A Hot Topic (Literally), Hot Drinks To Warm You Up

Whether it is hot cider, toddy, coffee, tea, atole, wedang jahe, vin chaud, mulled wine, or hot chocolate, when it’s cold outside people warm themselves up with a hot drink.  For some, après-ski is a big part of skiing.  It refers to socializing and having drinks after swooshing down the slopes.   On the slopes and après-ski (which translates to after skiing), people sometimes drink something with a little kick.   As you can see below, not all après-ski beverages are hot.  Nevertheless, in the cold of winter, there’s nothing like a hot beverage to warm you up.  Here, we’ve seen things other than your normal piping hot tea… and they’re dangerously delicious.

Vin chaud (which translates as “hot wine”) is red wine mixed with a bit of sugar, cinnamon, and lemon.  Other countries call this mulled wine, Wassail,  Glühwein/glow-wine, Glögg/gløgg, bisschopswijn/bishop’s wine, greyano vino, cooked wine, quentão, vinho quente, boiled wine, vin brulé, karstvīns, hot wine, grzane wino  vin fiery, or Glintwein.  Clearly, it’s a popular beverage.  Just be careful, all that sugar can leave you feeling less than sweet if you are, ahem, over served.  Thankfully, it’s available everywhere.

Friends from the Nordics make it when they have people over.  They add almonds and raisins to their glass.  It adds a nice flavor and soaks up the liquid so they’re extra yummy.

Hot spiced rum/hot buttered rum is a little more British than traditionally Swiss.  Then again, the Brits have been vacationing in Switzerland for centuries. Byron, Churchill, Prince William and Cate Middleton have all been, so maybe it’s not so unusual after all.

Yum!  Hot cider.  With all the whipped cream and, um, additives, it may not be as healthy as pure apple cider but it feels cozy and helps fight off the winter chill.  It’s not widely available here.  In fact, I’ve only seen it a couple of places.
Hot coffee is my favorite beverage.  I freely admit it.  I’m an addict and drink coffee every morning.  Sometimes, adults like to add more than just cream or sugar to their coffee.  Popular additions include: Bailey’s, Kahlua, Grand Marnier, Amaretto, brandy, Irish whiskey, Amaretto and Cointreau.   On the slopes, I don’t want anything alcoholic, so I love a good cup of strong coffee with some cream.  Here, it’s usually real cream or milk and not the inferior (but great in a pinch) creamer cups you get in the US.

Warning:  In researching this, I found at least one article about insurers rejecting claims from drunk skiers.

Escalade

No, I’m not talking about a giant SUV.  I’m talking about a pretty cool party. Geneva’s Escalade commemorates the Protestant city of Geneva‘s defeat of the Duke of Savoy‘s Catholic troops in 1602.

I’m not really sure, but these might be Geneva’s version of Paul Revere?  If you’re going to visit Geneva, this might be the best time to do it.  It’s a really cool festival that’s part spectacle, part party and very accessible.  You’re in the middle of it so you’ll experience it with all of your senses.  The sounds of drums and fifes echoed through the city walls, while the smell of mulled wine (vin chaud) wafted through the air.

Here’s the deal. Charles Emmanuel I the Duke of Savoy wanted Geneva’s wealth. Genevans wanted their independence.  Many of them were religious refugees and would have had no where safe to go if Geneva had fallen to Catholic France. They also wanted to keep their money instead of giving it to the Duke.

When the Duke’s troops attacked, grandma threw a pot of boiling soup over the city walls as they attempted to climb them.  She then woke up the city so that it could defend itself.  Pretty much, they celebrate not their city not being overtaken by the Savoy and not becoming part of France.

It’s historic in the best possible way.  They have parades.  The old town is lit up by people carrying torches.  They really did fire the muskets!  They were so loud.  It scared the heck out of me… and the kid next to me.  They fire cannons too.  People dress up in period costumes.  Some are even on horseback.  The Passage de Monetier, a secret passage in Geneva’s old town is open for only this one night.

How do you celebrate grandma’s victory?  In the most quintessentially Swiss way. Chocolate!  They make giant tureens (cauldrons) of chocolate with marzipan vegetables (to be like granny’s tureen of soup).  Stores like Migros and Co-op sell the “vegetables.”  I bet it’s really easy to get kids to eat these vegetables.  They also have tasty street food and (of course) mulled wine.

Children dress up in costumes, kind of like they would in the US on Halloween.  We didn’t see any risqué costumes like you do there.

The cannon was louder than the muskets.  Unfortunately, there are not enough occasions where shooting off a cannon is permitted.  If you can get away with it, it definitely says celebration (or attack). There’s also a race/run that takes place weekend of or preceding the night of the 11th It usually starts in the  Parc des Bastions, where the Savoy troops congregated before attacking the walled city, and goes through Geneva’s old town, before finishing near the start. It’s a big deal here and everyone gets involved; you’ll even see families and running together.   There’s even a youth race and a costume run.

*Escalade translates from French into English as climbing.