Hot chocolate, tea and coffee will always be excellent drinks for the cold weather, but sometimes you need a real winter warmer. Something with a kick that will warm you from the inside out and chase away the winter blues – in other words, something with liquor! Kelowna has a lot of talent when it comes to our bartenders and mixologists, and a few have concocted the perfect fall and winter sippers. This is our list of some of our favourite cold-weather bevvies around town!
The Backhand of Bourbon – Waterfront Wines
This staple on the Waterfront Wines cocktail list already has its own loyal following of cocktail enthusiasts. It's perfect for a gray day because it combines the warming effects of Okanagan Spirits Bourbon with one of the Okanagan's favourite dark beers: the Backhand of God from Crannòg Ales. This unique combination gets shaken with good ol' Canadian maple syrup, lemon juice, and an egg white for extra creaminess with a thick layer of foam. This cocktail is a perfect balance of sweet, sour and bitter, with a strong malty backbone from the beer. It's your winterized version of a bourbon sour, and you're going to love it!
Mulled Wine Sangria – Bacaro
If you thought Sangria was just a summertime drink, you thought wrong! Bacaro has turned this wine-based cocktail into the perfect winter warmer. It's red wine mixed with warming brandy, orange juice, cinnamon and mulling spices, AND it's exactly what you need when it's cold outside, especially if you're already a wine lover. Available by the pot or by the glass, you'll love how the spices taste just like Christmas. Perfect for this time of year!
The Bucket – BNA
Photo Credit: BNA
Local cocktail champion Mark Veriker has crafted this unique drink just in time for the arrival of cold weather. It's a "riff on the godfather/the rusty nail" and combines blended scotch, drambuie, amaretto, cherry heering, bittered sling plum and root beer bitters — with a touch of black peppercorn and orange. It's got the punch of an old fashioned, but with the added nuance of subtle dark fruit flavours and spice. It's a prohibition-style cocktail that will definitely warm you from the inside out with every sip!
The Chai Hard – Central Kitchen
Photo Credit: Central Kitchen
If you love a Chai latte, you'll love this cocktail that Central's bar manager Nathan Martin whipped up. Chai spices like cinnamon, clove, ginger and cardamom have a unique way of warming the soul, and Central's homemade Chai syrup does just that. Take the classic ingredients of a bourbon sour – bourbon, lemon, egg white and bitters – add Chai syrup, and you've got yourself a Chai Hard. Any winter day is a good day to Chai Hard, isn't it?!
The Eastern Orchard – Okanagan Spirits
Fall and orchard fruits go hand in hand, and this cocktail made from hand-made spirits and local fruit invokes the delicious flavours of apples, pears, and plums. Sweet yet spicy brandies will inevitably warm you from the inside out, and the addition of grapefruit and hops bitters adds a balanced bitter component. You can really embrace all that is local with this cocktail!
The Thorogood – Raudz
Inspired by George Thorogood's famous song "One Bourbon, One Scotch, One Beer," this drink includes, as you might have guessed, one of each of the former. Woodford Reserve Bourbon, a scotch and ale reduction, plus the sweet and nutty hazelnut liqueur Frangelico. It all gets stirred with an oaked ice orb, for extra class and a hint of woodsy flavour that matches the oakiness of the Bourbon. It's a strong one, but the Frangelico definitely gives it a festive quality and takes the edge off the strong liquors. This cocktail is the kind you want to nurse while the snow falls softly outside.
What's your favourite drink to stay warm this winter? #TreatYoSelf to a locally made, delicious winter sipper and beat the fall and winter day blues!
Kelowna born and raised, Keddy Pavlik of TheTreatLife has been passionate about the local food scene basically since birth. If she's not in the kitchen, you can probably find her at the farmer's market or taking pictures of food. Photo Credit: Jordana Dickson.
