St-Germain is ubiquitous on the slopes—most often in Hugo Spritz form.

Matt Canals

As a widely-recognized term in the French Alps, après-ski has existed since the 1950s. As of late, it has coincided with the proliferation of the Hugo Spritz, a winter-ready refresher built around Prosecco, mint, lime, soda and--crucially--St-Germain. Today that famed elderflower liqueur is leaning heavy into its role at the heart of the spirited slopeside boom.

The idea behind après-ski is as simple as it is obvious: you’ve just spent the better part of a day navigating steep terrain and cold weather, of course you’re going to want to level off and warm up with some boozy drinks…And no small measure of revelry and dance. So, in some form, it’s been a thing for as long as skiing has been a popular recreational activity. The modern advancement is in taking the practice over-the-top with electrifying DJ sets, tabletop twirling and magnum bottles of bubbly spraying towards the heavens.

But it’s equally simple and obvious that St-Germain should enjoy a starring role in this sort of celebration. The 40-proof aperitif is flavored by fragrant elderflower blossoms, handpicked from high in the Alps, where they bloom for only a few weeks every year. So, when partygoers in parkas and balaclavas are savoring St-Germain straight from a hand-carved ice luge atop Val d’Isère or Courchevel--amidst the craggy peaks of Southeastern France--they’re technically sipping on something local. And they’re definitely taking in a tipple that’s born of the mountains.

That’s doubly so when arranged into Hugo Spritz form. This particular cocktail was invented in 2005 by bartender Roland Gruber in Naturno--an idyllic Tyrolean village at the foothills of the Italian Alps. It holds a distinctively floral and herbaceous nose which counterbalances the honeysuckle sweetness it unfurls upon the palate. It’s crisp, refreshing and session-able; an auspicious laundry list for after-ski affairs. And yet the emergence of that seasonal setting as a key market for Hugos and St-Germain is something of a twist.

As recently as 2023, it was dubbed the “drink of the summer,” by many major publications. And when the drink was originally conceived, it was a sweeter, less-alcoholic composition relying on an elderflower (or lemon balm) syrup as opposed to a liqueur. St-Germain didn’t arrive on the scene until 2007, when it quickly ingratiated itself onto so many craft cocktail menus that it became known as "bartender’s ketchup."

It wasn’t long before one savvy tastemaker--now lost to history--realized that it would form the perfect spine for a more serious Hugo Spritz. The bar world never looked back. And when folks on the opposite end of the stick started reporting Aperol Spritz fatigue by the late 2010s, the Hugo emerged as an optimal stand-in. Over the last four years, Google searches for the drink have increased 5-fold. During that same time it’s started cropping up on bar menus at popular American ski resorts from Vail to Vermont.

Buoyed by this organic growth, St-Germain looked to promote its Alpine ascent with branded activations high atop Europe this past winter. Enter the ice-luges, immaculately-fitted influencers, and, naturally, an endless parade of Hugo Spritzes. At long last, the drink of the mountains has arrived home at its rightful time and place. Of course, we can’t all find ourselves at a snow-capped chalet alongside the French Alps. Nor should we restrict floral refreshment to any one particular season--or altitude. Enjoy it at your home bar--regardless of its elevation--with this standard recipe:

Ingredients:

3 oz. Prosecco

1.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur

1–2 oz sparkling water

6–8 sprigs of fresh mint leaves

1-2 lime wheels or wedges

Ice cubes

Instructions:

Pour the liqueur into a large wine glass along with 4 mint leaves and a lime wedge. Lightly muddle them at the bottom of the glass. Add enough ice to fill the glass. Gently pour in soda water, followed by Prosecco and lightly stir with bar spoon to bring the liqueur from the bottom to the top of the glass. Garnish with the remainder of mint and a lime wheel.