Scoot yourself up to the bar for a brief but fascinating history of cocktails, followed by a glimpse into the mastery of bar tending. Inspired, try your hand at making SilverStar Resort’s Smoked Old Fashioned cocktail. Or better yet, head up to British Columbia and let the pros make one for you. Writer Yvette Cardozo, who primed us with a ski trip to the Resort, tells us how it’s done. 

Pin this Old Fashioned recipe so you can make it whenever you feel the need.

Of course, it was inevitable that molecular gastronomy would come to alcoholic drinks.

Cocktails that smoke, that glow, that change color before your eyes. It’s like the second coming of the ‘70s when alcohol found itself competing with LSD and pot. So why not at your local apres ski spot?

Welcome, then, the Smoked Old Fashioned at the Den Bar & Bistro at Silver Star Mountain in Canada’s British Columbia. Yes, it’s a show. Yes, it’s delish. And yes, there is more than that one drink.

Bar Supervisor, Tom Falland gets ready to make a Smoked Old Fashioned cocktail.

But first, a quick history lesson on the Old Fashioned and other booze in America.

Early on in pioneer days, folks mixed anything fermented and distilled into their water to more or less make it safe to drink. Fast forward and over the years, mixes became ever more exotic, reaching an exuberant peak in the “Golden Age of Cocktails” of the late 1800s – sours, fizzes, Manhattans, martinis, you name it.

But then came prohibition and the idea was to get drunk, fast. So you had moonshine and speakeasies and, honestly, truly crappy drinks. The end of prohibition brought what many think of as the glory days of fine bar drinks. Back to Old Fashioneds, Roy Roys, Gin Rickeys, Side Cars, men in suits and hats and women in tailored dresses (and cigarettes). At least, that’s how it was in the movies.

Ok, now we get to the ‘60s and ‘70s. And suddenly alcohol had competition from pot, LSD, mushrooms and more. Trying to make it all sexy, there came, among others, Surfer On Acid (a wicked mix of Jagermeister liquor, coconut rum and pineapple juice) and the Harvey Wallbanger, which has ruined me for Galliano, though I still keep flowers in that tall, tapered bottle. But perhaps top on the list was The Blow Job – Kahlua and Baileys covered with whipped cream. You put a drink-filled shot glass on a napkin and if the woman could put her lipstick on the napkin… well, you get the gist.

Finally, slowly, quality drinks came back. But it wasn’t enough. So today, there are the scientific drinks and, as a compromise between just plain and OMG, what Den Food and Beverage Manager Mark Lehmann calls “a twist.”

“Sometimes less is more,” Lehmann said. “I think gone are the days of sweet hyper-colored drinks, saturated with artificial flavors and so much sugar. In the Den we have taken to infusing our own tinctures and flavorings using all natural ingredients to develop a unique taste and profile. We have also found in doing so we are using some older style spirits that have been collecting dust for an age. Aperitifs are heavily used in our lineup, as are spirits like Campari, Aperol and gin.”

The tools of the trade for making a smoked old fashioned.

Hungry for more? Warm up with this cocktail when at Ski Silver Star Resort.

The Making of The Den SilverStar Resort’s Smoked Old Fashioned 

So, of course, I wanted to watch Lehmann’s bar supervisor, Tom Falland, make his Smoked Old Fashioned. Originally, they used a smoker, trapping smoke in a huge beaker, then pouring it into the drink. But the smoker is now broken, so Tom torches wood chips. Honestly, it’s a better show.

Tom lined up his ingredients along the bar – a couple of bourbons, vermouth, bitters, a ball of ice in a glass, orange rind, cherry wood chips, and a beaker with a strainer.

First, he torched the wood chips on a cutting board and when the smoke got going, set an upside down glass over the smoke. This lets the smoke flavor adhere to the sides of the glass.

Then he mixed the alcohols, bitters and sugar syrup. All this was shaken with ice cubes. He put the ice ball into the smoke infused glass, then poured the alcohol mix (minus the cubes) over the ice ball in the glass, finally adding a slice of orange rind. The ice ball, rather than cubes, keeps the drink cold without melting and diluting it, he explained.

The result was a smooth taste that rolled gently around the tongue. There’s a hint of whiskey, a hint of orange and the barest hint of smoke.

Bar Supervisor Tom Falland stirs the smoky concoction.

Ok, if this isn’t smoky enough, Tom has his Campfire Sour. It’s made with two bourbons and a Scotch whiskey called Laphroaig, then topped with frothed egg whites, a slice of dehydrated lemon and two charred cinnamon sticks. All this is to make it look like a campfire. The cinnamon plays the role of the charred logs.

Be warned, though, Laphroaig is a very special taste. A single malt whiskey from Scotland infused with enough peat smoke flavor to bring tears to your eyes. I once hiked a multi-day coastal trail in Canada and after a week, everything I owned including my skin smelled of campfire smoke. This drink is that campfire smoke on steroids.

My favorite drink at the Den, honestly, was Tom’s Chili & Ginger Mojito. This is more than your usual by-the-pool mojito. It has the lime taste, to be sure, but there’s also ginger and, to wake you up, red chilies. A mojito with a kick. Perfect after a day of skiing and before you tuck into the Den’s BBQ ribs.

The Den Bar and Bistro Smoked Old Fashioned

The finished product – a Smoked Old Fashioned from Silver Star Resort.

Courtesy of Mark Lehmann, Food and Beverage Manager at Silver Star Mountain Resort

Ingredients:

1oz Wild Turkey 101 Bourbon
1oz OK bourbon
0.33oz orancio vermouth (10mL)
2 Dashes Angostura Bitters
1 sugar cube
Garnish: Orange peel
Optional for wood smoked flavor instead of actual smoke – a couple of drops of Liquid Smoke.

Method:

1. Combine all ingredients in large carafe ready to smoke.
2. Prepare smoker with wood chips
3. Smoke and swirl
4. Add to Old Fashioned Glass with Large Ice Cube
5. Stir a bit to chill

— Story and photos by Yvette Cardozo

RealFoodTraveler.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn a small amount of advertising fees by linking to Amazon.com while providing convenience for the reader.