The ski martini.
Perhaps the most elegant of après ski beverages. Far more
sophisticated than beer anyway.
When you think of a ski bunny in furry boots lounging by a crackling
fire in the lodge, she’s sipping from a tall tantalizing martini
glass. What quenches James Bond’s thirst after his adrenaline chase
down the snowy Alps (leaving the bad guys in his snow dust, hanging
from pine branches or pinned beneath their snowmobiles)? 007 swaggers
up to the bar and orders the notorious martini of course, “shaken, not
stirred.”
What makes the martini the new “it drink” in ski country? Are there
special snow-inspired martinis in the mountains of New England? This
was my secret agent assignment…to discover the magic behind the mix.
Having
been to the posh, wine-lined Coleman Brook Tavern at
Okemo’s Jackson Gore
Inn, I knew manager Marc Miller could dispel the quotient behind
the powder-lovers’ potion. Miller told me, “Martinis are so popular
for après ski because they have come so far from the standard
martini-of-old with just gin or vodka. Today’s martini has so many
flavorful and creative ingredients, they are elegant, fun, and easy to
drink.”
Miller offers 17 unique martinis at the slopeside Inn’s Tavern and
fireside Lobby Bar, with witty names like Blue Bear (made with blue
Curacao and topped with jelly beans), Pray for Snow and Ride and Shine
which are both garnished with a flurry of coconut flakes. Okemo’s
giant ‘tinis aren’t for green circle drinkers, these monster
martinis are muddled with a wooden stick, and delivered in a pint
glass with a strainer for you to pour into your tall chilled glass.
Miller says the Coleman Brook martinis are special because all the
ingredients are top shelf, and the fruit purées of passion fruit,
peach, apple, are all fresh.
Trail
name martinis are a righteous reward at ski day’s end. How about a
White Heat Heaven after conquering
Sunday River’s
steeps? The Pouty Snow Bunny is actually the hippest drink to sip of
Sunday River’s signature martinis according to Gary Savage, food and
beverage manager. “Men are embarrassed to order the Pouty Snow Bunny
at first, but once they taste it -they love it,” said Savage.
At Sunday River's Legends Bar, Savage and his team continually create clever Absolute
martini recipes, which are then shared with sister A.S.C. resorts. “We
keep up with sporting events too. Shilling’s Bloody Sox was a popular
martini – more of a Bloody Mary in a martini glass rimmed with cayenne
pepper,” said Savage, a.k.a.: Mr. Martini.
Savage commented that the martini crowd used to be exclusively the
well healed, but now martinis have a broadened appeal with such
variety of flavors from dry to fruity and sweet.
The Red Parka Pub is a tried
and true watering hole just above North Conway. The Red Parka has
taken a Bombardier’s load of “best après ski” awards in its 34-year
history, and it takes the “most humorous martini” category with its
version of the classic cocktail.
Terry O’Brien, member of the Red Parka Pub family that dates to the
pub’s debut in 1972, said, “Everyone has a high-flouting martini
list, so we have our PBR Martini for fun - a
chilled martini glass, the rim coated with Old Bay Seasoning and
garnished with an olive and a chicken wing, delivered with a champagne
bucket holding a good ‘ole Pabst Blue Ribbon 16-ounce beer.” O’Brien
said, “The PBR martini is a head turner, it has also become a popular
thing to order for another table as joke.”
Stowe's Solstice and
Hourglass Bar in the Stowe Mountain Lodge has sophisticated ski martinis too, in such a
swank setting its the perfect toddy.
Whatever flavor you crave, from cheap with a chicken wing, to dry and
dirty, or the new fangled fusions of fruity vodka capped with candy,
the martini is your trailside treat after a black diamond day. You can
nurse your ego and your sore muscles, tell tales as tall as the long
stem in hand. No one would dare question your claim of “huge air” in
the terrain park (which was really teeny), when you are so suavely
sipping your martini.
