Spirit of Aloha 65 Bringing The Piste To You This Winter
You may have already seen Lola surfing down Spirit of Aloha 65’s iconic blue bottle over the summer, but it turns out Lola also skis (wooden skis of course)! So, La Folie Douce eat your heart out, with the launch of the winter label edition of its flagship Spirit of Aloha 65, start-up company Big Wave Brands is bringing the après ski to you this season with the perfect seasonal gift and centrepiece for your festive drinks cabinet.
If you’re concerned that you may not get to the piste this year or can’t wait to get there, then don’t worry, one sip of Spirit of Aloha 65 and you’ll be smiling contentedly in the winter sunshine up that mountain of your dreams. You’ll practically be able to smell that Alpine woodsmoke drifting down the valley.
Spirit of Aloha 65 offers the consumer something very different both to look at and to taste. With its coastal roots, Spirit of Aloha 65, is undeniably born of the surf, sun, sand and sea. The vintage and retro branding has universal appeal and the branding screams: ‘Life is for living’ and ‘Have fun!’. But, ‘Lola’, their iconic surf girl and ‘Al’ her buddy, don’t just surf, they ski! Of course, they do. The ski/surf winter bottles are a must for any après ski session or winter drinks gathering, virtual or otherwise. Oh, and how many spirit brands do you know that also make a hot sauce and a spicy snack?
With its sweet and warming botanicals of pineapple, ginger and chilli at its heart, Spirit of Aloha 65 is the perfect autumn or winter tipple and hits the spot on a cosy evening in front of the fire served just on its own over ice, or instead of a gin and tonic as a long drink mixed with ginger ale or a seasonal tonic like Fever Tree’s Clementine tonic water. The Aloha Mac, a modern twist on the classic, Aloha 65 and Stone’s ginger wine also works a treat, but for the more adventurous who want to go a bit off piste, why not try making an Aloha Old Fashioned with Aloha 65 instead of half of the Bourbon or something really Christmassy, like the Aloha Velvet with Aloha 65, brandy, orange and lemon juice, sugar syrup and egg yolk. Finally, if you’re up for some mulling, surprise your friends and family by whacking some Aloha 65 in either red wine, cider or cloudy apple juice together with some cinnamon, star anise and cloves - job done.
Beautifully and naturally crafted, Aloha 65 is vegan and made only from fresh ingredients and has no added colourants. It’s an all-natural, 27% ABV spirit or liqueur made from just six botanicals including pineapple, ginger, scotch bonnet chilli and nutmeg. The fruit, spices and herbs are balanced beautifully to give it a sweet, and spicy and herbaceous flavour profile with a nice little chilli kick. Their hot sauce, is made from the same ingredients (minus the alcohol of course). Their detonators use just two of Spirit of Aloha 65’s main ingredients, pineapple and chilli, and well… boom!
Oh, and as if that wasn’t enough, when it comes to your seasonal entertaining, Spirit of Aloha 65 has also got the canapes and cheese board covered. Their legendary “Detonators”, scotch bonnet infused pineapple chunks, whilst controversial on pizza, offer the opportunity for mouth and eye-watering canape creations or just a spicy twist to that classic retro combo - pineapple and cheddar chunks on a cocktail stick. Plus, their sweet and spicy “Sun on a Beach” hot sauce - not quite chutney, not quite hot sauce - is a brilliant new dipping addition to your cheeseboard, spicy accompaniment to the family fondue, or something to cheer up those leftovers!
Christmas is such a great time to enjoy drinks with friends and family, and this year why not bring along a bottle of something different that will get you all in the festive mood. Or what about one of their dinky Aloha 65 miniatures, perfect for the Christmas crafter! Bringing a pop to home-made Christmas crackers, the wow factor to a stocking for your loved one, or the missing part to a home-made advent calendar, you might need to get your orders in early!
Conceived and created by British expat barman, Stephen Thorp, at his beach bar in Florida some thirty years ago Spirit of Aloha 65 was launched in the UK last year. The first homemade version of Spirit of Aloha was designed as a versatile, refreshing and reviving, lower ABV, vegan tipple to lure well-known and not so well-known surfers into his beach bar. Stephen’s homemade gift to the après-sea crowd became a ritual, a unique sundowner that put a smile on everyone’s face at the end of a long-day in the surf or soaking up the rays on the beach. Thirty years or so later, and after many attempts (65 in fact), the first few bottles that met Stephen’s exacting standards were produced and Spirit of Aloha 65 came of age. With a flavour profile and ethos just as well suited to the slopes as the surf, Aloha 65 launches its winter label edition in earnest this year.
