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New Year…new you? Rock your resolutions and try something different this January when you experience new winter activities, tasty food, quirky drinks, and adrenaline-filled events here in Kamloops. Whether you’re looking to spice up your healthy eating, or get active outdoors, there are plenty of places to try something new and exciting for 2023.
Spice up your diet
Healthy doesn’t have to mean boring! Detox with special ginger tea and fight a cold with Indian masala chai at Spice of India, and opt for a health-conscious tandoori dish like chicken tikka or tandoori prawns, both of which are oil-free and marinated in homemade yogurt. Thirsty? Spice of India has three different flavours of Lassi (buttermilk) in sweet, salty, or the most well-known, mango. Lassi is thought to be a great source of probiotics, is good for your gut, and improves metabolism.
Give stress the axe
With the mantra ‘I’m sexy and I throw it’, you can swing into the new year with a new hobby and de-stress with axe-throwing at Cleavage Axe Co. in Sun Peaks. Whether you head there with a date, friends, or family, you can learn from an axe coach and spend an hour or two throwing axes at the target. Learn how to throw two-handed, one-handed, or even underhand - axe coaches aim to get you sticking an axe in under three throws! Kids can try a plastic axe to join in the fun, and all of the family can warm up after a day of skiing with some axe-throwing fun in front of the fire!
Save your resolutions
Forget Dry January, wet your whistle with two new offerings from Iron Road Brewing! Warm up with a ‘black as coal’ Fireman Oatmeal Stout, which was made with two types of oats and a dash of Columbus hops and is named after the person who shovels coal into a boiler’s firebox, powering the steam engine.
Try B-Line Westcoast IPA - a throwback to the old-school bitter IPAs that first started developing on the West Coast during the craft beer revolution. Hopped with Simcoe, Amarillo, Columbus, Cascade and Centennial hops, this beer packs a piney and resinous punch that will start your New Year off right!
Say cheers to two years of Gin Lane
Raise a glass to two years of Gin Lane Distillery this month! Sip on celebratory cocktails like the perfect pick-me-up, The Margot Robbie - a little spicy, a little sweet and a little bitter, this fun cocktail is made with chilli-infused Aquarius, Campari, sweet vermouth, passionfruit juice and a Tajin rim. Say cheers to In Polaris Fashion, which is like an Old Fashioned, but contains gin! This take on the classic favourite features Gin Lane's Navy Strength gin Polaris, which clocks in at 57% ABV and has spent five-months barrel aging. Polaris’s sweet and oaky taste is complemented with amaretto, simple syrup, bitters and orange essential oils to create In Polaris Fashion. If beer is more your bevvy, try Red Collar Brewing’s Diana Baltic Porter (8.7% ABV 25 IBU). Named after their resident good girl Diana the Black Lab, and brewed in collaboration with the Kamloops SPCA, this traditional Baltic Porter is dark and luscious, and like its namesake, incredibly easy to get along with. With notes of coffee and chocolate this full bodied brew will have you rolling over and begging for more!
Sample high-end student cuisine
Have you tried Accolades yet? Add it to your New Year must-dos for a taste of the future of hospitality when it opens again on February 1. This semester the TRU Culinary Arts Program welcomes Jared Summers as their new (and first) Chef in Residence for Accolades restaurant. Currently Executive Chef and Partner at Noble Pig and Underbelly, Chef Summers will be bringing in his own menu and style to Accolades on Wednesdays and Thursdays, giving Hospitality students hands-on training and experience of serving customers the most current high-end industry-standard cuisine. Be sure to book your spot in advance here! Hungry for more? Head to Scratch Café for student-prepared culinary delights and desserts, as well as meat products prepared by the Retail Meat students.
Head to Harper Mountain
Newbies can try their hand (and legs) at skiing, snowboarding, snowshoeing, Nordic skiing, or snow tubing at Harper Mountain, just 20 minutes outside of Kamloops. With equipment rental and lessons on offer, there’s everything you need to get started with a new adventurous activity (or improve your skills with an old hobby!). Best of all? Once you’ve enjoyed trying a new resolution, you can break the rest of them in the cozy European-style day lodge where you’ll find hot Swiss mulled wine in the licensed cafeteria and also the best poutine in the mountains!
Get into country at the Blazers
How about checking out hockey for a New Year treat? If you’re new to sports, ease into it with Country Night at a Kamloops Blazers game where you can dress up in country attire and listen to country music as you cheer on the team on January 20! On January 21 it’s Superstore Your Team Your Jersey night, where players will wear a special jersey created by a fan and jerseys will be auctioned off after the game.
Whatever new resolutions you make this new year, there’s bound to be an adventure waiting for you on the slopes and streets of Kamloops this winter, so make your list and get stuck in!
