Connoisseurs of the Après-Ski Cocktail
Spirited style.
Imbibing beneath the snow-capped peaks of Whistler, B.C., or Aspen, Colorado, offers an après-ski scene worth experiencing at least once. The time is before dinner and the place is typically al fresco, commonly at the base of the ski resort where skiers and snowboarders toast and recuperate after a day of powder turns. Others come strictly to strut their couture attire. No matter your reason for an après-ski engagement, it might help to know what the professionals are pouring this winter.
Luckily, NUVO has you covered with three après-ski drink recipes to try before ski season is over.
White Haute Chocolate
Ingredients
8 parts milk
8 parts white chocolate
A pinch of sea salt
1 part Glenfiddich 14
Star anise (for garnish)
Method
Heat milk and white chocolate in a pot until melted. Add a pinch of sea salt. Pour into mug and add Glenfiddich 14. Garnish with star anise.
This creamy delicacy is made with warm milk, white chocolate, a pinch of salt, and garnished with the sweet, peppery flavour of star anise. It’s the hot cocoa you had in your youth with a very adult upgrade. “It’s hot, it’s decadent, and you deserve it,” Glenfiddich brand ambassador Kevin Canchola says.
Canchola crafted this drink on a frigid late-spring day in Chicago using his favourite Glenfiddich 14 Bourbon Barrel Reserve, aged in an American oak. “Your first sip might bring out slightly different flavours than your last,” he says. “I love discovering those new flavours after spending a day on the mountain earning your après-ski.”
“This is a post-slopes cocktail through and through,” he notes.
“Maybe you haven’t climbed the seven summits of the world,” he says, “but you do know how to dress on the mountain, looking the part by the crackling fire at the hill’s base. And what adult doesn’t like to warm up with whisky after hitting the slopes?”
Hot Gin Old Fashioned
Ingredients
1 ¾ parts Hendrick’s Gin
¼ part simple syrup
2 dashes of orange bitters
1 ¾ parts boiling water
1 orange (for garnish)
Method
Gently heat the gin, simple syrup, and bitters in a pan. Add boiling water and serve in a tankard or teacup with an orange twist garnish.
“I used to live in Aspen and have travelled to ski towns across the world in search of the best slopes and the best après-ski scene,” says Mattias Horseman, Hendrick’s Gin ambassador for the western U.S. “The Hendrick’s Hot Old Fashioned hits the mark perfectly as one of my favourite first cocktails after the lifts have stopped.”
Diverging from a classic Old Fashioned, this cocktail replaces the ice with hot water and opts for the bright, herbal notes of Hendrick’s Gin over bourbon.
“I imagine those imbibing this drink are creative types who aim to achieve balance with their surroundings. I see them bundled up in their snow gear with the last of the winter sunlight hitting their face after a beautiful, albeit physically tiring, day on the mountain,” Horseman says.
“The chill of the night attempts to make its way near the bar, but they do not fear with this delicious hot drink in hand.”
Sparkling Grove
Ingredients
1 ½ parts Milagro Select Silver
½ part fresh lime juice
½ part vanilla bean simple syrup
2 parts sparkling pinot grigio
1 edible flower (for garnish)
Method
Pour tequila, lime juice, and simple syrup into a Boston shaker. Add ice and shake vigorously. Strain into a chilled coupe glass and top with the sparkling pinot grigio. Garnish with an edible flower.
“The clean profile of Milagro serves as the backbone to bring this crisp citrus drink forward,” explains Emmanuel Pena, Milagro Tequila ambassador.
This elegant cocktail is an alternative to winter beverages and food that are often heavy and rich. Après-ski aficionados will find this drink to be a refreshing cocktail to complement their high-altitude sunset.
“This silky concoction shows a sophisticated flare, much like its drinker, jetting in from around the country for a weekend away in the latest high-fashion ski apparel to hit the slopes for a round of photos before heading fireside to catch the perfect light,” Pena says .
Milagro’s crowd-favourite Select Silver has hints of lemon, vanilla, pepper, and cloves. Pairing it with a sparkling pinot grigio and vanilla bean simple syrup makes for a fragrant, celebratory cocktail.
