Drinking Inspiration
How Schloss Elmau’s Al Camino Bar is reinventing the Classic American Bar for the Alpine Soul.
There are hotel bars that rely on spectacle. On volume, on showmanship, on that calculated international flair that looks and tastes the same in Singapore, London, or Dubai. And then there are places like the Al Camino Bar at Schloss Elmau, which defy quick categorization. Here, it’s not about staging for its own sake, but about atmosphere – about that now rare art of making guests feel as though they’ve arrived not in a hotel bar, but in the private living room of a cultured host.
“The living room of Schloss Elmau” is how Daniel, the hotel’s bar and lounge manager, describes his workplace. A phrase that sounds casual at first, yet precisely captures the essence of this place. Elegant armchairs are grouped around the open fireplace, a concert grand piano stands in the center of the room for jazz melodies, and conversations flow seamlessly into one another. The bar doesn’t feel like a stage set for luxurious hospitality – it is hospitality in action.
That the classic American bar is being reinterpreted in an Alpine style here of all places seems surprising only at first glance. After all, says Daniel, Bavaria is the “Scotland of Germany.” In fact, the combination of mountain scenery, distilling culture, and a sense of ritual seems tailor-made for a bar culture that is equally committed to tradition yet remains open to the present.
Source: Thomas Straub
The Al Camino Bar views classics not as museum pieces, but as living narratives. The Manhattan is made with Scottish single malt instead of rye, and the Boulevardier is served in a Moroccan teapot to soften the drink through additional aeration. Even the Bourbon Sour takes on an almost North American accent with maple syrup, without ever seeming arbitrary. Here, the focus is not on deconstruction, but on building upon tradition.
Whiskey takes center stage – American bourbon as well as peaty single malts or rare distillates from Slyrs, fine spirits from Rochlét and Lantenhammer. It is precisely this regional rootedness that sets the bar apart from many of its urban counterparts. The ingredients tell the story of the surroundings: honey from Schloss Elmau, alpine herbs, seasonal flavors. The menu changes with the seasons, without chasing after fleeting trends. Instead, something rare emerges: a local identity within an international bar culture.
It is remarkable how naturally the bar integrates current trends. While in many places non-alcoholic drinks are still treated as moral compromises, in Elmau they are met with the same seriousness as a matured Scotch. Mocktails made with non-alcoholic spirits, herbal syrups, and fresh botanicals demonstrate that “drunkless drinking” is no longer a matter of deprivation but a distinct sensory category in its own right. The “Mountain Mosquito,” featuring sage, mint, and citrus, possesses the aromatic precision one would typically expect from a kitchen rather than a bar.
Al Camino Bar
Source: Fridolin Felix Full
In fact, the work behind the bar here is more reminiscent of haute cuisine than of classic bartending. The “Green Wood,” one of the house’s signature drinks, combines Highland Park, gentian liqueur, clarified grapefruit juice, elderflower, and Elmau honey into a cocktail that balances smoky depth, floral freshness, and alpine bitterness with remarkable precision. It’s easy to see why Daniel views the drink as a tribute to the Bavarian mountain landscape: it possesses something cool, clear, almost meditative.
And yet it is not technical sophistication alone that defines the place. What matters is the philosophy behind it. “Greeting the guest personally and seeing them off personally,” is how Daniel describes his concept of hospitality. This phrase sounds old-fashioned – and that is precisely why it is radical. In an era when the luxury hotel industry often prioritizes efficiency and standardization, the Al Camino Bar cultivates attentiveness as the true form of luxury.
This also includes the element of fire. The fireplace is not decoration, but the center of the room. “Maintaining it is essential for the atmosphere,” Daniel explains. As pianists play familiar tunes and jazz improvisations, that elusive blend of intimacy and cosmopolitanism emerges – the very quality that has always distinguished great hotel bars – as if you were traveling from the Connaught Bar in London, via The Ritz Bar in Paris, all the way to the BKK Social Club at the Four Seasons in Bangkok. Regular performances by outstanding jazz pianists lend the space an almost cinematic quality. Their music drifts through the room like a second conversation, elevating the experience beyond hospitality and into the realm of culture, where cocktails, live music and human connection become inseparable.
Source: Thomas Straub
Daniels favorite drinks
So you can experience Elmau’s bar culture at home, Daniel shares two of his favorite recipes. Both are inspired by classic cocktails and can be made with just a few ingredients.
Classic Manhattan (Elmau Style)
• Ingredients:
• 6 cl rye whiskey (Knob Creek)
• 2 cl red vermouth (Belsazar Red)
• 2 dashes of aromatic bitters from
The Bitter Truth
• Orange peel
Preparation:
• Stir all ingredients over ice in a mixing glass.
• Strain into a pre-chilled cocktail glass.
• Garnish with a twisted orange peel.
This drink is a timeless classic – it shows how little it takes to harmoniously blend rich flavors.
“Green Wood” – The Bar’s Signature Drink
• Ingredients:
• 5 cl Highland Park 12-Year-Old Single Malt Scotch
• 2 cl Avèze gentian liqueur
• 2 cl clarified grapefruit juice
• 1 cl locally produced elderflower syrup (e.g., Rochlét)
• 1 cl honey from Schloss Elmau
• 1 cl freshly squeezed lemon juice
• Preparation:
• Shake all ingredients vigorously over ice.
• Strain through a fine sieve over a clear ice cube in a small tumbler.
• Garnish with a grapefruit twist.
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- Source: Dietmar Mueller-Elmau