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Favorite place to see and be seen: Experimentation is on view at Busch’s Grove
• by Andrea Hellmann • Photo by Katherine Bish
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Busch’s Grove has been around in one form or another since 1890, but with its showstopping décor and sophisticated menu, it is the definition of modernity – a fitting atmosphere for this year’s favorite place to see and be seen. The large bar, centered squarely in the middle of the room, cries out for sexy socialites to take a seat and then a sip. A nightly live band helps draw a crowd, but with more than 30 scotches, a lengthy martini list and a drink menu limited only by your imagination, it is the cocktails that keep the polished and well-heeled clientele coming back for more.
As bar manager, Ryland Adams is charged with creating a drink menu innovative enough to please his customers’ discriminating palates. It’s a balancing act, though, as some of Busch’s Grove’s most popular drinks are those you would find on any drink menu, trendy or classic, in St. Louis. (“If I ever took the Mint Julep off the list, I would be killed,” Adams said.)
Adams’ solution is to keep things interesting by adding unique twists to the familiar favorites. “I think people will drink regular mojitos until they are blue in the face,” he said, “but they are always willing to try something different if presented with the opportunity.”
Like Adams’ Bacardi Limón mojito. Blended with crushed mint, simple syrup, Bacardi Limón rum, a splash of soda and fresh lime juice, this drink was both refreshing and delicious. Or the pomegranate martini, which bubbled like a hot tub from a piece of dry ice (the stuff is added to all but the creamy martinis for a steamy, sexy effect). Pearl Pomegranate vodka and Cointreau were mixed with fresh pomegranate juice, and the resulting sweet flavor masked virtually all of the alcohol. Rather than the traditional cherry, the drink was garnished with fresh raspberries and blueberries. Like the bar’s patrons, it made an impression by looks alone.
Adams tries to mix up the drink list about once every two months. He keeps up with what liquors are hot, such as green tea vodka, by visiting other local bars and exchanging notes with friends who manage bars across the country. “I was talking to a friend who manages a bar in New York before Stella Artois really exploded in the St. Louis market,” Adams said. “He said they couldn’t keep Stella on tap. Six months later, I had the same problem.”
Most recently, Adams has introduced two brand-new liquors to Busch’s Grove: Tommy Bahama rum, which he uses in a Tommy Bahama mojito, and Tanqueray Rangpur, a new lime-flavored gin. He said local liquor representatives like to test new products at Busch’s Grove before introducing them to other St. Louis restaurants and bars. If a representative says a product is good, Adams will often make a drink out of it to test it out. “This is an experimental market here, so if there is a new product on the market, you will see it here first,” he said.
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