To say I’m impressed by Katie Carrillo is an understatement. Born and raised in Champaign-Urbana, she’s worked at more than 20 different Champaign-Urbana restaurants, bars, and a brewery — and she’s not done yet. Carrillo knows how to make beer, brew kombucha, design cocktails, and mix mocktails.
When she’s not bartending in Downtown Champaign or designing the drink menu at the soon-to-open art bar in Downtown Urbana, she’s teaching workshops for home-mixologists at Common Ground and Cloud Mountain. After I attended her mocktail lab last month, I wanted to learn more about the down-to-earth teacher and all she knew about drinks, both in general and around C-U. I sat down with Carrillo over a few glasses of wine at Hamilton Walker’s, and she shared stories of her experiences in the C-U restaurant industry, what we need for a good home bar, and what’s on the horizon for the drink scene in Urbana.
This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
Smile Politely: Katie, you said you grew up in the restaurant industry. What’s the first restaurant experience that you remember?
Katie Carrillo: I remember my parents had a restaurant on campus called Gouliard’s in 1999. I don’t know how old I was, probably six or seven. I remember running around the the inside of the restaurant. It wasn’t open for very long, and afterwards, my dad left to help Carolyn open Farren’s.
SP: Were you running around delivering food or napkins? Or just running around doing child things?
Carrillo: [laughs] Just like being a kid running around. Same with Farren’s.
My first real job was Smoothie King, and I learned from repetition. It was really easy, but sometimes people would say, “I don’t want blueberries; I want raspberries.” Or they would put unique things together. I was always like, “Oh, let me try that.” Just being able to mix things together in a new way, and I took a lot of that into cocktail-ing. Figuring out, I need this much of this to balance that, and how to manipulate those? How to bring out the more subtle flavor?
SP: How many places have you worked in Champaign-Urbana?
Carrillo: A lot! More than 20 — I spent some time in Jimmy John’s, then at Meatheads, but the first bar that I worked at was Wedge.
SP: Oh, the tequila bar.
Carrillo: We got to do house-infused tequilas and a margarita of the week. I started as a server and quickly went behind the bar. I’d done a little bit of bar at KoFusion before that, but I wasn’t there very long. Then after I left Wedge, I went to Escobar’s.
SP: I miss that restaurant. That’s where Kohinoor is now, yeah?
Carrillo: Yeah. Escobar was my favorite restaurant I’ve ever worked at. It was the best. From the chef to the customers to the co-workers to the bathrooms — go to the Indian restaurant; they still have the bathrooms. Escobar’s closed, and that was so sad, but I’d started picking up shifts at Big Grove, where I developed most of my knowledge for the Katie’s Cocktails brand.
Wedge was more simple, just margaritas pretty much. Escobar’s had some cocktails, but it was more wine. Then Big Grove was a bigger restaurant with more freedom. The bartenders would meet together and try different things. That’s my favorite thing to do with other people. I’ll make a drink at home for myself, and it’s not as exciting as when I’m making a drink, and there’s other people to try it.
Everybody has different taste buds, and some people will mix things that maybe I hadn’t thought to mix. Which I always think is super exciting because I’m mixing random things all the time.
SP: So how did you go from Big Grove to doing Katie’s Cocktails events around town?
Carrillo: Well, I started my Instagram when I was working at Big Grove, and after I worked at there, I actually brewed beer at Riggs for a few years, and then the pandemic was this whole thing. For me personally, it was exhausting making beer. We were making so much more beer than we’d ever made. It was cool because I was able to learn about brewing at a faster pace, but I was like, “I’m so tired.”
My thing with the drinks is I love having that super intimate relationship with a product, going to the farmers market, talking to the farmers, seeing what’s in season, and making something out of it. The same with beer and kombucha. Being involved from start to finish: working at the farm, seeing the grain grow, get harvested, cleaned, then malted, then making it, and waiting for it.
SP: And finally trying it?
Carrillo: Yeah, and getting to see other people try it is the good part.
SP: Talk about what makes certain drinks good? Like what makes a beer good? Or a wine?
Carrillo: I think everybody’s taste buds are different, but from my perspective, there’s really three things. Place: where does it come from? Tequila comes from Mexico, and gin has these roots in London; they’re place-based products. So knowing where it’s coming from and what the history is, that’s a good thing for drinks.
Balance in things: you don’t want it to be overly hoppy or drink a cloyingly dry wine — but there’s balance in pairing that wine with steak frites. You get the butter and the fat and then your dry wine. I think there’s a time and place for every beverage.
