For the second year in a row, Four Seasons Hotels is rolling out a line of 100 Mile Cocktails made using local ingredients that reflect the spirit of the communities they serve — sometimes literally.
Last year the Toronto property used a locally made gin, and the resort at Whistler in British Columbia not only used gin made in that province, but also strawberries that had been harvested in the summer, puréed and preserved, as well as herbs grown in the kitchen.
“I thought, well, genius,” said Guy Rigby, Four Seasons’ vice president of Food & Beverage for the Americas, who said he was surprised at how quickly properties from across the world came up with local drinks. “Even in the Maldives, where they’re mostly Muslim and don’t drink, they came up with a nonalcoholic cocktail. It was as though the bartenders had suddenly gotten a release for their creativity.”
At the Fours Seasons Resort in Jackson Hole, Wyo., they used local potato vodka with local huckleberries, organic cane sugar that’s not from the area but that the hotel processes itself, and local Wyoming smoked Cheddar. Half of the proceeds from that drink go to the Teton Country Relay for Life, which raises money to fight cancer.
“At a lot of the hotels, there’s a philanthropic nature to it,” Rigby said, with a portion of the money raised from the cocktails going to local charities.
Here's a look at some of the other 100 Mile Cocktails offered at Four Seasons properties across the world.
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