What Is Gatorwine? TikTok's Latest Drink Invention To Stretch Cheap Wine

You're probably familiar with the Biblical tale in which water is turned into wine. But have you heard about the recent viral trend of turning wine into gatorwine? This mixed drink might sound sacrilegious to wine connoisseurs, but it's perfect for anyone who's drinking on a budget or likes to taste-test odd concoctions. True to its name, gatorwine is composed of equal parts Gatorade (specifically the light blue Glacier Freeze flavor) and cheap red wine. The resulting concoction tastes startlingly good without drastically altering the wine's flavor. It might even elevate a particularly lackluster bottle by toning down its bitterness, making it more pleasant to sip on.

Gatorwine is yet another alcoholic beverage trend to go viral on TikTok, joining the dangerously delicious tequila and apple juice hack and college students' beloved BORGs in the social media spotlight. While its exact origins are difficult to pin down — after all, who's to say someone in your hometown hasn't already been making gatorwine for years? — YouTuber Andrew "Babish" Rea helped the mixed drink make its mark online after trying a viewer-submitted recipe for it in a video posted on July 30, 2024. The overarching sentiment from fans? If it gets Babish's approval, it must be good. At its core, gatorwine is fundamentally a good way to stretch out your supply of cheap wine, giving you the most bang (or, rather, booze) for your buck.

Long before sports drinks became popular, bringing about cultural phenomena like betting on the Super Bowl's Gatorade shower color, alcohol was actually a prominent part of athletic events during the late 18th and early 19th centuries. And no, not in the sense of inebriated fans. According to an article published in Ludica, the Italian journal of games and sports, marathon runners to Tour de France cyclists took beer breaks or energizing shots of liquor (the predecessor of GU gel pouches?) during rigorous events. In 1828, a sports writer even advised athletes less keen on strong spirits to try adding red wine to their diets. Perhaps mixing modern electrolyte-packed sports drinks with alcohol, the athlete's former beverage of choice, was fated.

Of course, you need not compete in a race to drink gatorwine. Whether you're working with a bottle of Barefoot or Trader Joe's Charles Shaw (affectionately nicknamed Two Buck Chuck), a heavy splash of Gatorade reliably makes the cheap red more palatable, long-lasting, and may even combat its dehydrating effects. As the most curious epicures have discovered, making gatorwine from a one-to-one ratio of red wine with light blue Gatorade doubles the number of glasses of wine you can pour. And frankly, it's hard to argue with getting two budget-friendly bottles for the price of one. While it seems unlikely, the Glacier Freeze Gatorade flavor isn't overpowering, either — just one reason that it's a surprisingly good mixer for cheap red wine.

Most wine aficionados likely aren't turning a premium glass of cab sav into a mixed drink, but the practice isn't unprecedented with cheap boxed or bottled wines. For instance, the decades-old two-ingredient Spanish cocktail kalimotxo combines cola with red wine for a refreshing beverage. In the same vein, a little Gatorade goes a long way in improving a cheap red. 

Budget-friendly bottles aren't always well-regarded in the wine world, as some of the viniculture processes used to produce them compromise on quality and complexity. For instance, some mass-produced bottles feature additives to boost acidity or sweetness. While cheap wine isn't always outright bad, flavors might be muted, misbalanced, or leave behind less-than-desirable aftertastes. One reason why gatorwine can boost not only quantity but taste lies in Gatorade's ingredients. The sports drink's sugar and sodium likely help balance excessive acidity with slight sweetness. As salt can make chocolate sweeter, you can also use the mineral to prepare tastebuds before wine tastings, similar to how other foods draw out a wine's finer flavors.

Why exactly the light blue Glacier Freeze Gatorade is the go-to flavor for gatorwine is less clear. But if one content creator's taste test on TikTok is to be trusted, other colors of the sports drink don't do this unusual invention justice, resulting in more of a sangria or artificial-flavored cocktail. Experiment at your own risk, but the tried-and-true gatorwine recipe is worth your time if you want to stretch out cheap wine.