In short
The name isn’t for everyone—but the drink is still loved by many. “Sex on the Beach” certainly isn’t a masterpiece of mixology, and it doesn’t have centuries of history behind it. Since it showed up in Germany in the late 1990s, it has stubbornly stayed on cocktail menus—and not only because of its name. Here are a few background notes and thoughts on why that might be.
Where did the drink come from?
“Sex on the Beach” is said to have been invented in 1987 as part of an advertising campaign for a peach schnapps by a bartender (Ted Pizio) in Florida.1 During the annual “Spring Break”, when young Americans flock to Florida’s beaches, the distributor allegedly offered a reward to the bartender who generated the highest sales of that peach schnapps. The original recipe supposedly included vodka, peach, orange juice, and grenadine. The enthusiastic crowd took the recipe and the name back home, helping “Sex on the Beach” spread quickly.
As so often with cocktail history, there are doubts about how accurate the story really is. The recipe is said to have appeared as early as 1982 in the “American Bartenders Guide to Drinks” (unfortunately not available online; it doesn’t appear in the 1981 edition). And there were already two drinks whose combination essentially makes a “Sex on the Beach”: the Fuzzy Navel (peach and orange) and the Cape Codder (vodka and cranberry).2
Why it’s still on menus
One thing seems certain: it’s an American recipe from the 1980s—and if you want a drink where peach liqueur can shine, vodka isn’t a bad base at all.
The cranberry-juice version is particularly interesting because for a long time cranberry juice wasn’t readily available in Germany. That helps explain the many variations that used red syrup or other juices—and it also contributed to cranberry juice eventually showing up on our shelves.
Even if it may not match the most likely origins, we prefer a version with cranberry juice and pineapple juice, which creates a nice bridge between tart and sweet styles. One last tip for guests who order it: for bartenders, it’s simply just a drink :-)
Our Sex on the Beach recipe
- Vodka: 4 cl
- Peach liqueur: 2 cl
- Cranberry juice: 6 cl
- Pineapple juice: 6 cl
Shake all ingredients well with ice and strain into a large tumbler.
Cheers,
your moving bars team