Lucky Guys Distilling owner Guy Whitehead chose a pretty textbook hot toddy as his drink selection for the Sippin’ With The Hotties Hot Beverage Crawl this year, part of this weekend’s Hot Air Affair festivities.
Whitehead said what makes his drink unique, though, is its local sourcing of ingredients: it’s his distillery’s spirits, grains from New Richmond and local maple syrup to make the “Cinnamon Maple Bliss.”
“We don’t have a lot of them, and I feel like we should,” Whitehead said of hot drinks.
Whitehead’s business and 11 others in Hudson featured drinks to fit the theme of hot beverages for this year’s crawl, which lasted from Friday to Sunday, Feb. 2 to Feb. 4.
Bennett's Chop & Rail House, Big Guy’s BBQ Roadhouse, Black Rooster Bistro, Buddy’s Bakery, Dick’s Bar and Grill, Grand Fête, Key’s Café, Post American Eatery, Smokey Treats BBQ, The Cellars Wines & Spirits and Ziggy’s are also participating in the event.
Each place had at least one drink to feature, some of which were nonalcoholic. Drink testers voted by scanning a QR code on a brochure at any of the aforementioned establishments.
Recently, Lucky Guys brought in an espresso machine, and it has multiple ways to heat water for hot drinks. Asked if the distillery would feature more hot drinks after the beverage crawl, Guy looked over at his wife, Michelle, who nodded.
“Seasonal drinks are so fun,” Michelle said. “I find that there are more opportunities every year.”
Keys Cafe & Bakery did a spinoff of a classical drink that is more popular down south.
Keys Cafe’s Makenzi Hunn said the Cafe Pacifica — based on the Pacifica cocktail — has tequila, coffee, simple syrup and coffee liqueur. The cafe had whip cream and a few chocolate-covered coffee beans for toppings on the drink. The restaurant participated in this event for the first time. And Hunn responded via email due to a personal matter.
“We like hot alcoholic drinks due to the fact that we are a breakfast place [so this is a] fun way to spruce up a few coffee drinks,” Hunn said.
The Post American Eatery’s drink choice had the makings of a bonfire treat: toasted marshmallows, graham cracker crumbs, chocolate shavings and hot chocolate, all of which make up a drink named “Getting Toasted.”
“We wanted really cute toppings, so we were like ‘ooh, s'mores,’” Louise Swenka of the Post said. “Let’s make it hot cocoa, but s’mores-like, so we infused some vodka with marshmallow.”
The Post had a nonalcoholic version of the drink, too. And Grand Fête’s picks for the beverage crawl were only nonalcoholic.
The kitchen supply store made the “Up, Up And Away” and the “S’more Latay” (or Latte) for the beverage crawl this weekend. The store sells Miss Mary’s — which has sugar-free syrups and low-sugar cocktail mixes — so Grand Fête is using Miss Mary’s syrup to make drinks.
The Hudson Hot Air Affair has yet to respond in regards to top vote-getters from the competition.
The Sippin’ With The Hotties Hot Beverage Crawl’s full list of establishments, drinks and addresses are as follows:
The full list of beverage crawl options.
Update: This story has been updated to include new information.
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