A Toast to the Winter Games
Celebrate the Winter Games by joining in the fun of the 2010 Torch Cocktail at Four Seasons Resort Whistler.
A widely recognised symbol of the Winter Games, the 2010 Olympic Torch was carried by more than 12,000 torchbearers on its 45,000-kilometre (28,000-mile) journey across Canada to Vancouver, British Columbia. If your invitation was lost in the mail, never fear, you can still experience the excitement of this tradition at Four Seasons Resort Whistler, where a 2010 Torch Cocktail helps get guests into the spirit of the Games.
Creating a drink that resembles an iconic symbol of one of the world’s largest and most historic athletic events is no small feat. In fact, one might call it Herculean.
First, purchasing staff set out to locate a suitable way to serve this creative concoction. Finding success with a copper torch-inspired glass, the next challenge was to devise a drink that would taste as good as it looked. Undaunted, the Resort’s gold-medal mixologists created a deliciously athletic mix of pear purée, MonaVie energy drink and lemongrass-infused local vodka.
Next came the fun part—and the one every child has been warned against—playing with fire. To create the look of the eternal flame, bartenders experimented with combustible liquors, eventually deciding on absinth.
“We had to find a liquor that was at least 100-proof alcohol in order to ensure the flame would ignite immediately and remain lit during the elaborate hand-off to a guest,” says Michael Pacovsky, director of restaurants and one of the inventors of the drink.
Which brings us to the presentation of this showstopper. After the 2010 Torch Cocktail is prepared at the bar and carefully lit with a flame, it’s swept in relay fashion from the bar to the table in a personal torch ceremony even a gold-medal athlete would be proud of.
The drink is available at Four Seasons Resort Whistler’s Fifty Two 80 Bar through April 30, 2010.
But if your journey this month doesn’t include a trip to Whistler, make your own 2010 Torch Cocktail using the recipe below. You should use a utility lighter—rather than a cigarette lighter—to light the sugar cube. Always exercise caution when handling fire.
1 oz Zubrowka Bison Grass Vodka
1 oz pear purée
1½ oz MonaVie Açai Berry Energy Drink
¼ oz Hill’s Absinth
1 sugar cube
Directions: Shake the vodka and pear purée over ice then pour into the copper glass. Top with MonaVie energy drink. Place the martini shaker lid upside down over the top of the glass and set 1 sugar cube. Pour 1/4 oz absinth over the sugar cube and set the sugar cube on fire. The flame will go out by itself.
