The Best Apres Ski Drink

After a hard day on the slopes, it is a great feeling to hit the bars still in ski gear for a spot of apres-ski. The first drink after skiing is always the best one you will taste, and the second is not far behind.

On a sunny day most people will probably go for a cold beer or maybe a cider. On a cold snowy day, or damp one, it is hard to beat a hot wine. Known as gluhwein in German speaking areas, vin chaud in France, and vino caliente (a bit of a mouthful I know) here - the recipe is always similar. Wine, herbs, fruit, cloves, maybe a dash of brandy or other spirits mixed and heated. Actually this post was inspired by (and is a tribute to) the vino caliente pictured above. It was made by Pablo, a barman at Ciscos here in Arinsal, and as you can see he put a great deal of effort into the presentation. So much so that I had to take the photo. I was quite reluctant to drink it at all, as I didn't want to spoil the artistry, but managed to force myself in the end.

The Hazards of Apres Ski

Firstly I'd like to apologise to regular readers for the two week hiatus since my last post. I would in part like to blame the group of people I have been teaching in the mornings this week (since I know they will be reading this when they get home).

One of the nice parts of being a ski instructor is going for an apres ski drink with your groups. In my opinion the first beer after a hard day's skiing is the best beer you will ever taste. The second is pretty good too. After that though you are on a slippery slope (as I'm sure many of you know) where the "just the one" becomes a session. My walk home from the ski lift should take about ten minutes. This week it has taken up to five hours, mainly due to the fact that I have stopped on the way for a (i.e. one) drink with the aforementioned morning group. You know who you are.

Actually this group have been unusual, in that they have taken out an "instructor hire" option, rather than joining group lessons. It was slightly more expensive for them, but meant they had a lot more instructor input, could stay together, and had more control over what we did. I will expand on this more in a future post, as I think it is a really good option for a large group holidaying together. I have also had a great group of beginners, so all in all I've had a very good week. Mind you, in this job most weeks are very good ;-)