This Canadian Mountain Town Has a Boozy Tea Cocktail Trail — and It’s the Perfect Post-adventure Activity

There’s something about a long day spent in the mountains that makes a crisp cocktail taste that much better. I’m saddled up to a table at Banff’s new Hello Sunshine, ready to dig into some sushi when an attractive, icy-green drink is placed in my hands. One sip in, and this cool and creamy Matcha Colada has convinced me I’ve hit the après-adventure jackpot. You can imagine my excitement upon finding out this tea-infused cocktail is just one of several along a curated cocktail trail in the mountain town hub of Canada’s Banff National Park.

This isn’t your ordinary boozy trail. In partnership with the Banff institution of Jolene’s Tea House, this cocktail trail revolves around one main ingredient: tea. Located in an adorable log cabin-style building amid Bear Street’s shops, Jolene’s Tea House has been selling small-batch tea varieties made with organic ingredients from all over the globe since 2005. Much like the ingredients used in her teas, local owner Jolene Brewster says the tea cocktail trail came about organically and has a natural link to the Banff mountain culture.

“Teahouses were built to be a sanctuary for hikers adventuring in the mountains, a place they found refuge from the weather and could take in nourishment to refresh themselves. The Tea Cocktail Crawl invites guests to explore the tastes of Banff and be present to enjoy this special place,” Brewster shared. “Many of the talented Banff mixologists started talking to me about using tea to infuse flavor into their cocktails. I loved this creative outlet for tea and the fresh, new demographic of interest it brought, so I jumped at the opportunity to provide samples and make suggestions on flavor pairings.”

She emphasized the team effort in using high-quality ingredients and the importance of supporting local businesses within a small community like Banff, with a nod to the creative geniuses behind the bars.

“Both Park Distillery and our teahouse proudly produce products we hand make here in Banff. I deeply appreciate the time, energy, passion, and sacrifice that goes into making something quality. The bartenders are the true artists. They had the vision and created their own recipes for each featured cocktail,” Brewster explained.

Voilà. That’s how I found myself on a tea cocktail trail, taste testing in the name of research. In partnership with Banff’s Park Distillery, seven establishments within the walkable downtown area are slinging craft tea-centric cocktails. Over my four-day visit to Canada’s oldest national park, I hit up four of these stops to sample some of the magic. After touring the distillery, I ordered the Mountaineer Marg, a blend of Park’s Vanilla Vodka, coconut tequila, triple sec, lime, and Jolene’s wild blueberry tea. It was a handsome drink, and took me on a journey with each flavor hitting my palate one after another. Ultimately, it was a little sweet for my taste, but I was impressed by the essence theatrics.

On a roll, the next stop was Lupo for happy hour — a bright Italian joint that felt swanky without snobbery. The featured cocktail here was the Sicilian 75, with Park’s Alpine Dry Gin, Aperol, Chambord, Malfy gin, egg white, citrus, bitters, and Jolene’s Tea House Scarlet Berry Tea Syrup. It tasted like an unlikely but welcome marriage of a sunny happy hour somewhere in Italy and sitting in a rocking chair on the porch of a mountain cabin.

The following day, after another sunrise mission and hours spent hiking and waterfall chasing, I landed on the cozy deck of Bluebird Wood-Fired Steakhouse for a late lunch of Caesar salad and knock-your-wool-socks-off rosemary fries — the perfect post-trek pairing.

On my rosemary fry high, I was jazzed about trying their feature cocktail, which was right up my alley. The Meadow Mint hit just right; the blend of Park’s Alpine Dry Gin, Seedlip Garden, citrus, and Jolene’s Meadow Mint Tea was so refreshing, I had to consciously pace myself from drinking the entire thing in mere seconds. It was, by far, the winner in my book of the tea cocktails I had tried.

When asked which cocktail she fancies, Brewster couldn’t pick just one. “The Matcha Colada at Hello Sunshine is so irresistible, it always tastes great to me, but on that note, who can resist the Mountaineer Marg at Park Distillery, created as an ode to strong mountain women and a margarita all in one — this drink was made for me.”

Which one will be your favorite along Banff’s tea cocktail trail? Only one way to find out.