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Preakness Stakes 2015: What is a Black-Eyed Susan?

By CM Towle

May 18, 2013; Baltimore, MA, USA; A vendor carries a rack of Black-Eyed Susan drinks prior to the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico race course. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports
May 18, 2013; Baltimore, MA, USA; A vendor carries a rack of Black-Eyed Susan drinks prior to the 138th running of the Preakness Stakes at Pimlico race course. Mandatory Credit: James Lang-USA TODAY Sports /
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For Preakness 2015, we take a look at the official drink of the race, the Black-Eyed Susan.

Like the Mint Julep for the Kentucky Derby, the Black-Eyed Susan is promoted as the official drink of the Preakness Stakes. However, unlike the Derby drink, the Black-Eyed Susan is named after the flower blanket that goes over the winner. The Black-Eyed Susan has been served in various forms since the 1970s, but the interesting thing is that no one can seem to agree on one recipe for it. It typically contains pineapple juice and/or orange juice to give it a sunny yellow appearance, but other than that, the recipes differ wildly.

Take, for example, the recipe for the drink from the official Preakness site in 2013 as reported by USA Today.

1.25 oz Finlandia vodka
0.25 oz St. Germain liqueur
2 oz lemon juice
3 oz lemongrass and blackberry simple syrup
6 drops of Angostura bitters
1 sage leaf as a garnish

Yet, if you visit the official Preakness website today, in 2015, the recipe is hardly the same, save for the Finlandia vodka and St. Germain liqueur.

1.5 oz Finlandia vodka
.5 oz St. Germain liqueur
2 oz Pineapple juice
.25 oz Lime juice
.75 oz Orange juice
Garnish with fresh orange slice

Further, searching around the Internet for recipes will yield a variety of results. Some have rum, some have bourbon, some have orange liqueur, it’s hardly consistent. The most consistent ingredients seem to be vodka and pineapple juice.

I personally haven’t paid a lot of attention to how much the drink has changed from year to year and I can’t recall when I made one for the first time, but here is the recipe I have used for years:

3/4 cup orange juice
1/2 cup pineapple juice
3 tbls vodka
3 tbls light rum
2 tbls orange liqueur
lime slice garnish

Pour into two glasses over crushed ice.

Once upon a time, there was actually a cocktail called the Preakness and it’s been around a lot longer than the Black-Eyed Susan. It is essentially a modified Manhattan cocktail with the addition of Benedictine. However, it was never used as the official drink of the Preakness.

Either way, if you want to make your own official race day drink, there’s plenty of variety to choose from, or you could go old-school and esoteric with a drink named after the race, but never officially part of the race.

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