Four Seasons Resort Whistler and Celebrity Mixologist Lauren Mote Launch Spirit of the Mountains, an Epic Cocktail Program Worthy of North America’s Biggest Ski Resort

Despite the alpine temperatures and ski resort snowfall, things are heating up in Whistler this winter. The bar game at Four Seasons Resort Whistler has been seriously raised with an appropriately themed cocktail program, entitled Spirit of the Mountains, from Canadian mixology legend Lauren Mote.

Known for her creativity, deep knowledge and commitment to excellence, Mote has developed a collection of cocktails that pay tribute to the peaks across the globe that incite adventure, fuel passion and shape perspective. In partnership with Mote, the SIDECUT bar team is thrilled to bring the world’s mountains to life through the glass.

The Spirit of the Mountains program represents locales from four different quadrants of the globe, each with its own special secrets and unique qualities. Depending on the mood and moment, Four Seasons Resort Whistler guests can choose the flavours and flair that suit.

Global Inspiration: Northwest

Identified by thousands of small islands, the Western and Central Cordillera, ski resorts, seamounts and fjords, this region is home to the iconic Whistler-Blackcomb mountain range.

• The Drink: London Mountain - Originally named London Mountain, Whistler Mountain is a globally famous Canadian gem and the largest ski resort in North America.  This cocktail showcases some wonderful British Columbian flora and is inspired by the Cosmopolitan. Ingredients: Ketel One vodka, Whistler’s local “Hygge Chai” with elderberry, ginger and black tea, Okanagan black currant, aromatized wine, lemon juice, wildflower honey and western haskap bitters.
• The Drink: Volcan de Fuego - Inspired by one of the three active volcanos in Guatemala, Volcan de Fuego on the western side of the country, located on one of the most “vocal” areas of the Ring of Fire. A stirred, delicate cocktail that takes after the Rum Old-Fashioned, this “fire” is this complex creation that comes over time as the cocktail continues to open up, shortly after it’s enveloped in a gentle cloud ofaApplewood smoke. Showcasing one of the world’s most wonderful spirits, Guatemala’s ZacaparRum, distilled and aged 2,300 metres (7,500 feet) above sea level in the “House above the Clouds.” Ingredients: Zacapa 23 YO rum, Amontillado sherry, cherry and amaro, Suius cherry bitters, applewood smoke.

Global Inspiration: Southwest

This region is identified with a long Western-Coastal mountain range – the Andes – creating a continuous highland spanning the length of Chile, Peru, Venezuela, Bolivia and Argentina. Atop these mountains, iconic landscapes like Laguna Verde exist untouched, while cityscapes like the Aztec Macchu Picchu have been abandoned.

• The Drink: Orinoco Julep - The watershed on the northern side of the Andes covers much of Venezuela, partially into Colombia. The Upper Orinoco River travels 250 kilometres (155 miles) through high-mountainous terrain, picking up minerals and flavours along the way, helping to contribute to the dynamic flora and fauna of the region. The Orinoco cocktail is julep-style that gradually blooms with herbs and botanicals, over crushed ice. Ingredients: Johnnie Walker Black, tonka bean and allspice, white vermouth and green Chartreuse, mountain mint, plum and root beer bitters­.

Global Inspiration: Northeast

A remarkable series of cliffs, mountains, jagged-peaks and adventurous journeys, the North-Eastern region is home to Scandinavian fjords, the Alps, Himalayas and Pyrenees Mountains. A result of tectonic movement and continental drift, the region is home to some of the tallest mountains, and the most majestic scenery.

• The Drink: Third Pole - Despite being the world’s youngest, the Himalaya Mountains are home to the largest peaks – including Mount Everest and K2. The cocktail – Third Pole – refers to the Himalayas being the third largest body of snow on our planet. Spanning across 53 million people and five countries that include India, Pakistan and Nepal – known for their large whiskey consumption. The Third Pole is a bourbon based cocktail, inspired by the Whiskey Sour that highlights spices from this region. Ingredients: Bulleit bourbon whiskey, artichoke amaro, chaga tea with cardamom and sarsaparilla bark, lemon, Kensington aromatic bitters.
• The Drink: The Matterhorn - Named for one of the tallest mountains in the European Alps, the Matterhorn towers over pleasant Alpine villages. Inspired by the French 75,The Matterhorn cocktail takes elements and flavours from across Europe and the Middle East, and blends them perfectly in a light, complex and elegant sparkling cocktail. Ingredients: Tanqueray No. TEN gin, white port and clingstone peach bitters, clementine and cinnamon, sparkling wine, pickled clementine segments.

Global Inspiration: Southeast

An area imbedded with hundreds of active and dormant volcanoes, the “Ring of Fire” stretches across a 40,000 kilometre (150,000 mile) horseshoe, filled with oceanic trenches and an overly active tectonic plate activity. The region has been hurt by some of the most vicious earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes ever recorded.

• The Drink: Sunda Punch - Due West of the Pacific Plate, the Sunda Plate reaches north to the southern tip of Japan, south around the arc of Indonesia, hugging the western edge of Thailand’s Andaman Sea. As the Indo-Australian plate dips below the Sunda Plate along the Sunda Trench, frequent earthquakes are bound to occur, and where there are earthquakes, a tsunami is sure to follow. Inspired by the Margarita, the Sunda Punch cocktail is a tequila punch with a few surprises blooming in the porthole infuser inspired by the lands surrounding these active volcanic mountains. Ingredients: Don Julio Blanco tequila, bitter liqueur and aged sake, lime, pineapple and sugar, Moondog latin bitters, bloomed with lime leaves, lemongrass and Thai basil.l

About Lauren Mote

Lauren Mote is known around the world for her skills behind the bar.  As a mixologist, sommelier, accomplished emcee, writer, spirit and cocktail judge, international spirits diplomat and accredited instructor, award-winning bartender Mote wears many hats, but she is perhaps best known as the DIAGEO Reserve & World Class Global Cocktailian, and the co-founder of Bittered Sling Bitters - an internationally successful portfolio of award-winning cocktail bitters and culinary extracts. 

Above all this Mote is pure and passionate. Her voracious appetite for learning and effortlessly distilling and sharing knowledge is perfectly paired with her confident and gregarious personality. Her creations are thoughtful works of art, expressive of time and place, and her ability to communicate through cocktails is unparalled.  Four Seasons Resort Whistler guests are in for a beautiful and delicious experience in enjoying Mote’s carefully crafted potions.