The Sex on the Beach cocktail is most commonly associated with Florida's spring break culture in the late 1980s. Its origin is often traced to 1987, when a liquor distributor in Fort Lauderdale was promoting peach schnapps and reportedly offered bartenders an incentive to sell most of the product.
One popular account credits Ted Pizio, a bartender at Confetti's Bar in Fort Lauderdale with creating the drink. Combining vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice. He produced a fruity cocktail with a distinctive sunset like color. The combination of sweet peach, citrus, tart cranberry made it approachable and easy to drink.
When inquisitive spring breakers began asking what this delicious new sunset colored drink was called, Pizio supposedly named it on the spot. He simply combined the two main reasons thousands of college students flocked to Fort Lauderdale every single spring: the beach and sex. The resulting name was bold, memorable and perfectly suited to the carefree party culture of the era.
The brilliantly scandalous name paired with a flavor profile that effortlessly masked the alcohol behind a vibrant wall of fruit, cemented the drink as a global phenomenon. The Ted Pizio story is the best-known account of the cocktail's creation, but its precise origins are not conclusively established. It is therefore best treated as the widely repeated version of its history rather than a fully verified account.
Recipe:
45ml Vodka
30ml Peach schnapps
45ml Orange juice
45 Cranberry juice
Method:
1. Add the vodka, peach schnapps, orange juice and cranberry juice to a cocktail shaker filled with ice.
2. Shake until thoroughly chilled.
3. Fill a highball or hurricane glass with fresh ice.
4. Strain the cocktail into the prepared glass.
5. Garnish with orange wheel and a maraschino cherry.
End of story.
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