This post was originally published on June 26, 2015.
Vail, Colorado– a place of mountainous beauty, warm summer sunshine, and innovative cocktails. My boyfriend and I stopped in Vail the other weekend on our way back from a music venue out west. We decided to dine lavishly (because, hey, we were in Vail!) at Up the Creek, located on the edge of Gore Creek. Up the Creek is Vail’s only creekside restaurant and I highly recommend going there to dine– if not, at least to have cocktail. The dishes were exquisite and expensive, but delicious. I ordered the brunch special aka the crab cake benny and the crab cakes were out of this world, especially being that they were served to me in a landlocked state and not closer to the sea. For my drink, I was torn between the build-your-own Bloody Mary bar and the enticing Bloody Marytini because the server mentioned there was a green Bloody mix at the bar and a Bloody mixed with a dirty martini sounded eclectic and awesome.
Sunday Build-Your-Own Bloody Mary Bar
I ended up ordering the Bloody Marytini and my boyfriend made his own Bloody at the bar using the green mix. And man… was that green tomatillo Bloody mix gooood! It was full of spices (lots of different types of pepper) and had citrus notes. The end bite was spicy and there were hints of habanero. I would go back to Up the Creek to order my own green Bloody Mary, but below you can read my raving review of the Bloody Marytini (I would also order this again 🙂 ). The only downside of the cocktail was that it cost a whopping $12.. but it is Vail!
AT A GLANCE 20/20
Up the Creek’s Bloody Marytini was quite opulent; it was served in a martini glass and, simply put, looked classy as f**k. The appearance was clean and the cocktail was a bright red hue– it looked super tomato-y. I garnished the Bloody Marytini myself since there was a Bloody Mary bar– I used purple olives, a pepperoncini, green olives, peppers, a lemon, and a delicious Dill pickle. INSERT QUOTE HERE!!!!!
GARNISH 18/20
Each garnish ingredient I added to my Bloody Marytini was tasty! The pickle was especially delicious and hit that perfect spot– right in between full “pickle” and cucumber. The garnishes were attractive at the Bloody Mary bar, as well; all ingredients were fresh and popping with color. As there were many garnish options, there was ample room for creativity. The only thing that could have been added was bacon. There were many briney options at the Bloody Mary bar, which I LOVE!
SPICE 19/20
The Bloody Marytini definitely had a bite to it. When I first sipped the Marytini, it was quite mild but got spicy at the end of each ship. Salt, horseradish, and pepper were pronounced within the cocktail. The olive juice also added extra levels of sodium, which resulted in a great, complex flavor.
TEXTURE & ACIDITY 19/20
The texture of the Bloody Marytini was pretty thick, but the drink went down nicely. It was full of sustenance and surely helped cure my hangover. There was no acidity present and no feelings of heartburn!
UNIQUENESS 20/20
In terms of uniqueness, the Bloody Marytini is up there with the greats. It was super innovative and resulted from the combination of two of my favorite things– Bloody Marys and dirty martinis– served in a martini glass! I loved the addition of olive juice (a lot of olive juice to be correct) to the Bloody Mary and the substantial amount of vodka used in the cocktail (martinis tend to have a lot of vodka usually.. good keepin’ up, Up the Creek!). I loved the use of Bakon Vodka, as well. The Bloody Marytini was complex and classy altogether.
FINAL SCORE 96/100
Check out Up the Creek here. Up the Creek is located at:
223 Gore Creek Dr #103, Vail, CO, 81657