{"id":38909,"date":"2021-07-07T16:00:26","date_gmt":"2021-07-07T15:00:26","guid":{"rendered":"\/blog\/post\/cocktail-of-the-week-the-sex-on-the-beach\/"},"modified":"2024-01-22T12:59:16","modified_gmt":"2024-01-22T12:59:16","slug":"cocktail-of-the-week-the-sex-on-the-beach","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.masterofmalt.com\/blog\/post\/cocktail-of-the-week-the-sex-on-the-beach\/","title":{"rendered":"Cocktail of the Week: The Sex on the Beach"},"content":{"rendered":"

This week Millie Milliken dons her visor and heads to 1980s Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to find out the origins of the Sex on the Beach [adult content warning]<\/b><\/p>\n

\u2018Spring break\u2019, a cultural phenomenon that started in the 1930s might be unknown to us Brits but it\u2019s a bikini and budgie-smuggler-clad right of passage for most young Americans partying their way into adulthood. Every March, thousands of college students descend on the Sunshine State\u2019s many beaches to partake in the holiday\u2019s festivities: sun, shots and insalubrious antics are had by all.<\/span><\/p>\n

It feels only natural then that the Sex on the Beach cocktail, rumour has it, was invented during one such sun-drenched and saucy spring break. Traditionally made up of vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice, the drink \u2013 usually served to look like a sunset \u2013 is typically presented in a hurricane glass and topped with a wedge of pineapple or a slice of orange, a glacier cherry and a jaunty cocktail umbrella.<\/span><\/p>\n

These days you\u2019re most likely to see it featured on large, laminated menus alongside <\/span>Pi\u00f1a<\/a> Coladas (a personal favourite) and Long Island Iced Teas (again, not complaining). So, who invented the ’80s classic you wouldn\u2019t want to order in front of your parents?<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"

“I’ll have a Sex on the Beach” lol<\/p><\/div>\n

Under pressure<\/b><\/h5>\n

The story goes that in 1987, a company called National Distribution launched a new product \u2013 peach schnapps. As a way of selling their new liquid, they launched a competition in Fort Lauderdale during the famous party season, asking bartenders to create a cocktail using it. One bartender was Ted Pizio of Confetti Bar. He mixed the schnapps with vodka, grenadine and orange juice and the partygoers loved it. When Pizio was asked to name his cocktail, his mind went straight to what he believed the Spring Breakers came away to Florida to do\u2026 and so, Sex on the Beach was born.<\/span><\/p>\n

While this is the most accepted story, eagle-eyed cocktail nerds have disputed this being the drink\u2019s origin story, noting its appearance in the <\/span>American Bartenders School Guide to Drinks <\/span><\/i><\/a>(published in 1982)<\/span>.<\/span><\/i> In this version of events, it\u2019s believed that the Sex on the Beach was actually created when a bartender combined a Fuzzy Naval (peach schnapps and orange juice) and a Cape Codder (vodka and cranberry).<\/span><\/p>\n