When the weather gets warm enough in the Land of Pleasant Living, an inevitable thirst emerges. Not for any particular can of beer, mind you. Not even an ice-cold Natty Boh. Instead, it’s our state’s undisputed drink of summer—the one and only orange crush.

And this year, Governor Wes Moore made it official, rightfully designating this strong, citrusy, ice-cold nectar of the gods as Maryland’s state cocktail, come June 1.

Which is no surprise. All across the state, and now even up and down the East Coast, there are fans of this refreshingly bittersweet drink, made with citrus-flavored vodka, fresh-squeezed citrus juice, a triple sec-style liqueur, and lemon-lime soda over ice—like Maryland’s tastier screwdriver. And for at least the last 40 years now, Ocean City has been the drink’s epicenter, and in many ways, where it all began.

“It’s a rite of passage,” say Mike Strawley, co-owner of The Bearded Clam on Wicomico Street, declared by many as the original home of the orange crush. “We’ve been around long enough that people’s kids are coming in now, getting the same crushes that their parents drank.”

There’s debate over the origin story of the orange crush, of course. West Ocean City’s Harborside Bar & Grill claims to be the “home of the original” since 1993, serving “well over a million of them,” says co-owner Chris Wall. Meanwhile, many locals believe that Strawley’s circa-’78 bar was the first to serve some version.

Back in the ’40s, his grandparents started slinging “squeezers” at their original establishment, just up the seaboard in Cape May, New Jersey. When his dad took over the business and moved down to the Maryland beaches, and Ocean City, he brought the tradition with him, with fading Kodachrome photographs of the early Clam showing the same hanging fruit baskets and steel juicers still used in the bar today.

“I never asked how they came to be, because they were just always there,” says Strawley, 56, who learned the recipe on day one as a barback at age 19. “I can make them in my sleep.”

The ingredients are simple, and largely the same from bar to bar, but perfecting the ratio is somewhat of an art form. Too much triple sec? The drink’s too sweet. Too much soda? It’s too weak. Fresh juice is always key, hence halves of fruit being squeezed to order, with the Clam moving through more cases of citrus than it cares to count.

And then there’s the technique, often inducing a Pavlov’s dog-like reaction in onlookers, who then generally can’t help but order one. “You can’t not love the show,” says Wall.

These days, there are also grapefruit crushes, and half-and-halfs with both juices, and “skinny” versions that swap Sprite for club soda. Some places like Seacret’s and Fish Tales even blend them into frozen drinks. But every iteration, as the name implies, is often dangerously easy to drink.

“A lot of people come in for one before they even check into their hotels,” says Strawley. “It tastes like vacation.”

Oh, and in a town run on Natural Light—aka “Delmarva champagne”—the Clam also keeps a steady supply of Natty Boh in stock for its bevy of Baltimore patrons.

“People get excited to see it, I can tell you that,” says Strawley. “We’ve had it so long, it’s cool again.”

Whether you’re downy ocean or hanging at home this summer, here are a few of our fresh-squeezed faves:

Ocean City

• The Bearded Clam, 15 Wicomico St.
• Harborside Bar & Grill, 12841 Harbor Rd.
• Mackey’s, 5311 Coastal Hwy.
• M.R. Ducks Bar & Grill, 311 Talbot St.
• The Wedge, 806 S. Atlantic Ave.

Baltimore

• Mama’s on the Half Shell, 2901 O’Donnell St.
• Thames Street Oyster House, 1728 Thames St.
• Hard Yacht Cafe, 8500 Cove Rd.
• Nick’s Fish House, 2600 Insulator Dr.
• Section 771, 504 Washington Blvd.

This piece originally ran in our June 2024 cover story, “Greetings From Ocean City,” which you can explore, here. 

Once upon a time, the area south of Federal Hill but north of the Hanover Street Bridge was basically a no-man’s-land for those seeking fine food and drink. Sure, there were odd corner bars here and there (which we love), but to get an expertly mixed cocktail or a beer other than a Boh, you’d have to go elsewhere.

In 2018, Andrew Carter and his business partner, Jesse Selke, recognized that void, and wanted to fill it. AJ’s on Hanover was born.

“At the time there wasn’t really a push for food in the neighborhood,” Carter says. “We decided to capture the niche market with an
upscale tavern—not the experience if you went to a Cindy Wolf or an Atlas Group restaurant, but not stuff that’s dropped out of a bag.”

Four years later, AJ’s has become a popular spot, maintaining its feel as a neighborhood gathering place while offering a menu that is a bit elevated.

When we stopped in on a cold Tuesday night in November, it was hopping. Trivia, no doubt, was a big draw, but so were the crushes and crunch wraps that make AJ’s unique.

First, the drinks. Crushes are a Maryland favorite, and thus almost every bar feels compelled to offer them. However, only a handful of places do them right, and AJ’s is among them. The key is the ice.

“We have a special crusher that takes it down to almost snowball consistency,” Carter says. “It’s just a little thicker.”

There are several interesting varieties, including Key lime pie and a seasonal apple cider version, but the most popular is the SoBo lemon stick crush. Made with Deep Eddy Lemon vodka, fresh lemon juice, simple syrup, and soda water, it’s served with a peppermint stick. Crushes are often associated with summertime, but this one has a comforting sweetness that makes it feel like a great drink for the winter holidays, too.

Also perfect for cold weather is the Cool Bean, made with Jameson Cold Brew, Kahlua, hazelnut liqueur, brown sugar simple syrup, and cold brew coffee. It’s tasty even for a non-coffee drinker, but fair warning: If you consume one at night, your bedtime could be affected.

After the pandemic, Carter and Selke wanted to change AJ’s approach to food. With the help of a consultant, they came up with an idea we find inspiring. Along with the requisite burger and four varieties of decadent mac and cheeses (the bacon broccoli one is excellent), they added crunch wraps to the menu. If that term sounds familiar, it should.

“I love them, I get them from Taco Bell all the time,” Carter says. Now, many of his customers get them from AJ’s.

Essentially a sandwich stuffed into a tortilla, the crunch comes from a fried tortilla strip in the middle. The salmon version we tried also had bacon, which provided even more crunch. It’s a fun riff on fast food, taken to the next level.

Carter estimates that about 75 percent of AJ’s customers live within walking distance of the bar. If they were thirsty or hungry back in the day, they’d have to hoof it a lot farther.

There aren’t many sounds that tickle Tom Leonard’s ears more in Pickles Pub than the roar of the crowd from across the street at Oriole Park at Camden Yards.

There’s a slight delay on the television feed of the ballgame, so Leonard, who co-owns the bar, knows that, in a matter of seconds, most of his customers (assuming the Yankees or Red Sox aren’t in town) will break into cheers of their own.

Hearing those hoots and hollers on April 8, when the O’s played their first home game in front of fans in 18 months, was like “a large weight coming off my shoulders,” he says. The bar was packed, which in the spring of 2021 means something different than it has for most of Pickles’ more than 30 years as the preeminent before-, during-, and after- the-game watering hole.

Despite coming off a difficult year, business has been booming since this baseball season began.

“It’s like night and day,” says Leonard, who is also the bar’s general manager. “Weather and baseball are huge factors for us. Things look a lot brighter.”

Leonard and his partner never considered closing Pickles permanently, but they made changes to the way they do business in order to mitigate dramatic drops in sales.

Fans who return this season might notice that pizza is no longer available, but staples like the house-made crab pretzel, wings, fries, and tots still are. (Curiously, fried pickles are absent from the Pickles menu.) One of the biggest changes in the kitchen is that meat for burgers is now ground on site daily. Pickles uses a mixture of 40 percent brisket and 60 percent chuck, and the result is a delicious, flavorful, and juicy patty.

At the many picnic tables outside and tables and bar spots in the expansive interior, no shortage of Budweisers, Miller Lites, and Natty Bohs flow. Buckets of 16-ounce domestics go for $17, while premiums, which include Union Duckpin, Flying Dog’s Snake Dog IPA, and Terrapin IPA, are $24.

Don’t sleep on Pickles’ fresh-squeezed crushes. Lemon, lime, and grapefruit are available, but how could an Orioles fan pass on the orange variety, made with Deep Eddy orange vodka, triple sec, and Sierra Mist. A 32-ounce cup of refreshment costs $9.99.

On a Thursday late in April, about an hour before the Orioles went on to beat the Yankees in a glorious Thursday afternoon extra-inning affair, the crowds were back at both Pickles and the ballpark, and all felt right with the world.

