A couple of us Editors got a chance to check out the summer cocktail menu at Big Grove in Downtown Champaign yesterday afternoon. Especially now that we are fully into summer-mode, take a look at what they have listed for the upcoming season. Whether you’re an avid cocktail-drinker, or an amateur experimenter (like myself), there are some options here across the board.
Here’s the entire Seasonal Cocktail menu, and below you’ll see the ones that we got to take on a test drive.
Liquid Sunshine: Geneva gin, fresh lemon & strawberry juice, house-made syrup. Shaken and served over ice.
This was a good start to the tasting menu for the summer cocktails — gin is kind of the best in the summer anyhow.
Fresh Sprig: Sailor Jerry rum, vanilla imfused simple syrup,, fresh mint, lime juice, soda water.
There’s a definite mint empowerment to this cocktail, and this is a mojito with a bit of a twist. Solid.
Moscow Mule: Herrington vodka, Gosling’s ginger beer, house ginger-lime syrup.
Bella Pepper: Geneva gin, fresh lime juice, red bell pepper juice, mint infused syrup.
When first spotted on the menu, I was a bit unsure of how this would go down, bell pepper-focused and all. This one basically takes all the best parts of a bell pepper and morphs it into a drink. Really good to my surprise, as typically you don’t think of bell peppers making a cocktail list.
Tavern Punch: made with fresh, seasonal fruits and herbs. Market Price.
This punch was really tasty, and not too overly-powerful in terms of fruit flavor. Just right on the mark for something a little boozy but more refreshing than anything.
Big Grove Fashion: Buffalo Trace bourbon, Angostura bitters, Demerara sugar, muddled orange zest and Luxardo Maraschino cherry.
Classic cocktail for you, served up.