The Collegian

Issue date: 10/30/08 Section: Arts

Media Credit: Andrew Dodson The Mag Mile, Chicago Water Grill's take on the Long Island Iced Tea, is more of a pitcher of alcohol than a run-of-the-mill mixed drink.

Senior Chasen Drackett rarely deviates from his family's cocktail: Captain Morgan and tonic, with a lemon, known by his friends as the Drackett Special. He got the recipe from his parents.

He never needs to ask for it when his usual bartender, Josh, is on duty at the Chicago Water Grill.

"I just walk up to the bar and he'll hand it to me without me having to say anything," Drackett said.

Drackett and his friends, and a larger subset of Hillsdale College's over-21 crowd, visit Hillsdale's restaurants on a fairly regular basis for their favorite concoctions.

But most of Drackett's group sticks to the Mag Mile, the Chicago Water Grill's take on the Long Island Iced Tea.

"It's a given," senior John Ward said. "If you go to the Water Grill to get a drink, you have to get a Mag Mile. There's no reason why you shouldn't."

Senior Betsy Stone agreed.

"I'm usually not a foofy drinks kind of girl, but when everybody else is getting one, you're like 'Hey! It's Mag Mile night,' " she said.

Senior Megan Mahan, who usually drinks Tanqueray gin and tonic, said she occasionally orders chocolate martinis when Josh is bartending.

"Only because Josh is really good at mixing them," she said.

Mahan avoids the Mag Mile on weeknights because of its alcohol content - about five shots of assorted white liquors, Stone estimated.

"After one, for a lot of people, that's enough for a couple hours," she said. "They can't serve you any more than two 'cause it'd be fatal."

Ward said he has an affection for the drink that goes beyond its flavor and alcohol content, though. Since he came to Hillsdale, he's made memories surrounding the Mag Mile.

"There's so much positive things attached to it," he said.

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