By:  Paige Scofield
Campus Life Editor

With a nice atmosphere and wide variety of cocktails and wine, the restaurant Crush Wine Bar and Tasting Room gives patrons a place to relax and have a drink. Even college students get tired of the bar scene, and Crush gives customers an opportunity to have a drink without yelling over music. This week I tried one of Crush’s signature cocktails called the Marionberry Whiskey Smash. The cocktail contained muddled mint, lemon, simple syrup, marionberry whiskey and blackberry puree.

When I first got the drink, I expected to be able to really taste and find the whiskey, but was pleasantly surprised with a much stronger taste of mint and lemon, with only a hint of marionberry. Honestly, the mint was my favorite part of the cocktail. Crush used mint that smelled so fresh, as if it had just been picked for my drink.

It took me back to my home laying in my front yard with my nose right next to the fresh mint growing next to our flowers. I’d take a mint leaf and chew on it. Distinctly tasting sweet at first, and then a strange earthy aftertaste. That’s exactly what I was tasting when I was enjoying Crush’s Marionberry Whiskey Smash. I assumed it would taste overwhelmingly like marionberry, but I was excited to taste nostalgia from my childhood in the form of mint.

I give this cocktail five stars and two thumbs way up because of its minty freshness and easy to drink qualities.

Crush Wine Bar and Tasting Room is open Monday through Thursday from 12-10 p.m., Friday from 12-11 p.m. and Saturday from 3-11 p.m. They’re located at 105 Main St. E., in Monmouth. If you’re of age, make sure to pop in and give the Marionberry Whiskey Smash a try.

Contact the author at journalcampuslife@wou.edu