Michelle Winner provides tips on how to stay warm during the Winter Carnaval de Québec by drinking the traditional Caribou.
By Michelle M. Winner
It is so cold in Québec in the winter that sometimes your lips start to go numb and freeze together. You begin to talk like you have had too much novocaine at the dentist. Luckily there is a remedy; the Caribou. It contains all sorts of “medicinal spirits” meant to keep you from freezing. At Carnaval it is served in glasses made of ice or poured into long tubes perfect for sipping while you are jumping up and down to the DJ’s house frantic or trance party music at the Ice Place stage. Carnaval begins the last day of January to mid- February with the epi-center on the Plains of Abraham Carnaval grounds, but events take place all over Québec. Go to carnival.qc.ca for more.
PrintCaribou the Famous Drink of Winter Carnaval de Québec
- Yield: 10 1x
Description
Caribou, a feisty alcoholic beverage, became popular in the early Carnivals. The recipe was created by Ti-Père, a business that was first established on Ste-Thérèse Street in the lower city, then, more recently, in Old Québec. Suffice it to say a typical caribou contains brandy, vodka, sherry and port… Wow!
Ingredients
- Recipe for 10 people:
- 3 oz. Vodka
- 3 oz. Brandy
- 12 ½ oz. Canadian Sherry
- 12 ½ oz. Canadian Port
Instructions
- Pour into a punchbowl and mix together. Serve in sherry glasses or , pour in a flask or specialty drinking tube and share with a group, preferably while playing in the snow. Be careful, this packs a wallop as the name implies.
- Category: spirits, cocktails
This is not the caribou that we were served in Quebec… This recipe is much more complicated, and where’s the Canadian maple syrup?
It’s been many years since I attended Quebec’s Winter Carnival, but I distinctly remember the Caribou was served warm (like a hot mulled cider).
That is how I prefer it!
Read an Inspector Gamache novel by Louise Penny. Caribou was mentioned several times as the story took place during Carnival. It was helpful to see the ingredients.
According to the locals, who I’ve interviewed no less than 5 for the story on Caribou, that is not how you make it.
same, my dad & family was fom province Quebec, over the years we’ve had Caribou making parties—we’ve used 180 grain alchohol, port wine & tea!!