Men's Journal

Become A Legend

“I’ll bet you $100 you can’t do it,” scoffed one of the three British gents laughing over their single malt scotches at the end of the bar.

I’m in Firefly, a breezy cliff-side lounge on Mustique, a tiny island in the Grenadines where Mick Jagger, Tommy Hilfiger, and Princess Margaret are neighbors. He’s referring to the small type at the bottom of the drink menu, which I inadvertently read aloud: Drink all eight champagne cocktails and collect your free, exclusive Mustique Champagne Club polo shirt (not all in one night please!).

“I could drink eight in one night,” I boast to my friend and professional drinking wingman, Hiroki Tada. That’s when the boozy millionaires pie up.

“You just lost $100,” I reply. A slight order-in-the-court ruckus breaks out as we agree on terms: no barfing, no time limit, immediate payment. The bartender creates the first cocktail, a Harvey’s Trouser Fly (champagne, vodka, pink grapefruit juice, and grenadine syrup), and then gently places the other half of the split on the bar. A burst of laughter from the other patron tells me I’ve been set up – eight really means 16. But whatever, I think. It is, after all, only champagne.

“This is bottle number six, right?” is the last thing I remember saying.

When I awake the next morning, I honestly have no idea how things had turned out. But that changes the moment I walk out of the $20 million villa where I am staying (for free, thanks to a rich friend). Apparently word had grown about what was going on at Firefly, and by the time I sucked down my 16th glass of bubbly, the bar was packed. For the next three days, everywhere I walked I’m greeted with pats on the back, offers of free drinks, and shouts of “Good job, lad!” On an island of the ultrarich, I become a local celebrity, and honorary member of their exclusive club – and I’ve got the spiffy off-white polo shirt to prove it. –- James Heidenry

Trip Planner

Where To Stay: Most tourists stay at Cotton House Hotel (from $520 a night; cottonhouse.net), but for a more intimate setting rent a two-bedroom villa with cook, maid, and gardener (from $5,000 a week; mustique-island.com).

Watch Out: Steer clear of the manchineel tree: It’s so poisonous that standing underneath it during a rainstorm can result in an “acid bath” of sap that causes severe burns and possible blindness.