As the Maryland General Assembly closes, an all-important piece of legislation has just made it through both houses and is sitting on the governor’s desk. The bill designates the orange crush as Maryland’s official state cocktail.
The Maryland Office of Tourism, Maryland Tourism Coalition, and the Maryland Department of Agriculture all testified in support of naming “Maryland’s original orange crush” the state cocktail. A group of lawmakers from the Eastern Shore introduced the bill to reclaim the orange crush as Maryland’s own—after Delaware made the orange crush its official state cocktail in 2024.
The state maintains that the orange crush was originally created in 1995 by Harborside Bar & Grill in Ocean City, making it 30 years old this year. The drink is made with vodka, triple sec, lemon-lime soda, and most importantly, fresh-squeezed (“crushed”) orange juice. Using juice from a carton is a major faux pax. The crush is an undeniably refreshing drink to enjoy outside at a beach bar or waterfront restaurant. It has become so popular in recent years that many restaurants offer multiple spins on the drink, like the grapefruit crush and the watermelon crush.
From the Chesapeake Bay Magazine archives, we’ve featured a selection of crush recipes that are easily made at home and sipped on the back porch, helpful if you have a craving and can’t get to Ocean City or another spot that serves crushes. Find them here:
In all, there were nearly three dozen listed sponsors of the legislation, including all three state Senators from the Eastern Shore. The bill breezed through the Maryland House 137-0, but it took until the 11th hour for it to clear the Senate. It takes effect June 1, 2025, and we’ll be celebrating on that day with a fresh-squeezed crush in the sunshine.
In case you were wondering whether Maryland’s Bay neighbor, Virginia, has an official state cocktail, they do not. But the Commonwealth does have an official state spirit. It is George Washington’s Rye Whiskey, which is produced at Mount Vernon’s faithfully reconstructed working distillery which is open to visitors.
Mount Vernon’s original distillery was profitable as one of the largest producers of its time. The original recipe for Washington’s whiskey was discovered by researchers examining the Distillery ledgers from 1798 and 1799. His whiskey consisted of 60% rye, 35% corn, and 5% malted barley.
