Every iconic sports town has its holy water. Louisville lays claim to the mint julep; Augusta owns the pastel-pink azalea cocktail; and every late summer, the U.S. Open transforms New York’s Flushing Meadows into a conveyor belt of honey deuces — that honey dew melon-skewer-topped vodka raspberry lemonade that has become a cultural phenomenon.
With Atlanta in the global spotlight of the World Cup festivities, our city’s signature glass has remained curiously empty. “Atlanta influences everything” is a local motto, a truth we’ve proven from hip-hop to lemon pepper wet. We have the feverish fan base, and we have the sweltering summer humidity. What we don’t have is a singular, definitive drink for our grand sporting moment.
That is, until now.
Tucked into the cozy, low-lit, old-world curve of the bar counter at Fawn Wine & Amaro Bar in Decatur, beverage director Matt Watkins and Murrell’s Row Spirits co-founder Bo Brown have been quietly plotting a liquid coup. For Brown, whose Decatur-based craft distillery has spent years proving that the Southeast can produce world-class botanical spirits, the collaboration was entirely natural. The mission? To take the liquid backbone of Murrell’s Row and capture the essence of a true Georgia summer — peaches — pouring it over ice just in time for the world to experience.
They are calling it Peach on the Pitch.
The timing is as rhythmical as a soccer pass. Thanks to a partnership between Pearson Farm and Atlanta Way 2.0, a festive outdoor activation called “PeachTrees on Peachtree” (POP as organizers call it) is bringing live fruit-bearing peach trees to Peachtree Street for the first time. From mid-June to late July, these curated micro-groves transported from the red clay of Pearson Farm, are popping up in decorative crates downtown at Underground Atlanta and Woodruff Park to promote nature and sustainability. For decades, visitors have asked why our most famous street didn’t bear a single piece of fruit; this summer, they can walk through an urban orchard micro-grove and then head to a local bar to drink the very asset we’re celebrating.
Even if blueberries surpass peaches as the No. 1 fruit crop, we are still nicknamed the “Peach State,” and our many streets with the name can attest to the moniker. This is a necessary triumph, especially this season. After late freezes threw a wrench into the regional harvest, finding a way to stretch and honor the peach beyond its notoriously short in-season window became a challenge of regional pride.
Watkins’ recipe doesn’t just use Georgia flavors; it reclaims them from the sticky, artificial syrups that usually give peach cocktails a bad name. The backbone of the drink relies on Murrell’s Row Tulsi gin — distilled locally with holy basil grown at Love is Love Farm — giving it an aromatic, deeply complex and herbaceous structure with juicy fruit that cuts through the heat. It’s shaken hard with lime juice, a splash of bittersweet Aperol for that sunset-orange hue and a touch of dry Curaçao (though Watkins notes you can happily swap in local Blended Family Peach Liqueur).
The soul of the drink lives in the house-made syrup, a 24-hour cold-infusion of 10 roughly chopped, coral-blushed Pearson peaches. It is balanced by a sharp bite of fresh ginger and a hint of tarragon. Garnished with a fresh peach slice and an anise-forward tarragon plume, the result is bright, balanced and unpretentious. It tastes like an afternoon porch breeze — if that breeze had an incredible front-of-house hospitality program.
Brown is currently pounding the pavement, distributing recipe cards and custom coasters to backbars across the city to ensure that when the whistles blow, the city is pouring in unison. It’s a gift to Atlanta’s bar scene, a drink designed by local bartenders to introduce travelers to what Georgia actually tastes like when it isn’t trying too hard.
Will it achieve the cult status of the honey deuce? Only time and empty glasses at the end of the match will tell. But sitting at Fawn, sipping on local peaches and local gin, it feels like we’re already winning.
Where to find it this summer:
Find Peach on the Pitch at these and other Atlanta establishments: Fawn Wine & Amaro Bar, Kindred, Leon’s Full Service, Napoleon’s Grill
Mix it at home: The official recipe
Peach on the Pitch
- 1½ ounces Murrell’s Row Tulsi gin
- 1 ounce fresh lime juice
- ¾ ounce Pearson Peach, Ginger & Tarragon syrup (See recipe)
- ½ ounce Aperol
- ½ ounce dry Curaçao (or Blended Family peach liqueur)
- Combine gin, lime juice, syrup, Aperol and dry Curaçao in a shaker filled with ice. Shake vigorously until chilled.
- Strain over ice into a rocks glass. Garnish with a fresh Pearson peach slice and a sprig of tarragon.
Makes 1 cocktail
Pearson Peach, Ginger & Tarragon Syrup
- 4 cups sugar
- 4 cups water
- 10 Pearson peaches, pits removed, roughly chopped
- 1 small (2-inch) piece of peeled and diced ginger
- 1 sprig tarragon
- Combine the water and the sugar in a saucepan.
- Add the peaches, ginger and tarragon. Bring to a boil and remove from heat.
- Cover and refrigerate for 24 hours.
- Strain through a fine mesh sieve before use.
Makes roughly 6 cups