Booze Clues: Cocktail perfection at Little Jumbo

Columns October 1, 2014

Little Jumbo is a relatively new cocktail lounge/bar in town, but since it’s run by some of Victoria’s booze pioneers, it’s already a hot spot. Located down a secretive alley on lower Fort (506 Fort St.), Little Jumbo seems modest from the outside, but as soon as you walk in it’s a whole other story.

Almost every time I visit Little Jumbo the same staff members are there to greet me. This provides me with yet another thing to look forward to (the next is my favorite beer, which Saltspring Island Ales brew specifically for Little Jumbo).

(Photo by Andrea Valentine-Lewis/Nexus.)

Little Jumbo’s main bartender, Nate Caudle (a former resident of Clive’s Classic Lounge), says that there’s lots to look forward to on their new fall menu, which launches October 8.

When I think of fall, many toasty images come to mind. Those images secrete specific scents, aromas, and flavours. Judging by one of their three upcoming cocktails, Little Jumbo has managed to nail it.

The Big Gay Pumpkin
(by Kyle Gilfoyle)

1 1/2 oz Mount Gay amber rum
1/2 oz Grand Marnier
1/2 oz simple syrup
1 heavy scoop pumpkin ice cream
2 1/2 oz milk

Pumpkin ice cream! This’ll be a boozy pumpkin milkshake. Sounds like the perfect start to a fun and intimate fall evening. Two straws, please.

Little Jumbo’s menu provides choices for cocktail connoisseurs, as well as more accessible cocktails. As we approach autumn “people don’t mind a stronger drink with dark spirits and spices to warm the soul when those nights get a little colder,” says Caudle.

We look forward to it.