There’s also intention: who is making it and why are they making it? Are they making it to make money? Are they making it because they love to make it? Because it’s been in their family and it means something to them? Same with drinks like cocktails. Your bartender: are they making that recipe for people to have a good time? Is there any intention at all other than to have an alcoholic beverage?
SP: Okay, as a bartender, maybe you can give reader some tips. What’s a common mistake people make at a bar?
Carrillo: The first thing that comes to mind is a martini because it is such a complicated topic. It’s an issue when someone orders one, and they’re just like, “Can I get a martini?” I need more information from you.
SP: What else?
Carrillo: I would say specifically at a place like Bentley’s — it’s an industry bar, so know what you want or just wait until you’re ready. I don’t want to stand there and wait while you read the menu.
SP: Any crazy drink orders?
Carrillo: One time I was bartending, and I got a ticket for a Sazerac but to sub Hendrick’s for the whiskey. I made the server go ask them if they really wanted that — and they did. I made it, and it tasted really good. That’s what I mean. I like when people change my mind or open me up to new things I hadn’t thought of. Part of the reason I do my classes is because sometimes people get caught up in the rules — like this recipe says whiskey and bitters and this, but I want people to relax.
I think that people’s palates are always evolving, too. The more you expose yourself to, your palate to, the more you’re going to be able to appreciate. Sometimes I have to drink the same beer I’ve had before again because I know what it tasted like a year ago or even a few months ago, but maybe I’ll notice something new.
SP: What do you like to drink?
Carrillo: It depends on the day. Like I said earlier, there’s a beverage for every situation, right? I have to think really hard about what it’s like outside, what outfit am I wearing? If I’m wearing white, no coffee and no red wine. I don’t wear white. [laughs] I also really do appreciate beer; I had a porter yesterday from 25 O’Clock Brewing. The only liquor I can’t keep in the house is tequila. I don’t know if it’s my history from Wedge or just how simple and classic a margarita is and yet you can add an extra element like lemon instead of lime, or honey and mezcal.
SP: What do you need to make a good cocktails at home?
Carrillo: You need something to mix with: a shaker or a tin. You can also use a mason jar because you just close it and shake it — just as easy, and most people have that. A bar spoon if you’re making martinis or old-fashioneds or any of those more boozy cocktails that you’re stirring. A Hawthorne strainer is what you put on top to strain ice for if you’re making an old-fashioned, a Manhattan, or something that you don’t want ice or if you’re making something with pulp in it. Then the jigger is what we use to measure the alcohol, but some people are fine with eyeballing it or using other measurement tools in their kitchen.
SP: What mixers are good for a home bar?
Carrillo: It really depends on what you’re drinking. I could list what bars have: orange juice, grapefruit juice, soda water, tonic, a simple syrup of some kind, bitters. Typically, you’d have the Angostura and then Peychaud’s, out of Louisiana — that’s where it originates, I believe — whereas Angostura is from Trinidad, significantly different flavor profiles. Add an orange as well. Those three I would say are staples for the home bar.
I definitely don’t believe in the neon sour mix stuff from the store. I’m skeptical. You can buy lemon juice already squeezed, and that works fine. If you want to elevate it, use fresh and squeeze your own lemon.
SP: Of all the thousands of cocktails you’ve made, is there one that’s most popular?
Carrillo: The first drink that I got to put on the menu at Big Grove was — they were having a release party for Volition’s game Agents of Mayhem, and they wanted a purple cocktail because it was a purple video game. I made something, and then they called it The Agents of Mayhem cocktail. That weekend it sold 60; they put it on the menu and renamed it Hibiscus Heat. That one was on the menu until I left. The spirit that we used in it was called hum botanical spirit.
SP: What’s unique about that spirit?
Carrillo: It’s a bitter spirit, a liqueur with hibiscus, ginger, cardamom, lime kefir, and a few other things. I remember a woman tell me a lovely compliment. She said, “This makes me feel like I’m back home in Jamaica.” That was how my drink made her feel. So that’s one of the drinks that I think was around for the longest and one that people kind of got to know.
When I create something that you can taste every ingredient in it but nothing too much — everything’s balanced — when it happens, it’s so satisfying. I’ve heard of cocktail-ing as a temporary medium. It is art if people make it with the intention to do it that way.
Once I told a friend of mine, “I’m not an artist.” She’s an artist; she paints. She can create really beautiful things, and she was like, “No, you are an artist with your drinks.” It really is a creative outlet. There’s a lot of fun in experimenting and trying different things together. Because of my love for nature and growing things, I grow nasturtium flowers, which are cute to put as a garnish, and their leaves look like lily pads.
SP: Do you eat the flower garnish when a drink has one?
