This summer, OC got you Tipsy and Tan. Now, we're just getting you tipsy. Meet Fridays at Five, our cocktail series where mixologists at New York City’s white-hot new restaurants create OC-exclusive drinks for our readers. Drinking on the job? Don't mind if we do...
Let’s face it: The weather in northern USA has been less than wonderful. In New York, the streets have turned slick with ice, and even the textured rubber soles of our patent Grunge Oxfords can’t save us from the slush lagoons on every block. It’s just about time to start thinking of a winter getaway.
Luckily, Sekend Sun in Astoria has come up with a cocktail that brings the vacation to you (albeit indoors, with a heater on at full blast). Created for easy beach drinking, the Cooler for Copa just takes some muddled grapes, sugar, and cachaça. Say it with us: winter luau time.
Name: Jay Zimmerman
If this drink had a soundtrack, what would it be? “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys
Drink of choice: Typically, I drink Negronis before dinner, but I’m unapologetically a beer-and-a-shot kind of guy: Budweiser and a shot of Rittenhouse rye.
Hangover cure: A dark room and a good amount of healthy sleep. If it hurts, avoid it.
Best date advice: When you have a moment, whether it’s 30 seconds before your date gets there, or when your date is in the bathroom, befriend the bartender. A good one knows when to jump in to help out.
Worst pick-up: There was a couple on a date once, and the guy was telling a story and was really emphatic, and ended up kneeing the girl in the crotch. She just got up and left.
What not to do to your bartender: Never tell them how to do their job.
Exclusive Recipe: Cooler for Copa
OC Alcohol Scale*: 3
“It’s an easy drink. Beach drinking.”
2 teaspoons of sugar
4 white grapes
4 red grapes
2 ounces of Avuá Cachaça
1 glass of club soda
Muddle the grapes with sugar. Pour in Avuá Cachaça, shake, and then top with soda water. Pour into a glass and sip until the tide is low.
*OC's Alcohol Scale ranges from 1 ("like sippin' from a juice box") to 10 ("take me home—right now")![]()
Cooler for Copa. Photos by Jessica Chou ![]()
You'll need Avuá Cachaça, red grapes, white grapes, and sugar. ![]()
Start by adding white grapes into the shaker. ![]()
Add in approximately four red grapes. ![]()
Muddle the grapes with sugar.![]()
Pour in Avuá Cachaça, shake, and then top with club soda.![]()
Let’s face it: The weather in northern USA has been less than wonderful. In New York, the streets have turned slick with ice, and even the textured rubber soles of our patent Grunge Oxfords can’t save us from the slush lagoons on every block. It’s just about time to start thinking of a winter getaway.
Luckily, Sekend Sun in Astoria has come up with a cocktail that brings the vacation to you (albeit indoors, with a heater on at full blast). Created for easy beach drinking, the Cooler for Copa just takes some muddled grapes, sugar, and cachaça. Say it with us: winter luau time.
Name: Jay Zimmerman
If this drink had a soundtrack, what would it be? “Wouldn’t It Be Nice” by The Beach Boys
Drink of choice: Typically, I drink Negronis before dinner, but I’m unapologetically a beer-and-a-shot kind of guy: Budweiser and a shot of Rittenhouse rye.
Hangover cure: A dark room and a good amount of healthy sleep. If it hurts, avoid it.
Best date advice: When you have a moment, whether it’s 30 seconds before your date gets there, or when your date is in the bathroom, befriend the bartender. A good one knows when to jump in to help out.
Worst pick-up: There was a couple on a date once, and the guy was telling a story and was really emphatic, and ended up kneeing the girl in the crotch. She just got up and left.
What not to do to your bartender: Never tell them how to do their job.
Exclusive Recipe: Cooler for Copa
OC Alcohol Scale*: 3
“It’s an easy drink. Beach drinking.”
2 teaspoons of sugar
4 white grapes
4 red grapes
2 ounces of Avuá Cachaça
1 glass of club soda
Muddle the grapes with sugar. Pour in Avuá Cachaça, shake, and then top with soda water. Pour into a glass and sip until the tide is low.
*OC's Alcohol Scale ranges from 1 ("like sippin' from a juice box") to 10 ("take me home—right now")
Cooler for Copa. Photos by Jessica Chou 
You'll need Avuá Cachaça, red grapes, white grapes, and sugar. 
Start by adding white grapes into the shaker. 
Add in approximately four red grapes. 
Muddle the grapes with sugar.
Pour in Avuá Cachaça, shake, and then top with club soda.