What hot cocktails tell us about the slow burn of Montreal’s bar scene

Back in 2016, the Christmas-themed bar pop-up Miracle arrived in Montreal. It was a hit and garnered press not long after, and why not? A four-season city like ours with infamously brutal winters ought to love some seasonal cocktails that warm you up while giving you the physical fortitude to handle temperatures below -10°C.

In the years that followed, Miracle (plus some occasional mulled wine or spiked hot cider at Christmas village pop-ups) was by and large the only real source of hot cocktails during the winter season, the pandemic notwithstanding. A myriad of spiked coffee digestifs regularly offered by restaurants doesn’t count here.

It’s only this past holiday season Montreal’s seen a big uptick in warm drinks. Miracle’s moved on to continue at 132 Bar Vintage, and winter terrasses have been set up at hotels like Hotel William Gray, the après-ski setup of Belvu at Marriott’s Chateau Champlain, and Bivouac. But now, these mainstays have been joined by the Secrets bar below Kwizinn, Marché des Éclusiers, Bar Bello’s own Christmas-meets-Italo Disco event Vacanze di Natale, and Le Petit Dep’s Taverne de Nöel; each of these addresses has hot cocktails in some way, shape, or form.

But while this all reveals an increasing supply, it just didn’t seem like hot cocktails in Montreal were nearly as much of ‘a thing’ as they ought to be during the holiday season. Thing is, looking into it revealed a lot about the state of cocktail culture for the city, one that still to this day sees a greater need for education by both providers and drinkers.

“You have to take a risk by putting them on the menu—and that’s where things get more complicated.”

Spirits are surprisingly low these days

Even though Montreal’s seeing more and more attention on the global stages set by organizations like World’s 50 Best, the surprising state of affairs on the ground here locally is that cocktails, and cocktail culture, aren’t where they could be—yet.

“Cocktail education is still pretty low in Montreal and Quebec as a whole,” says Kevin Demers, partner of the Northern Hospitality Group that’s responsible for bars like El Pequeño, The Coldroom, Bar Bello, and Bisou Bisou in addition to events like Montréal Cocktail Fest that brought experts from around the world to Montreal. 

“If you look at StatsCan data, alcohol sales in Canada last year were around $15 billion, and Quebec accounted for 30% of that—around $4 billion. But spirits? They only made up about 17% of those purchases.” 

Spirits tend to take up a small slice of the pie compared to beer and wine, which take the largest share at about half of all purchases.

“A lot of people here don’t even know what a good spirit is, let alone a good cocktail. So it’s not surprising that cocktails, especially warm ones, aren’t mainstream,” Kevin adds.

“When you look at cocktails as a whole, they’re still up-and-coming. A lot of the top cocktail bars—like Atwater Cocktail Club, Cloakroom, and Cold Room—are still focused on educating people about cocktail culture. And those places have been around for close to 10 years now.”

Globally speaking, spirits have all the money. But here, according to Kevin?

 “At events (held by organizations like the SAQ), spirits are relegated to the back and barely showcased. How are brands supposed to promote their products or push cocktail culture forward in that environment?”

So while there are innovative cocktail bars in Montreal, the general understanding and appreciation of cocktails (and spirits) remain low, which affects innovation and demand.

Warming up to the possibilities 

If cocktail culture in Montreal needs to push boundaries and garner attention, it stands to reason that warm cocktails take these difficulties one step further.

“You have to take a risk by putting them on the menu—and that’s where things get more complicated,” says Kevin. 

That leaves things up to the bar industry to take risks, introduce new concepts, and educate consumers. Bars must strike a balance between offering familiarity creating curiosity for less common options—including warm cocktails.

“At Miracle, for example, we offered two warm drinks: a mulled wine and an eggnog. Our eggnog was one of our top sellers. People loved it and would complain that the serving size was too small because it was so good. It was also one of our most profitable cocktails, which shows there’s real demand.”

“When it comes to warm cocktails, it’s about education—showing people what they could be drinking… If people don’t know something exists, they won’t ask for it.”

The challenge was that Miracle was a high-volume bar.

“You need everything prepped and ready to go because of the volume. That means batching everything, setting up stations, and ensuring the flow is smooth. You have to use tools like a bain-marie (a water bath) to keep drinks warm consistently, but not every bar has the space or resources for that setup.”

That turns out to be part of the issue: Bars in Montreal are often designed more for aesthetics than functionality. They’re built to look good, but not necessarily to work well for bartenders. Missing things like plugs, space, or proper setup makes warm cocktails even more of a logistical challenge. 

“When it comes to warm cocktails, it’s about education—showing people what they could be drinking… If people don’t know something exists, they won’t ask for it,” Kevin says.

“That’s why how you sell the drink matters. For example, people see the word ‘eggnog’ on a menu, and they’ll order it because it’s familiar and nostalgic. But you have to balance familiarity with curiosity.”

"Montreal has phenomenal bartenders and bar owners, but the consumers aren’t quite there yet. We’re still five to ten years behind a lot of major cities.”

Light at the end of the tumbler

For Kevin, there’s no doubt that bars want to offer warm cocktails but don’t have the staff, space, or resources to do it. “COVID didn’t help either—it set the industry back. A lot of senior people left, and now we’re rebuilding from where we were eight years ago when places like Cloakroom and The Coldroom first opened,” he says.

Despite these stumbles, Montreal’s cocktail scene isn’t without progress. There’s a pulse—a warm one at that—on the scene as more bars are starting to experiment with warm cocktails, and Kevin finds that people are moving toward quality over quantity. People want a good drink more than they aim to go chugging rounds on the cheap. 

“It all comes down to selling these drinks. At Miracle, people understood the concept and were ready to order mulled wine and eggnog. But a regular bar doesn’t have that same advantage. People walk in not knowing what to expect and might feel intimidated by the menu,” Kevin says. 

“For me, it’s always about the consumer more than the industry. Montreal has phenomenal bartenders and bar owners, but the consumers aren’t quite there yet. We’re still five to ten years behind a lot of major cities.”

“So, the industry has a responsibility to take risks and educate people. If they don’t explore new drinks—like warm cocktails—the consumer won’t even know they exist… It’s about sparking that curiosity.”