“With us, there was never a question of ‘Are we going to make it?’ It was more like, ‘How much of a sacrifice are we going to have to make?’” Leonard says. “My partner and I both realized that we’re where we’re supposed to be, and we’re doing what we want to do.”

Thousands of baseball fans who have flocked back to Pickles this season know exactly what he means.

Rachel Sheubrooks started serving Orioles fans when she was 14, and she hasn’t stopped since. Throughout high school—when she wasn’t doing schoolwork or playing field hockey for the Catonsville Comets—she worked at Boog’s BBQ inside Camden Yards.

“That was my first job,” she recalls. “I have such great memories there. My son’s second birthday was in September, and Boog [Powell] signed every single one of his invitations.”

After a brief move to South Carolina after college, Sheubrooks returned to Baltimore and found herself managing Sliders Bar & Grille on Washington Boulevard. The famed Orioles headquarters opened in 1990—the same year that Camden Yards was starting to be built—and became known for its location 771 feet away from home plate. (Sheubrooks says that the exact proximity was measured by construction workers who built the stadium.)

In the spring of 2007, Sliders’ previous owner was readying for retirement and offered to sell the bar to Sheubrooks. The sale officially went through at the end of March that year, giving Sheubrooks and her team just over a week to make the necessary preparations for opening day.

“The previous owner had already been halfway out the door,” she says. “So we basically had 10 days to get our lives together. At the time, my cousin was running Luckie’s Tavern at Power Plant Live, and he sent all of his workers over to help me. We just kind of banged it out. It was scary, but really fun at the same time.”

Though now they are certainly less rushed, Sheubrooks’ team puts the same attention and precision into preparing for opening day at Sliders currently as they did 11 years ago. In anticipation for March 29, staffers have already begun cleaning the entire space, polishing Sheubrooks’ 400-piece bobblehead collection, and scheduling the necessary plumbing and electrical inspections.

“You always want to know ahead of time if something is on the brink of breaking,” she says. “That’s not what you want to happen on opening day. And each year you learn from your mistakes. We always have meetings before and after opening day with all of our staff, and everyone has to go around the room and say one thing that worked and one thing that has to change next year.”

Sheubrooks likes to keep things fresh for every opener, whether that means introducing new signage, windows, or menu items. This time around, the pub has a fresh coat of paint.

Fans can also look forward to additional outdoor bars, as well as a revamped game-day menu with eats including house-made Old Bay chips, loaded tots, and a “Crack of the Bat” wrap filled with spicy barbecue chicken.

Of course, there will also be Sliders’ signature 32-oz. “bird bowls” filled with Orange Crush, and plenty of Natty Boh to go around. The pub became a full-blown Boh bar last year, and now boasts a colorful mural of Mr. Boh sliding into home plate on the outside of the building.

In order to accommodate the swarms of fans that show up to celebrate, Sheubrooks schedules more than double the amount of staff that is needed at Sliders on any typical day of service. On opening day, she employs nearly 22 security guards and nine bar-backs. (Each position usually requires a maximum of two people on a regular day.) And the number of bartenders increases from six to 42. 

Though Sheubrooks herself doesn’t typically work nights, she is planning to work a 24-hour shift starting at 2 a.m. on opening day. 

“This year we’re going to set up the night before so that everyone can just keep the momentum going,” she says. “I’ve been taking Emergen-C every day—I’ll have an extra Red Bull. It’s one day a year, so you have to be pumped.”

Minnie Shorter, retired:
“Watching the sun set at Lewes Beach in Delaware.”

Amber Larimore, brand sales rep, Boar’s Head Deli:
“Listening to a jam session at Bottle & Cork in Dewey Beach.”

Josh Lukin, director, MLB Advanced Media:
“An iced latte from The Coffee Mill in Rehoboth at 9 a.m. on the boardwalk.”

Man Woman Statue via Twitter (@manwomanstatue):
“I’d say, ‘getting a tan,’ but it’s hard to get an even one on both of me.”

Katie Blaha, alumni and special events coordinator, McDonogh School:
“Laying out on the [O.C.] beach all day, followed by Grotto Pizza and capped off with an Orange Crush at The Starboard!”

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