Carrillo: I do, but I remember a friend of mine came to an event I had, and there were edible flowers in it. He ate one, and he was like, “Why’d you make me eat that?”
SP: As a bartender, do you see flowers come back or do most people eat them?
Carrillo: They come back, and I put them down the drain. It’s kind of sad. It’s so pretty. I don’t think a drink is complete without a garnish.
SP: I heard you know how to make kombucha.
Carrillo: Fermentation is very interesting to me — like with sourdough bread, beer, cheese, wine, spirits, kimchi, all of that natural stuff. Kombucha was most likely just tea left out. Same with Belgian beer. That natural concept is so wild to me. When I was exploring the health benefits of kombucha, it was just like and this and this and this and this, and then of course, rabbit holes within that. Oh, antioxidants? Like what kind? Probiotics? How many?! Kombucha just makes me feel good, and it tastes really good.
SP: Talk about your beverage business. What’s it like to run these workshops?
Carrillo: It’s very different, but I really love it because there’s just more interest. When somebody comes to a bar, they might not be interested in learning anything, but I have so much information to give! The other day, somebody asked about a scotch, and I went into explaining how to make it from start to finish, and I was like, “Oops, my bad.”
The new business has my name on it, and I take it really seriously. It can be a stressor to consider the fact that it’s all me. Everything has to be perfect. If people have to share or if I forget something, I’m just like, “Oh my gosh, it’s the end of the world!” But at the end of the day, people are just grateful for the experience; they don’t see the little things.
SP: What classes are you teaching in C-U?
Carrillo: For the most part, I’m doing mocktail classes at the kombuchery and cocktail classes at the [Common Ground Food] Co-op. At the Co-op, I’ve done gin and the martini, tequila and the margarita, and we planned the whole year trying to hit every base spirit. I think in September I’m going to do a beer and cheese pairing for Oktoberfest. It won’t be a cocktail, just several beers and how to pair them.
SP: So what’s next?
Carrillo: Well, [at Cloud Mountain] they have lots of big ideas for future expansion. That would mean getting a liquor license and having kombucha cocktails. I like to work with them because they do the things that I like to do, which is seasonal, local, bespoke, and fun small-batch stuff.
SP: Can you tease anything about Gallery, the new bar in Downtown Urbana?
Carrillo: Yeah, Gallery is going to be focused on light projections, and half of our menu will be non-alcoholic drinks. We’re going to do big murals everywhere, and we’re really excited to focus on those things and bring in art in other ways, too. For example, we might have a gallery opening where there’s an artist there; their stuff is on the walls, and there’s a unique cocktail for that event. Or we might have a DJ or an acoustic guitar player. Jonah [Weisskopf] reached out to me about kind of doing the concept and being the bar manager. Jake Metz is doing all of the sound and projection, and he’s a tech wizard.
PYGMALION will be there in September, and we’ll have C-U Folk and Roots Festival in October. Those things are definitely on the books. Right now, construction just finished, and we’re ordering tables and chairs, checking things off the list, getting all the housekeeping done.
SP: Is there an anticipated opening date?
Carrillo: We’re really hoping that we can be open a little bit before PYGMALION. It’s exciting as we see things happen in the space, like a new color of paint or something gets delivered. This project with Gallery will probably take me right into Cloud Mountain, and so when I’m done at Gallery, Cloud Mountain will likely be ready for me to start writing menus.
SP: Okay, last question: where do you like to go out to eat in C-U?
Carrillo: Well, my go-to is Siam Terrace, and I get pad Thai spicy level four. I rotate the protein, but I always get the summer rolls with peanut sauce. I love Maize, and I get a different stuff every time, but most recently, the birria. Just anything there, a classic margarita, the guac, and I do love their micheladas.
I’m not as big of a fan of smashburgers as I am of, like, a Farren’s thicker-cut, good burger. If I go to Punch!, I always get a Paloma. I know they have a crazy menu, but I get the Paloma because they do a really good job. Obviously, Riggs Beer. When I started, I was a Hefeweizen person, and somewhere along the lines, the American lager started to hit different; it was everything I needed at the end of the day: super clean, super refreshing. For coffee, I love Avionics cold brew. It’s the best cold brew. Oh, and surf and turf tacos at Big Grove. It’s like all I get there; it’s a salmon and bacon with some hot peppers on there.
SP: Is there anything else that you wanted to mention or you wanted to put out into the world?
Carrillo: Just in general, the most important things to me are community and creativity — and fostering those things with myself and with the people who I’m making drinks for or I’m teaching to make drinks or the people that I’m working with. That’s what’s most important to me. After that, I just want it to taste good.
