The 4-Ingredient Ginger Ale Cocktail That's A Golf Course Favorite

Golfing is a professional sport, of course, but it's also a good way for people to bond. There's something exciting about securing the tee time you'd hoped for and driving out in the golf cart with a few friends to spend hours in the sun on a nice day. If it's your first time out on a course, don't be surprised if you see those around you sipping on transfusions right before hitting the back nine.

A transfusion is a cocktail made from ginger ale, grape juice, lime juice, and vodka. It's a classic golf course drink, but its history is a little muddled. One drink is made with about two shots of vodka, which is a bit more than the usual number of shots in a mixed drink. So, transfusions are a bit stronger than some standard cocktails, but they can be customized to have less if desired. The other ingredients can all be added to taste, but the drink should be finished with ginger ale to create that perfect balance of sweet carbonation.

Little is known about who actually invented this timeless drink. However, there is one person who made it popular: the late president Dwight D. Eisenhower, who was known to enjoy one after a round of golf. Some say he might have even invented it, or perhaps it was invented by someone else specifically for him after he'd described the type of drink he was looking for. Either way, he popularized it in the 1960s, post-presidency, when he spent most days playing his favorite sport at his country club in California.

The name transfusion is likely a play on avoiding a hangover. The drink's ingredients contain electrolytes to rehydrate and ginger in the form of ginger ale to soothe a stomach ache and settle nausea, which some saw as a way to feel better after a night out. If you're not interested in grape juice and ginger ale, you can sub other juices like cranberry or white grape juice, and swap in Sprite or club soda (or even tonic water and seltzer). But to call it a true transfusion, it should contain its original ingredients.