How to Make the Black-Eyed Susan, The Official Drink of the Preakness Stakes

One guaranteed winner for the Preakness? The Black-Eyed Susan, the race’s official cocktail. Here’s how to make it. [...] Read More... The post How to Make the Black-Eyed Susan, The Official Drink of the Preakness Stakes appeared first on Wine Enthusiast.

May 7, 2025 - 18:55

Classic recipes have a funny way of causing food fights. From deep dish pizza to your family’s “real” recipe for Grandma’s meatballs, it’s rare that the origin story of and precise elements required to make a beloved dish or drink are universally agreed upon.

The roots of and ingredients for the Black-Eyed Susan Cocktail are no exception. It’s the official cocktail of the Triple Crown’s Preakness Stakes, a horse race held annually on the third Saturday in May at Pimlico Race Course in Baltimore.

The sunny, cheerful drink is refreshing and fun, most often a blend of vodka and orange juice, sometimes with whiskey, rum or pineapple juice thrown into the mix.

Regardless of its precise components, the drink evokes the joy of Maryland’s official state flower, the Black-Eyed Susan, a beautiful bloom with sun-yellow petals and a black center. The flowers pop up around the time of the Preakness, and a tapestry is woven from these flowers, then draped over the winning horse at the end of the race.

There is a lot of hemming and hawing about who made the Black-Eyed Susan first, and how it should be made now. Most historians point to Harry Stevens, a longtime caterer for the Pimlico Race Course as the creator, but others say it’s less clear.

“The Black-Eyed Susan’s history is marred with stories of it being created by a caterer or a ready-to-drink brand in the 1970s,” says Brendan Dorr, co-owner of Baltimore’s Dutch Courage, a drinks destination that has earned a reputation as much as a purveyor of obscure spirits lore as it has for its stellar cocktail list. “Even worse, it continuously changes year by year based on brand sponsorship. Sadly, there really is no standard recipe.”

A True Riff on the Original

Dorr, an opera singer-turned-mixologist is a certified sommelier who regularly wins international cocktail competitions and runs geeky seminars like “A Brief History of Maryland’s Cocktails” at the Baltimore Museum of Industry, should know. He created a Black-Eyed Susan Cocktail that he says genuinely reflects the spirit of the original recipe, with a contemporary twist. While many Black-Eyed Susan Cocktail recipes feature vodka, Dorr opts for straight rye whiskey.

“I truly believe the spirit base should be an all-rye whiskey, which is the true spirit of Maryland,” Dorr says. “I also used a peach liqueur because it’s seasonally delicious, especially when you’re at the race track in a seersucker suit in the hot and humic Maryland summer weather.”

The other elements Dorr selects are used for brightness, acidity, balance and mouthfeel.

The Black-Eyed Susan is the only accoutrement you definitely need while watching the Preakness, and a top contender for best summer cocktail of 2025 to boot.