Some even insist that the drink is at its best in its artificially sweetened, Day-Glo glory, and revel in its kitsch appeal. On the whole, however, the Miami Vice has resisted attempts to go upscale. Around 2017 for example, the Broken Shaker Miami experimented with a version (no longer available) that featured fresh strawberries and unsweetened coconut cream. Since its popularization, there have been numerous attempts to elevate the formula. While it’s difficult to pinpoint where it started, it’s easy to see why it caught on quickly at beachside bars: “Combining the two became another menu item, without doing anything extra,” explains Simó. Suddenly, Miami became this cool place, and someone named the drink after the show.” “Everyone wanted to dress like Crockett and Tubbs: the linen suits, the pastel T-shirts, the Ferrari Testarossa. “It was an influential TV show from a style perspective,” Simó recalls. But the drink’s name and identity crystallized in the 1980s, when the pastel glory of Miami Vice ruled the small screen from 1984 to 1989.
