When it comes to sales, rum may not be a powerhouse spirit category like vodka or whiskey, but this past year’s new releases certainly make an argument for drinking more of the sweet-and-funky spirit. With American-made craft rums on the rise and the country in the throes of a full-blown tiki revival, there’s more and more amazing bottles flooding the market and more and more bartenders spreading the gospel of great rum.
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Vegas? Check…like too many times to count. Times Square? Froze to death, but been there. Miami? Yeah, yeah. So, you’ve done the standard NYE thing. Good for you, but it’s time to upgrade your New Year’s Eve game. Because, let’s face it—New Year’s Eve can be underwhelming. Dinner is super expensive, club lines are annoyingly long and wherever you end up, you’re usually forced to sport one of those cheesy hats.
Read MoreThese five mountain distilleries have shared cocktail recipes that will get you through the holidays. Some are easy and some are complex, but all of these holiday cocktail recipes will help make your holidays merry and bright.
Read MoreWe're in the midst of an entire month dedicated to the creamy, spicy goodness of eggnog. It's the drink that makes the holidays sparkle with a little more buzz. Though you surely have a carton of the store-bought stuff in the fridge right now, there are more sophisticated ways to celebrate such a beloved concoction.
Take a night out on the town to indulge in one the best eggnogs in Denver before the season is over.
Certain spirits conjure a sense of place. Although rum is made worldwide, it evokes images of tropical isles and azure seas. If Crested Butte’s Montanya Distillers is any indication, however, Colorado rum made with sustainable, traceable, North American ingredients is poised to change the way people think about what’s in their Mai Tai or mojito.
Read MoreFrom limited-edition gin to a craft coffee subscription to whiskey-caramel chocolates, these tasteful (and tasty!) Colorado-made gifts will hit the spot.
Read MoreCrested Butte might be overshadowed by fellow Colorado ski resorts Vail and Aspen, but offers some of North America's best skiing and outstanding powder snow. Beginners and intermediates can hog four-fifths of the mountain, while the other fifth has some of the most challenging inbounds runs in the world.
Read MoreWhereas some people eschew offseason in resort towns, those who have taken advantage of the shoulder season know firsthand the beauty. The pace is low-key, the locals are relaxed and cheerful, and hotel rates are reasonable. Plus, there’s no waiting for tables at restaurants (a godsend when you have young kids), and the trails are nearly empty and sublimely peaceful. And so it went during a recent mid-October visit to Crested Butte.
Read MoreNew York City—more specifically the neon insanity around Times Square—may be the most popular tourist destination in the United States, but travelers don’t need to navigate the Big Apple to take home a memorable experience. America’s small towns have a lot to offer tourists, from lakeside picnics to golf with a view to carriage rides through cobbled streets.
Read MoreIt’s officially off season. While there may not be a much going on, there are some great specials on Food and Drink in the Crested Butte Off Season. Both the temperature and the number of people in town have noticeably dropped and the lifts won’t begin their test runs for weeks. Now is the perfect time to enjoy those shoulder season deals! Travel Crested Butte has put together a list of 4 Crested Butte Off Season Drinks and a Crested Butte Off Season Deals guide, plus I’ve added a few more to the list!
Read MoreWhen the Still on the Hill Breckenridge Craft Spirits Festival was created, the town’s local distillery was still in its infancy. With hopes of bringing more awareness to the craft spirits movement — as well bring more off-season business to the town — the festival was a way to shine a light on Breckenridge Distillery.
Read MoreThe weekend has come and gone, and with it the Fourth Annual DSTILL Showcase at the History Colorado Center. With a start time of 7 p.m. and over 40 craft distilleries to sample, it was no wonder Lyft was one of the event’s many sponsors.
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While Colorado has long been known as a craft beer hub, over the past several years, it’s become fertile ground for small-batch distilleries, too. “Colorado has jumped from something like 30 distilleries to more than 50,” says Chuck Sullivan. Sullivan launched Dstill four years ago with two of Colorado's earliest champions of craft distilling, Rob Masters, founder of Rob's Mountain Gin and former president of the Colorado Distillers Guild, and Moose Koons of Peach Street Distillers and Rocky Mountain Soda Co..
Read MoreBack in 2014, Crested Butte’s then-mayor Aaron Huckstep was very fortunate he didn’t spark a bloody, Arab Spring-like uprising among his citizenry — a Colorado Spring, if you will — after he and the town elders shamelessly whored out the city to Bud Light for $500,000.
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Rum is synonymous with the Caribbean, evoking visions of tropical beaches and island breezes. After all, the hot, sunny climate of spots like Jamaica, Guatemala and Cuba is as perfect for growing the sugar cane required for making rum as it is for sipping a mojito.
But while the Caribbean is undoubtedly an ideal location for producing rum, it’s not the only region to consider when searching for a quality bottle. For something different, consider starting right here in the USA. America has been producing rum since colonial times, though the spirit has been often overshadowed by spirits like whiskey and gin.
In a state full of great destinations for outdoor adventure, Crested Butte, Colorado still manages to stand out. This small mountain town may only be home to 1500 residents, but it has a lot to offer travelers looking for an active escape. And surprisingly, it has plenty of great restaurants and night spots for when you're ready to unwind at the end of a busy day.
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Although Prohibition put a damper on America’s ability to drink in the 1920s and 1930s, the recent emergence of craft distilleries has put drinking spirits back on the map. We searched high and low to find the coolest distilleries across the country to sip top-notch beverages. The distilleries on our list pride themselves on using organic and locally-sourced (when possible) ingredients to produce high-quality spirits ranging from classic whiskies to off-the-wall flavoured vodkas. Each can be savoured in the form of a tasting flight or mixed into a craft cocktail. No matter what you order, there’s nothing like tasting spirits straight from their source.
Read MoreIt’s a freezing February morning in Crested Butte, Colorado and scribbled “Powder Day” signs are swinging from the windows of the Main St shops.
Here, in the place Australian skiers and snowboarders have dubbed the “Byron Bay of the USA”, everything stops for the snow.
Few bat an eyelid when the local bar or taco shop shuts to sample an overnight dump.
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For a week each July, New Orleans becomes the center of the booze universe as thousands of bartenders, distillers and enthusiasts (and your humble spirits columnist) descend upon the Big Easy for the annual Tales of the Cocktail conference. With its nonstop slate of seminars, pop-ups, cocktail dinners and parties, Tales is the best place to take the pulse of the cocktail world, and this year’s edition was no exception.
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During a trip to the annual cocktail convention Tales of the Cocktail, held each July in New Orleans, I learned a thing or two about cocktail trends: Tiki cocktails are big, classic cocktails are hot and hospitality is in, so don’t take any guff from that attitudinal “mixologist” when he asks if you want to pay extra for artisanal ice in your cocktail. The bartenders I spoke to at Tales were adamant that bartending needs to recapture the spirit of hospitality that has sometimes been lost as craft cocktail culture has ascended.
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