This summer’s viral Hamptons smoothie shows just how widespread reservation culture has become

Walk around the Hamptons this summer, and you might run into people holding a plastic cup full of lilac stripes. Look a little closer, and you’ll see two small words printed on the 20-ounce container: Dorsia and Drugstore.

The words might not mean much to the untrained eye, but they represent the Hamptons‘ new drink of choice, from Drugstore, a summer pop-up in Amagansett operating out of a coffee shop. It’s billed as a clean-eating spot, where burritos and salads are labeled with their largely organic ingredients. But more than anything else, Drugstore is known for its viral, easily identifiable smoothies.

Of the six smoothies, the “Velvet Rope” is particularly notable — and not just for its purple stripes and 15-item-long ingredient list, which includes ashwagandha and collagen, along with typical fruits. This summer, Drugstore is partnering with Dorsia, a members-only reservation that can cost $25,000 a year and mandates a spending minimum at each table. Dorsia members can preorder the Velvet Rope and pick up their smoothie from a special window, avoiding the line (and, intentionally or not, signaling their membership).

“It was frictionless,” Marc Lotenberg, founder and CEO of Dorsia, told Business Insider about the collaboration. “And it got a ton of traction.”

Jeremy Fall, the chef behind Drugstore, said he was surprised by the number of Dorsia members who have gotten the Velvet Rope. Employees told Business Insider on a recent Wednesday that while most people who stop by aren’t members, they make up a significant contingent of customers.

“That makes people feel like they’re a part of something,” Fall said of the partnership, which he sees as mutually beneficial. “A lot of the time that stems from memberships.”

Social media has been key to the success

Social media is full of photos and discussions about the smoothies, with some comparing them to luxury grocer Erewhon’s Hailey Bieber smoothie. When Business Insider visited Drugstore, two women made the same comparison after seeing the drink.

Drugstore say they sold more than 15,000 smoothies across flavors within its first month, and more than 25,000 as of August 27. Fall didn’t intend to go viral, and Lotenberg said that any product chasing that goal will probably fail. Blowing up online actually increases the pressure, Fall said, since everyone now walks in expecting the drink to look and taste exactly as it does on Instagram.

The smoothie’s distinct look is part of what helped it take off, Fall said, and workers agreed. An employee making the smoothies told Business Insider that “most people ask for them because of how they look,” while an employee at the coffee shop said nearly everyone takes a picture of their drink.

“The way people look at drinks is that they sort of say a lot about their identity,” Fall said. Nobody, he added, walks around the Hamptons flaunting or posting about their Drugstore burrito.

A drink as an accessory

Exclusivity is baked into the smoothie’s name itself — Fall said that Dorsia came up with Velvet Rope after seeing the characteristic purple stripes. Beyond the blueberries in the smoothie, the title calls up images of VIPs, like those on the app.

“What makes our drinks ‘exclusive’ is because they’re all over the internet,” Fall said. “If they’re not all over the internet, they can’t have anything that draws any sort of air of exclusivity. It’s completely counterintuitive.”

Given that they cost $20 before add-ins or tax, the smoothies are exclusively priced, too, though maybe not by Hamptons’ standards. Fall said the price has to do with the ingredients.

Gen Z is driving a surge in new drink options across price points, especially as younger people move away from alcohol. They’re also spending more on premium grocery stores, and restaurants are becoming more of a status symbol.

If Drugstore’s instantly recognizable smoothie and members-only pick-up window are any indication, the interest in seen-and-be-seen dining doesn’t seem to be slowing down.

“I’m going to go get this smoothie or order it, and then I’m going to walk around with it,” Fall said. “And because I care enough to do that, it shows that I am part of a subset of people that are cool enough to drink so and so.”

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