Colorado craft cocktails elevate outdoor happy hour

Sitting around a campfire with a high-quality, cold craft beer can in one hand can be considered one of the great simple pleasures of living in Colorado. But not everybody enjoys beer, and glass bottled cocktail ingredients don’t really work on a backpacking trip.

That’s where Slalom Fox jumps in. Crafted and canned in Longmont using fresh juices and premium liquors, this small company wants to fill a niche that has been left empty by overly sweet, malt-liquor based canned cocktails that are currently on the market.

Slalom Fox’s co-founder, Katie Burns, created the cocktails with her husband, John, after leaving many a liquor store feeling disappointed. Searching for a convenient cocktail that wasn’t loaded with artificial flavorings, Burns came up empty-handed every time. The Longmont mother of five began using her experience in natural foods and her and John’s homemade syrup recipes to create portable cocktails that contained spirits, real juices and herbal extracts.

The brightly colored cans can be found throughout the state at spirit retailers, and are sold in 4-packs that range from $15.99 to $19.99. Currently both Wyatt’s Wet Goods and Hazel’s Beverage World are selling Slalom Fox’s Vodka Collins and their Bourbon Revival.

The Vodka Collins is a twist on the original, with a hint of thyme that lends a subtle depth. The Bourbon Revival contains bourbon, lemon and black currant, making it “both sweet and tart, similar to a whiskey sour,” noted Katie.

The company has two other cocktails waiting in the wings for an early summer release: the Gin Fizz and the Colorado Mule.

“Our Colorado Mule and Gin Spritz will be available in May,” John said. “The Colorado Mule is similar to a Moscow Mule but made with whiskey instead of vodka. The Gin Spritz is a gin and grapefruit juice cocktail.”

While the company is currently focusing on the Colorado market, the owners hope that Slalom Fox cocktails will be available nationwide in the future. Until that time comes, they’re working hard and enjoying the new things that Slalom Fox has brought to their lives.

“It has been exciting launching a new category of products,” said John. “While ready-to-drink cocktails did exist, the concept of a canned cocktail using real juices and real spirits is relatively new. Retail stores have been very receptive!