I was scared. The orange and blue eye of a hurricane looked like a tie-dye psychedelic spiral. “It’s like a boogie board print,” said my friend. “Florida Gators colors,” said another. It was frothy and seemed to come alive.
One sip of the Serene Queen at Austin’s in Serenbe, and you quickly realize how balanced and crushable this cocktail really is. Tequila and grapefruit play well with fatty but light coconut milk and lavender syrup. Lime juice gives it a lift; the bitters hunker it down. The bright blue color is from spirulina, a superfood blue-green algae, and the orange is from Angostura bitters. The ingredients are sprayed from an atomizer, a device that turns liquids into a fine spray, onto frothy coconut milk and then swirled.
“I will have an idea of ingredients that’ll go well together,” says Cedar Meyers, beverage director at Austin’s. “Tequila, lime, and grapefruit go well together; that’s a paloma. Then I’ll think of what else will go with that. Tequila and coconut go together, too. What if I just Frankenstein these ideas together? Why wouldn’t that work?”
“What if I just Frankenstein these ideas together? Why wouldn’t that work?”
Cedar Meyers, beverage director at Austin’s
The monster cocktail, which turns a shade of green as the colors blend, is surprisingly unfussy. It isn’t fat-washed, a mighty and tired trend at cocktail bars that lends spirits a silky texture. Instead, the drink gets its creaminess from coconut milk, used here as an egg white alternative. Meyers says she enjoys fat-washed cocktails, but they require hefty prep time, and she wanted something that could be made quickly from fresh ingredients.
“People say, ‘I don’t know about all that,’” says Meyers. “But when they try it, it’s not what they expected. The drink is so soft and delicate.” She began as a server at the adjacent restaurant, the Hill, in 2019 and worked her way up to lead bartender, weekend manager, and transitioned to Austin’s as beverage director.
Austin’s opened in 2024 at the wellness community Serenbe, about 45 minutes south of Atlanta. It nails the classic cocktails and also riffs on some creative ones, including nonalcoholic options and a tiny-tini (half-sized martini) served with fries and salad. The bar at happy hour from 5 to 6 p.m. becomes a watering hole for local residents. A flight of sparkling wine alongside caviar service, which comes with a French omelet, assorted toppings, and an ounce of Arrivato Kaluga reserve caviar, is a must.
Meyers has new cocktails in the works for Valentine’s Day, designed as pairs with opposing flavors. In the meantime, give this hidden gem of an ugly Betty cocktail a try. It’s silky, floral, and punches with equal parts beauty and beast.
