F & B
The Cavalier Hotel ’ s on-site distillery
VODKA WITH A LOCAL TWIST
The Cavalier Hotel , a Gold Key PHR property and Marriott Autograph Collection member in Virginia Beach , Virginia , is the first U . S . hotel with an on-site distillery , producing three kinds of whiskey ( guests can barrel their own batch ) and a plan to distill gin . It also distils vodka : When Andrew Yancey and Josh Canada proposed opening the Tarnished Truth distillery in the hotel to CEO Bruce Thompson , he insisted on it . “ If you go into a liquor store , there ’ s more vodka than anything else so it ’ s hard to compete in that realm ,” Yancey says , “ but if we ’ re doing local stuff , we might as well do everything we can .”
The biggest-selling vodka cocktail is Float Like a Butterfly , with mint , lemon , simple syrup and chamomile bitters . Butterfly Garden has a western style gin , honey strawberry syrup infused with blue butterfly pea flowers , lemon juice and rhubarb bitters . It ’ s shaken with fresh mint and garnished with an edible orchid .
Butterfly Garden
Ave at Seafire Resort & Spa
Non-alcohoolic Pina colada
MOCKTAILS MADE MEMORABLE
Having good mocktails might not have a direct impact on sales , but they do impact the bottom line , says Mike Ryan , director of bars at IHG ’ s Kimpton Hotels and Restaurants . “ You might not sell a ton of them , but they end up driving some incidental traffic ,” he says . “ If you ’ re going to succeed as a restaurant in the 21st century , you have to be hospitable and flexible .”
Mocktails allow someone who is not drinking to still enjoy the social aspects of drinking and the experience of being in a bar . “ People who are looking for this get very excited when they see options on menus or even having a separate ( non-alcoholic ) menu ,” Ryan says .
One such drink is the Mint Fizz at the Ave , at Kimpton ’ s Seafire Resort & Spa on Grand Cayman Island : Fresh mint and lime juice are muddled together with a light , white soda – a twist on the classic mojito . Ave also serves up a non-alcoholic version of the pina colada made with fresh pineapple and cream of coconut .
42 hotelsmag . com May 2018