Fishers Island Spiked Lemonade

When I was 11 years old my family bought a bar. Not just any bar, the only bar on a seven mile island, complete with its own light up disco dance floor. Here I learned how to play pool, deep fry a mozzarella stick, shuck oysters, clean toilets, and make “dump” runs with my father (hauling trash to the transfer station). At 18 I joined the rest of my family and began tending bar.

Whether it’s in the kitchen, behind the bar, or outside I have always been interested in how things were constructed, but found a way to make it my own. As a bartender I enjoyed the craft of mixing, experimenting with flavors and refining cocktails.

Each Friday I blended our signature beverage, Fishers Island Lemonade in several 15 liter batches. We served FIL throughout the night and into the wee hours of the morning – it would barely last the weekend. One night I reached into the beer cooler to grab a beer and thought, “what if I canned our lemonade?”