The ube-flavored Grimace is one of the intriguing cocktails available at Mixtape in Valparaiso.

Aaron Dorman

The Drink(s): Grimace, Bicycle Race

The Bar Manager: Cara Glassen

The Bar: Mixtape Social Kitchen

55 Franklin St., Valparaiso, IN 46383

In June of this year, Grimace, the pudgy purple McDonald's mascot, threw out the first pitch for the New York Mets, after which they were the best team in baseball.

So Grimace and his purple shake have been having a moment. I was thus surprised that, when I went for the Grimace cocktail at Mixtape in Valparaiso, bar manager Cara Glassen warned me it was a little special: you might love it, you might, well, grimace.

"We wanted Grimace to be its own thing," Glassen said. "Maybe a play on a pina colada, but instead of pineapple it would be the ube."

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Ube is a Japanese sweet potato with a distinct coloring, and the ube extract that goes into the Grimace gives it a deep purple color. Along with coconut milk, muddled blackberries and Chambord (black raspberry liquor) it tastes like an elevated, classier version of the berry-tastic shake it's named after.

If you're into berries, a slightly more accessible option at Mixtape is the "Bicycle Race," a pink sour-style cocktail flavored with rhubarb and almond. Both drinks have a really nice fruity (berry) base, but the Bicycle has less of a "mouth feel" and the alcohol aftertaste is less notable. The customer sitting next to me told me they always order the Bicycle when they come to Mixtape.

Nearly all the drinks are named after cultural icons from the 80s, Glassen said, adding that the Bicycle was named for the Queen song.

"It's different than anything you can get around here," Glassen said of the Bicycle. "The almond bitters give it almost a pie feeling and taste."

Each of the drinks at Mixtape, Glassen explained, is meant to be a riff on a classic cocktail variety. The Bicycle is their version of a "sour," while the menu also includes a coffee-based cocktail and a "mixtini." Overall, the drinks menu is focused on gin, itself a berry-flavored liquor.

Valpo's cocktail and bar scene can be just as competitive as its dining landscape (Mixtape also has a fun, eclectic "grub menu"; I recommend the salt and pepper wings and shishito peppers). Glassen said there's a lot of creativity that goes into coming up with their menu; the fall and winter lend themselves to incorporating cinnamon, and Glassen has been playing around with some nut-flavored liquors and cocktail additives.

"It's important to make things different," Glassen said. "Have some shaken drinks, some stirred. When you come up with a good drink and everyone likes it, it's very rewarding."

Berry rewarding?

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Food Scene Reporter

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