La Tour prides itself on serving dishes made with only the best ingredients available, so why would its cocktail list be any different? Get out of your cocktail rut this spring and try some of the refreshing drinks at this classic Vail Village restaurant and bar where just about everything on the menu has custom ingredients.
“We put in the extra steps simply because this hard work shows in the final product,” said Kai Guerin, mixologist at La Tour. “The drinks have a depth of flavor that is not achievable with store bought or shelf stable ingredients.”
La Tour’s ideas for drinks sometimes start in strange and funny places.
“Sometimes we just come up with a great idea for a cocktail name, and we build the drink around that. Or we are inspired by one particular ingredient and want to use the cocktail as a way to highlight that particular flavor.”
For our Dine and Drink video cocktail demo, Guerin made the White Walker, which blends green tea infused gin, apricot liquor, lemon cordial and blue “butterfly” ice cubes into a milky looking liquid that eventually turns a deep lavender after being served up in a martini glass.
Guerin believes that visual appeal is important, especially in the Instagram era. The blue butterfly cubes came about a few years ago when he went on an ice kick and was freezing all kinds of random liquids to use in drinks.
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“I was studying how flavored and colored ice could make cocktails evolve in the glass. We have put this to work with a lot of other drinks throughout the years, but the butterfly cubes were the standout,” Guerin said.
The detailed explanations of each drink on the cocktail list sparks a lot of inquiries.
“I love using obscure and house-made ingredients in cocktails because I want people to ask questions, become engaged and try new things,” Guerin said.
White Walker Cocktail
Cubes:
1 quart boiling water
1/2 cup butterfly tea
Brew tea and pour into 1 inch by 1inch ice molds. Freeze.
Cocktail
1.5 ounces green tea-infused gin
1/2 ounce Rothman and Winter apricot liquor
3/4 ounce yuzu juice
1/2 lemon cordial (La Tour’s house-made lemon zest syrup)
Pinch of salt
Shake and double strain into martini glass with 2 butterfly cubes.