Food & Beverage

White Castle savors shortest night with long, tall, cold one

White Castle's "Orange Afterglow" uses a little lager to make the day longer. (Photo provided)

June 19, 2020

Saturday, June 20, is the Summer Solstice, which is also the longest day of the year (in length of daylight, not time since someone will ask). Why does that matter? Well, because White Castle thinks the longest day, also means the shortest night, and that's worth celebrating. So it responded as any rational QSR would — by saying "I'll drink to that."

On Saturday, the privately held burger brand is releasing a trio of what it calls "Cocktails and Craves," a news release said. The pairings each feature a slider and a customized drink with a mixer from the chain's Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, a virtual whirling dervish of beverages in machine form. 

"The night of June 20 won't last long, so we want to help make every moment count," said Jamie Richardson, vice president of White Castle, in the release. "We've come up with three custom cocktail recipes so that Cravers will have what they need to get in the spirit of the celebration."

White Castle is introducing the pairings and cocktail recipes in a series of video posts that will appear on White Castle's Facebook and Instagram accounts as well as its website beginning Saturday and continue over the next few weeks. 

Included in the trio of cocktails are the Orange Afterglow (add lager, and orange to Gingerale), paired with Original Slider, as well as the Castillo Rosado Margarita (add lemon, ice, lemon juice, Triple sec, tequila and pink lemonade) with a Jalapeno Cheese Slider, and Midnight Merlot Punch (add Merlot, Sprite raspberry, ice, pineapple, strawberry, lemon and mint) mated with the Cheese Slider. 

The brand's social media posts will include coupons for free 30-ounce medium drink from one of its Coca-Cola Freestyle machines, with no purchase is necessary. Then customers can purchase the sliders and drinks or buy cocktail ingredients to put together at home to watch the summer solstice sunset and howl if they like, as the moon appears.

The Columbus, Ohio-based chain has more than 365 locations nationally.