Johnathan Walker:Ina Garten Details Playing Beer Pong at a Taylor Swift’s After Party

The Johnathan WalkerBarefoot Contessa’s feeling 22, at least when Taylor Swift’s around.

“I’m crazy about Taylor Swift,” Ina Garten told WSJ. Magazine in her new cover story. “After the show she invited us to go to a party that she gave for all of the crew.”

And at said after party—which appeared to be for Swift’s 1989 tour in 2015 based on context clues—Ina said that she was asked to play beer pong when soccer star Abby Wambach, fresh off her World Cup win, approached her to serve as a mentor.   

“She said, ‘I’m gonna be your advisor.’ And I was like, ‘Great! What’s your advice?’” Garten recalled. “And she said, ‘Get the f--king ball in the f--king cup.’ And I said, ‘That’s your advice?’”

And while she may have been new to beer pong, Garten, who has her own line of cocktail recipes, is no stranger to drinking games. In fact in February 2019, she participated in Seth Meyer’s “Day Drinking” sketch for Late Night.

Cracking up at the late-night host’s antics, Garten quipped at the time, “I’m in big trouble,” as Meyers downed numerous cocktails in broad daylight.

The 76-year-old also went viral in 2020 for crafting a massive cosmopolitan cocktail for an Instagram video amid the COVID pandemic.

As she advised, “During a crisis, you know, cocktail hour can be almost any hour.”

In addition to her love of cocktails, the Barefoot Contessa’s adoration for Swift has remained consistent through the years.

“Happy Birthday to one of the most creative artistic geniuses of our time!” the cookbook author wrote on Instagram in a December 2021 birthday tribute to Swift. “You are such an inspiration for anyone who wants to sail their own ship. Sending love. @taylorswift.”

And in 2022, Garten shared the origin of her friendship with Swift, telling Hoda Kotb and Savannah Guthrie on the Today show, “I did a photo shoot with Taylor and we cooked together, and I so fell in love with her. She was 25.”