Thirsty Thursday Eve - Shark Attack
This cocktail idea is more of a riff on the same showy theme, rather than a specific recipe for a particular drink. Even still, sharks are cool, pizazz is fun, and everybody loves drinking during the summer. Hence, the Shark Attack.
Back last summer, we went on vacation with some of my wife’s friends. One girl kept talking about a drink she had at some bar near some beach called the "shark attack.” She didn’t know what was in it, but the bartender would mix a very blue drink, yell “SHARK ATTACK,” and then dunk a toy shark filled with grenadine in it. One of those overpriced tourist trap things that gets blasted on TikTok and Instagram. Admittedly, it sounded kinda fun and I’d be interested in getting the drink at least once for the experience.
That vacation came and went, and we didn’t find any bars serving any variation of the shark attack. I promptly forgot about that conversation and went on about my life. Earlier this year, I started seeing that same theme advertised again on social media. It makes sense, this is more of a summer drink. Since I might not find the opportunity to get one of these drinks in a bar, I decided to take matters into my own hands and research how I could make it at home.
It seems heavily inspired by a drink from Chez Alcatraz bar at Universal Studios Florida. Figures, theme parks are effectively the top tier of tourist traps. One copycat recipe lists an approximation of 1 oz blue curacao, 4 oz pineapple juice, 4 oz Sprite, and garnish with grenadine and gummy sharks (Vigil, 2024). I had to guess that my wife’s friend probably had something similar to this, and other bars are just mimicking what Universal Studios did.
Beyond that self-proclaimed copycat, there are a lot of recipes that read similarly with slight variations. Instead of pineapple juice, some use lemonade. Several add coconut rum to play up the clearly tropical influence (U/ThemeParkBar, 2020). A few of them try to be boujee and swap in lemon seltzer water for the Sprite (Food Network Magazine, 2020). About the only things that are consistent are the blue curacao (kur-uh-sow like the pig, you’re welcome) and grenadine, a blue drink with a splash of red on top. A gummy shark dropped into the drink, and some shark toy or vessel as the distribution mechanism for the grenadine seem encouraged but not required.
Making one for the photo, I realized something: there isn’t much alcohol in these. Blue curacao tends to hover around 15-20% ABV, most coconut rum is about 20%, grenadine is 1% or less. This is not something that’s going to get you blackout drunk after two. Admittedly, that’s probably a good idea for a lot of reasons. If social media is bringing in a lot of people that may not drink heavily, you don’t want a bunch of lightweights causing a ruckus and passing out in your bar. Plus, the cheapest ingredients in cocktails are the non-alcoholic ones. If your recipe is a little bit of alcohol with a lot of filler, your overhead is probably astronomical and it brings in a bunch of money for the bar. I’m with it.
If you make some variation of this drink at home, you’re obviously welcome (even encouraged) to tinker with it. Throw a shot of Bacardi 151 in there and it becomes an automatic slugger. I’ve started tossing a shot of standard 80 proof white rum in for a little extra alcohol punch. Again, this is more of a theme or experience than a hard and fast recipe. Play with it, add some new stuff, take some of the core ingredients out. Make it your own and appeal to the friends and family that you’re drinking with.
I will definitely make use of this inspiration for summer parties. I still have to make red, white, and blue lemonade every time we have people over. This should give me another opportunity to flex the flair bartending skills that I don’t actually have. Friends love it and it doesn’t automatically put you at the blackout drunk point.
References:
Food Network Magazine. (2020, June 9). Shark attack cocktails. Food Network. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/shark-attack-cocktails-8741672
Hubert, N. (2021, May 24). Shark bite cocktail. Cozymeal. https://www.cozymeal.com/recipes/r/shark-bite-cocktail
Sonjagroset. (2023, April 21). Shark bite cocktail. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238525/shark-bite-cocktail/
U/ThemeParkBar. (2020, July 8). R/cocktails on reddit: Shark attack. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/hnors8/shark_attack/
That vacation came and went, and we didn’t find any bars serving any variation of the shark attack. I promptly forgot about that conversation and went on about my life. Earlier this year, I started seeing that same theme advertised again on social media. It makes sense, this is more of a summer drink. Since I might not find the opportunity to get one of these drinks in a bar, I decided to take matters into my own hands and research how I could make it at home.
It seems heavily inspired by a drink from Chez Alcatraz bar at Universal Studios Florida. Figures, theme parks are effectively the top tier of tourist traps. One copycat recipe lists an approximation of 1 oz blue curacao, 4 oz pineapple juice, 4 oz Sprite, and garnish with grenadine and gummy sharks (Vigil, 2024). I had to guess that my wife’s friend probably had something similar to this, and other bars are just mimicking what Universal Studios did.
Beyond that self-proclaimed copycat, there are a lot of recipes that read similarly with slight variations. Instead of pineapple juice, some use lemonade. Several add coconut rum to play up the clearly tropical influence (U/ThemeParkBar, 2020). A few of them try to be boujee and swap in lemon seltzer water for the Sprite (Food Network Magazine, 2020). About the only things that are consistent are the blue curacao (kur-uh-sow like the pig, you’re welcome) and grenadine, a blue drink with a splash of red on top. A gummy shark dropped into the drink, and some shark toy or vessel as the distribution mechanism for the grenadine seem encouraged but not required.
Making one for the photo, I realized something: there isn’t much alcohol in these. Blue curacao tends to hover around 15-20% ABV, most coconut rum is about 20%, grenadine is 1% or less. This is not something that’s going to get you blackout drunk after two. Admittedly, that’s probably a good idea for a lot of reasons. If social media is bringing in a lot of people that may not drink heavily, you don’t want a bunch of lightweights causing a ruckus and passing out in your bar. Plus, the cheapest ingredients in cocktails are the non-alcoholic ones. If your recipe is a little bit of alcohol with a lot of filler, your overhead is probably astronomical and it brings in a bunch of money for the bar. I’m with it.
If you make some variation of this drink at home, you’re obviously welcome (even encouraged) to tinker with it. Throw a shot of Bacardi 151 in there and it becomes an automatic slugger. I’ve started tossing a shot of standard 80 proof white rum in for a little extra alcohol punch. Again, this is more of a theme or experience than a hard and fast recipe. Play with it, add some new stuff, take some of the core ingredients out. Make it your own and appeal to the friends and family that you’re drinking with.
I will definitely make use of this inspiration for summer parties. I still have to make red, white, and blue lemonade every time we have people over. This should give me another opportunity to flex the flair bartending skills that I don’t actually have. Friends love it and it doesn’t automatically put you at the blackout drunk point.
References:
Food Network Magazine. (2020, June 9). Shark attack cocktails. Food Network. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/food-network-kitchen/shark-attack-cocktails-8741672
Hubert, N. (2021, May 24). Shark bite cocktail. Cozymeal. https://www.cozymeal.com/recipes/r/shark-bite-cocktail
Sonjagroset. (2023, April 21). Shark bite cocktail. Allrecipes. https://www.allrecipes.com/recipe/238525/shark-bite-cocktail/
U/ThemeParkBar. (2020, July 8). R/cocktails on reddit: Shark attack. Reddit. https://www.reddit.com/r/cocktails/comments/hnors8/shark_attack/
Vigil, B. (2024, May 6). Shark Attack Drink. Play.Party.Plan. https://www.playpartyplan.com/shark-attack-drink/
Comments
Post a Comment