This summer in the Hamptons, it wasn’t a celebrity sighting or a new beach club that captured attention — it was a smoothie. Plastic cups streaked with lilac swirls of blueberries became the season’s must-have accessory, instantly recognizable across Instagram feeds and TikTok videos. But this wasn’t just another wellness drink. It was the “Velvet Rope” smoothie from Drugstore, a buzzy Amagansett pop-up, created in collaboration with Dorsia, a members-only reservation app that can cost up to $25,000 per year.
What could have been just another wellness trend has instead become a cultural marker — one that highlights how exclusivity, aesthetics, and digital clout are increasingly intertwined in food culture. The smoothie’s rise underscores the growth of reservation-based experiences, the power of social media marketing, and the shifting values of Gen Z consumers who see dining and drinks not just as nourishment, but as identity statements.
The Birth of the Velvet Rope Smoothie
Drugstore, a summer concept by chef and entrepreneur Jeremy Fall, offers a lineup of six smoothies, salads, and burritos marketed with a wellness-first ethos. But among the six, one quickly stood out: the Velvet Rope, a $20 purple-striped creation packed with 15 trendy ingredients like collagen and ashwagandha.
The name itself — Velvet Rope — is no accident. It calls to mind exclusivity and VIP status, a nod to Dorsia’s luxury positioning. The collaboration meant that Dorsia members could preorder the smoothie and skip the line, picking it up at a dedicated window. In the Hamptons, where waiting in line has become part of the summer experience, this simple perk transformed a smoothie into a status symbol.
As Fall explained: “What makes our drinks exclusive is because they’re all over the internet. If they’re not all over the internet, they can’t have anything that draws any sort of air of exclusivity.”
Social Media: The Real Ingredient
Drugstore sold 15,000 smoothies in its first month and topped 25,000 by late August. That level of demand wasn’t driven purely by taste — it was driven by visibility. Nearly every customer took photos of their smoothie, and employees admitted that most people ordered them “because of how they look.”
This is where the Hamptons smoothie echoes another viral phenomenon: the Erewhon x Hailey Bieber smoothie in Los Angeles, a $19 strawberry-glow drink that became a must-Instagram item. Both prove that in 2025, a drink isn’t just a beverage — it’s an accessory.
On TikTok and Instagram, the Velvet Rope smoothie became shorthand for summer in the Hamptons, as recognizable as white linen outfits or Montauk sunsets. To carry one was to project not just health-consciousness but also insider status.
Reservation Culture Expands Beyond Restaurants
While the Hamptons smoothie may seem like a novelty, it represents something bigger: the expansion of reservation culture. Traditionally associated with fine dining, reservations have become a new marker of privilege across multiple industries.
Apps like Dorsia, which guarantees hard-to-get tables at high-end restaurants in exchange for steep annual fees and minimum spends, have reframed reservations as memberships. By extending that model into smoothies, Dorsia signaled that access itself is now a product.
Marc Lotenberg, Dorsia’s founder, described the collaboration as “frictionless” — and that was exactly the appeal. For members, it wasn’t just about skipping a line; it was about being recognized as part of an exclusive circle. In the age of seen-and-be-seen dining, even a smoothie can be imbued with social capital if it’s distributed through the right channel.
The Price of Exclusivity
At $20 before add-ons or tax, the Velvet Rope smoothie sits at a luxury price point. Yet in the Hamptons, where $30 cocktails and $200 dinners are commonplace, it feels relatively aligned with the environment.
For Fall, the cost reflects the quality of the ingredients — organic fruits, functional add-ins, collagen boosters — but for consumers, it also reflects the intangible value of belonging. Buying the smoothie isn’t just about nutrition; it’s about identity, signaling that you’re part of the cultural moment.
This mirrors broader consumer trends. Gen Z and younger millennials are reallocating spending away from alcohol and toward premium non-alcoholic beverages — from kombucha to adaptogen tonics. For this group, drinks are less about intoxication and more about wellness, lifestyle, and optics.
Gen Z and the Rise of “Drink Culture”
The Velvet Rope smoothie’s success reflects a larger generational shift. Gen Z is driving a surge in new beverage categories, from functional energy drinks to mocktails, positioning drinks as both wellness tools and fashion statements.
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They prioritize ingredients with benefits (ashwagandha for stress, collagen for skin health).
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They are willing to pay premium prices for products tied to lifestyle and status.
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They value Instagrammable aesthetics, with packaging and presentation often influencing purchasing decisions more than flavor.
In this context, the Velvet Rope smoothie is perfectly positioned. It’s recognizable on sight, tied to exclusivity via Dorsia, and packed with buzzworthy ingredients.
The Hamptons as a Testing Ground for Lifestyle Trends
The Hamptons has long been a summer playground for wealth and influence, making it a natural test market for lifestyle trends that later spread nationwide. Just as Montauk surf culture once bled into mainstream fashion, the Velvet Rope smoothie may mark the beginning of a broader wave of reservation-linked, viral-ready wellness products.
By blending exclusivity, wellness, and aesthetics, the Hamptons smoothie is not just a seasonal gimmick — it’s a blueprint for how brands can tap into FOMO-driven consumption in an era when identity and consumption are deeply intertwined.
Challenges: The Pressure of Virality
Going viral brings visibility — but also risk. Fall noted that customers now arrive with high expectations: the smoothie must look exactly like the Instagram photos, taste identical to what they’ve seen hyped online, and deliver an experience worth $20.
This creates pressure for consistency at scale. In an environment where a single TikTok complaint can go viral, maintaining quality control is just as important as building buzz.
For now, Drugstore employees say they’ve kept pace with demand, but the broader lesson is that viral success must be paired with operational excellence.
Conclusion: More Than a Smoothie
The Velvet Rope smoothie is more than a Hamptons novelty; it’s a cultural symbol of how reservation culture, social media, and Gen Z consumer behavior are intersecting. What might look like a $20 lilac drink is actually a case study in how exclusivity and identity are marketed in the modern age.
From Erewhon in Los Angeles to Drugstore in the Hamptons, the era of drinks as status symbols is here to stay. Whether through members-only windows or Instagrammable aesthetics, beverages are becoming both lifestyle markers and social accessories.
As Jeremy Fall put it: “I’m going to go get this smoothie or order it, and then I’m going to walk around with it. 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.”
In today’s culture, the cup in your hand says as much about you as the clothes you wear or the car you drive. And this summer in the Hamptons, it said: Velvet Rope.
