Inspired by the snowbound isolation of the Overlook Hotel in the Colorado Rockies, The Overlook cocktail blends botanical gin, rosemary simple syrup, Mount Rigi liqueur, Cointreau, and Rumple Minze to capture crisp pine, floral mountain air, and the chilling essence of winter. (Recipe Below)
Set high in the Colorado Rocky Mountains sits The Overlook Hotel surrounded by sweeping views of snow kissed peaks and beautiful fields of wildflowers that many love to visit in the summer. The tranquil, small mountain town pretty much shuts down in the winter time, and the hotel guests and staff evacuate for more suitable weather while The Overlook gets buried in snow. We wanted The Overlook cocktail to feature these mountain traits with a botanical terroir gin, and rosemary simple syrup, we capture the crisp fir and pine tree flavors, Mount Rigi Liqueur and Cointreau for the floral mountain air, blanketed in the herbal chill made by the Rumple Minze liqueur. This cocktail tastes like those beautiful mountains and the absolute chill of The Overlook hotel. This cocktail, and the hotel are waiting to possess its occupants with a winter-induced fever like no other.
The Overlook
1.5 oz (45mL) Gin
1 oz (30mL) Rumple Minze
1 oz (30mL) Kirsch Liqueur
.5 oz (15mL) Cointreau
.5 oz (15mL) Rosemary Simple Syrup
Dropper Saline
Fresh Rosemary
Lemon
Prepare a rocks glass with a side of salt to look like snow; Crush ice, and slope it towards the salt side of the glass. In the mixing glass, combine 1 oz Rumple Minze, 1 oz Mount Rigi, 1.5 oz Gin, .5 oz Cointreau .5 oz Rosemerry Simple Syrup, and a Dropper of Saline. Add mixing ice and stir until chilled. Strain into prepared rocks glass, Garnish with a lemon spritz and tuck in with a rosemary sprig.
Rosemary Syrup
6 oz (180mL) Water
.25 cup (15 g) Fresh Rosemary
.5 cup (100 g) White Cane Sugar
Combine Water, Sugar and Rosemary in a jar. Shake to combine. Leave at room temperature in a dark place for 48 hours. Shaking occasionally to stir.
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St. Georges Terroir Gin
90 proof/45% ABV
St. George Spirits, Inc.
Intensely flavored gin of the forest floor. To achieve this flavor, a neutral spirit is made from wheat, rye or barley, then a unique distilling process to infuse flavor from a variety of herbs and spices including foraged Douglas Fir tips from a Mendocino County forest (California).
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Rumple Minze
100 proof/50% ABV
Diageo Company
German style peppermint schnapps although largely unknown to Germany. The high proof lends itself to its strong peppermint smell and taste.
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Mount Rigi Kirsch Liqueur
40 proof/20% ABV
Distillerie Mount Rigi Ltd
Mellow and sweet, this liqueur tastes of sweet cherries and light citrus. This kirsch liqueur is made from cherries that have been mashed and fermented then distilled. Botanicals and herbs are added to steep in the distillate then filtered and water from the Swiss Alps and sweeteners are added to balance the flavor and alcohol content.
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Cointreau
80 proof/40% ABV
Remy Martin Company
An colorless orange liqueur made with bitter orange peels and alcohol from sugar beets. Produced in France with the triple sec liqueur recipe still a kept family secret.
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Rosemary Simple Syrup
Rosemary is fresh, savory, and herbal because of this, rosemary works really well with spirits that have a high-spirited spice and citrus, clean flavor. Putting it in a syrup further balances and fresh, savory flavor with an equal parts spirit.
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Salt/Saline
Salt is a great flavor changer. It can balance sweetness and bitterness, smoothing out a cocktail. It can also enhance citrus flavor and acidity without the need for more acid. It is most commonly used in rimming cocktail glasses, but a sprinkle in the cocktail shaker can really impact a cocktail. Make it into a saline solution to enhance stirred cocktails.
A Toast to Terror: The Shining Reimagined with Overlook Hotel–Inspired Cocktails
The Shining is a classic horror movie that follows Jack Torrance, his family, and the terrifying isolation of the Overlook Hotel during a brutal winter in the Colorado Rockies. Inspired by the film’s eerie setting, the Overlook cocktail is a movie-inspired drink made with botanical gin, rosemary simple syrup, Mount Rigi liqueur, Cointreau, and Rumple Minze to evoke icy mountain air and piney forest flavors. Channeling the film’s most iconic scene, the Here’s Johnny cocktail blends spiced rum, grenadine, peach schnapps, Campari, and aquafaba for a bold, unsettling horror cocktail experience. These Shining-themed cocktails bring the atmosphere of Room 237, the Overlook Hotel, and Stanley Kubrick’s psychological thriller straight into your glass. Perfect for horror movie nights and film-themed cocktail lovers, these drinks turn The Shining into a chillingly immersive cocktail experience.
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