Fire & Ice Hotel – are the cocktails hot or cold?

Of late I’ve been somewhat put off by cocktails- their sugary colourfulness really hasn’t been doing it for me. In a bid to change all of that the Fire & Ice Hotel in Cape Town invited me around to try out their brand new selection of cocktails.

The Fire & Ice has always been a firm favourite of mine because of its quirky nature. It is a hotel that doesn’t take itself too seriously when it decor, which inevitably gives the establishment a sense of unspoken coolness. They have been hard at work, doing a full overhaul of their menus (food and drinks) to make sure that they stayed current. I was tasked with trying out 3 of their newest creations, The Iceberg, Comfort Jar and the Fire and Ice.

The Iceberg:

This one was probably the most different because of one particular ingredient, an ingredient that I’ve never had in a drink before- an egg! The drink consists of vodka, blue curacao and an egg white that is beaten to form a bit of a foam, which is added to the ice. The end result is something that resembles an iceberg floating in the ocean. It has a fairly crisp taste to begin with, which is followed with a smooth aftertaste left by the egg white. It’s not sweet at all but still makes for a refreshing take on a vodka martini.

The Fire and Ice:

The Fire and Ice, is named after the hotel and is an interesting twist on a normal long island iced tea. The usual 5 spirits go into the mix but instead of using coke as a mixer they’ve decided to go with lemonade mixed with raspberry liquer and blue curacao instead. The drink is on the sweet side but does offer quite a refreshing option should you be going the cocktail route while out.

The Comfort Jar:

This one is by far my favourite. It is kind of like a mojito/jam jar with one special ingredient used- a burnt lemon. This really does wonders for the flavour of the drink, giving you that nice warm feeling inside after your first sip. The drink is served in a Consol glass jam jar unmixed- leaving you to shake the mixture yourself, completing the drink. The experience of mixing it yourself really does make this drink different. I really could drink boat loads of these without even batting an eyelid- it’s a winner.

It’s quite a cool spot to come chill with a group of mates, with the over-the-top decor and drinks making a cool conversation point should you and your friends have nothing to speak about on the night. The Fire and Ice is  far more relaxed than most other hotel-bars and to be honest I do quite enjoy a slightly more chilled vibe when doing pre-drinks. It was the first hotel in the city to have a climbing wall and there’s really no equal to the Coughin’ Room (the smoking room), which has coffins for benches and an open grave on the ceiling.

Apart from  the 3 drinks that are still to be added to the menu you’ll also find:

Brrrrrr le’: Vanilla Custard Crème Brulee;
Cosmostolitan: Just add ice cream;
Stolilicious: Lindt, Lindt and more Lindt;
Vanilla Espresso Milkatini: Blended not Stirred;
Pancake: Bananas and Cinnamon;
Afternoon Tea: Earl Grey never tasted so good;
Passionate Stoli: Raspberry with a Touch of Passion; and
Fire & Ice!: Chilli and Ice and all things nice.

Other posts for you to enjoy: