garnish: 3 honeydew melon balls on a cocktail pick

Directions

1. In a shaker filled with ice, combine the vodka, Chambord, lemon juice, and honey syrup. Shake vigorously until well-chilled.
2. Double-strain (pour through a cocktail strainer over a fine-mesh strainer) into the glass.
3. Garnish with honeydew balls.

If you’re hosting a U.S. Open watch party, you can get most of the cocktail prep out of the way before the first serve.

“For a party, I would batch the vodka, Chambord, and honey syrup ahead of time and keep the mixture refrigerated,” Miller says. “You could comfortably prepare that the day before.”

The one ingredient worth holding back is the lemon juice. Miller prefers adding it closer to serving so you don’t lose that bright, fresh citrus flavor.

It’s easy to prep the honeydew balls in advance with a melon baller.

The garnish can be handled well ahead of time, too. Scoop the honeydew into melon balls, skewer them onto picks, and freeze them. Once guests arrive, add the fresh lemon juice to your chilled batch, portion each cocktail into an ice-filled shaker and shake until thoroughly chilled. Strain into chilled martini glasses and finish with the frozen melon balls.

Besides saving you prep time during the match, the frozen garnish helps keep each cocktail cold without adding more ice to the glass.

If you want the Honey Deuce experience without the booze, this mocktail keeps the flavors that make the original so recognizable: brambly raspberry, tart lemonade, and, of course, honeydew melon.

After some trials, I found that Celestial Seasonings Raspberry Zinger herbal tea makes an especially good stand-in for raspberry liqueur. Brewing it extra strong gives the drink a lush raspberry flavor and a pleasantly astringent quality that helps mimic some of the complexity you’d normally get from alcohol. Build it in a tall glass—or, as I like to do, break out that U.S. Open souvenir cup sitting in your kitchen cabinet.

Even better, this version is especially easy to batch ahead for a U.S. Open watch party. You can make the tea-lemonade base in advance, chill it, and simply top each glass with club soda when it’s time to serve.

Whether you go spirit-forward or zero-proof, consider it a reminder that you don’t need a $23 stadium cocktail to ace the Honey Deuce.