All About Après at The Stowe Mountain Lodge
Last winter I had the opportunity to visit the Stowe Mountain Lodge at Stowe Mountain in Vermont. This beautiful, modern but rustic lodge is the first lodging of any kind on Stowe Mountain and provides anyone who stays there with an amazing, top-of-the-line experience. Located on the Spruce Peak side of the mountain it is a quick gondola right to and from Mount Mansfield. This is perfect for getting out for first tracks and an ideal way to get back to the lodge for après ski. The Hourglass Lounge is the après ski location at the lodge. With great views, tasty food and a variety of craft beers and cocktails the Hourglass is the perfect place to settle in for après ski. I caught up with Bartender Brent at The Hourglass so that he could show us how to make one of their signature après ski drinks, Fire on the Mountain.
Après Ski Drinks at The Hourglass Lounge
Après Ski Drinks-Video Highlights:
00:10 Introduction of Bartender and après ski drink
00:23 Begins Mixing the après ski drink
1:10 Talking about the habanero infused Maple Syrup
2:25 How the après ski drink was concocted and the different variations
2:45 My reaction to Fire on the Mountain
Download the PDF - Fire on the Mountain
Après Ski Drinks: "Fire on the Mountain" Transcript:
Rich: It’s Rich i'm here with Brent for the Hourglass bar and lounge at the Stowe Mountain Lodge he's gonna be for us one of their famous apres ski drinks “Fire on the Mountain.” It’s one of their more popular drinks.
Brent: Ok so “Fire on the Mountain” we’re using a local Rye Shoreham, Vermont, WhistlePig. So we're with two ounces. And then another local product here, Green Mountain Organic Maple. One and a half ounce of that.
Rich: Now is this?
Brent: Maple Liquor made by Green Mountain organics. Used to be right here in town, now they’re in the next town over.
Rich: Organic, huh.
Brent: Organic
Rich: So it’s gotta be healthy for you.
Brent: That’s right.
Brent: Habanero infused maple syrup
Rich: So this is where the habanero comes in?
Brent: Yeah, two places habanero comes into this drink. One is in the infused maple syrup. So with habanero it's really easy. With a lot of infusions, you doing a lot of length in time or heat. With habanero, they are so spicy you literally cut up six, put it in maple syrup, let it sit until it becomes hot, and you’re good to go. Simple infusion.
Brent: Bitterman’s Hell Fired Bitters, we have right here. Four dashes of that,
Rich: Okay so this is the second place the habanero comes in?
Brent: That's the second place.
Rich: So how did you guys come up with this?
Brent: You know I came up with this on three years ago. We switch it every year, do new things with it every year. Last year we had it barrel aged. The year before I don't think we had a habanero infused maple syrup. We used some other ingredients and muddled that around. It’s always changing but this is the latest and greatest.
Rich: Cheers! That’s good. Sweet up front, Spice on the end.
Brent: Yeah
Rich: I like it. Solid. Now do you ever serve it on the rocks or just in a martini glass?
Brent: We do, a lot. Yeah, yeah.
Rich: Okay, I can see that.
Brent: Yeah, guys still have an aversion to the glass.
Rich: It’s all liquor to me. Cheers. Thank you.
Brent: You’re very welcome.
