QR codes on the rocks, with a twist? Today’s food and beverage trends point towards customers yearning for an experience. These days, a menu with a built-in experience stands out.
Delaware North’s Parks and Resorts’ cool new interactive beverage menu, The Spirits of Adventure Experience Guide, allows would-be explorers to take sips of iconic vistas from Yosemite to the Space Coast with a single sip (and a QR code).
The four Adventure Guide cocktails are introduced on the menu as “cocktails that personify some of America’s most exciting destinations,” and encourage adventurous drinkers to “give it a shot. Raise a glass. And get a taste of your next vacation.”
Each drink was developed to use flavor, color and ingredients to evoke its location, and the QR codes on the menu lead to high-res images, travel tips and more, creating a flight of fancy along with the drink.
The Adventure Guide menu rolled out last month at all Delaware North Parks & Resorts-operated locations such as Gideon Putnam Resort & Spa, Holiday Inn Estes Park, The Lodge at Geneva-On-The-Lake, as well as national park lodging at Yellowstone, Grand Canyon, Shenandoah, Sequioa, Kings Canyon and more. Here are the adventurous sips from the menu:
The Rocky Mountain Highball from Estes Park Colorado
This magical mountain drink includes Four Roses Small Batch Bourbon, fresh lemon juice, agave nectar, mint and black cherry. “Must see” is Bear Lake, “Must shop” is Trendz at the Park and “Must stay” is Holiday Inn Estes Park.
Sierra Strawberry Martini from Yosemite National Park, California
Meant to evoke a perfect dawn rising in Yosemite, this martini’s elements form dark, dramatic shadows: Absolut vodka, Grand Marnier, fresh lemon juice, strawberry and a lemon twist to top it off.
Ocean Blue Spritz from Space Coast, Florida
This bold cocktail is space-age chic, raising a toast to explorers like Alan Shepard and Neil Armstrong with a refreshing universe of Mionetto Avantgarde prosecco, Lagoon Bay Icelandic liqueur, club soda and an orange wedge. “Must do” for the Space Coast? See a launch from the Space Bar.
Desert Haze Margarita from Grand Canyon, Arizona
This sultry marg transports you to the heart of the Grand Canyon with Espolon Blanco tequila, Dos Hombres mezcal, mango, fresh lime juice, black lava salt and a lime. This could potentially be sipped while enjoying the multi-colored, painting-like sunset over the South Rim.