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The Urban Grill has a martini menu that seems intent on tapping into its patrons’ guilty pleasures, spanning from chocolate- covered pretzel to Snickers to red velvet cake. But with Halloween approaching, we decided to taste a concoction with a main ingredient that puts a new spin on a childhood confectionery favorite: the Urban Cotton Candy martini.
Bartender and mixologist Angela Finnell, 30, pulled a chilled martini glass from a cooler and placed an oversized tuft of blue cotton candy inside. She then vigorously shook a shaker with a mixture of ice, Pinnacle cotton candy vodka, Kinky liqueur and a secret fruit juice mixture that she divulged is cranberry and sour mix.
The drink is served tableside as the mixture is poured over the top of the tuft of cotton candy, dissolving the spun sugar into a cloudy navy blue cocktail.
Finnell said the drink is an overwhelming favorite of the bar and restaurant’s patrons, and it’s not hard to discern why. One would expect a drink made with a puff of dissolved sugar to pack a wallop of sweetness. But strangely enough, the Urban Cotton Candy martini has only a slight cotton candy taste, enough to win over those who both love and loathe the childhood favorite, and its sweetness is unexpectedly subdued.
Urban Grill made its own cotton candy, and not just in blue, until recently, when its machine broke down. Finnell said the machine makes the entire restaurant smell of cotton candy; the Urbandale bar and grill is planning to replace the equipment in the near future.
For now it’s bringing in cotton candy from the outside, so the popular drink is still available.
