While Aspen is best known today for its high-end ski resorts and celebrity sightings, the Colorado town was founded in 1879 as a silver mining hub. When the posh Hotel Jerome opened its Victorian saloon, Jerome Bar, on the corner of Main and Mill in 1889, the locale immediately became a vaunted watering hole, particularly popular with miners. Renamed J-Bar in 1946, it’s the oldest bar in Aspen and just as popular now as then, as is its signature drink, the Aspen Crud.
Prohibition, which started in Colorado in 1916, systematically killed off Aspen’s saloons and with that, the miners’ enthusiasm and motivation to toil in the mines. Yet alcohol still flowed, if you knew where to look, and how to order.
Jerome Bar had transformed itself into the Soda Fountain & Bar, and miners quickly learned that they should order a vanilla milkshake if they were seeking something stronger, says Anna Scott, archivist for the Aspen Historical Society. “A request for an Aspen Crud”—today, “crud” is skier slang for heavy, crusty snow as well as a seasonal cold or flu—“was code for the soda jerk to sneak a shot or three of whiskey into the shake, or customers would add their own alcohol from a flask.”
While it’s unknown who first conceived of the drink or named it the Aspen Crud, the concoction has been served at J-Bar for decades, even if it hasn’t always been listed on the menu. Of course, Aspen isn’t the only place to find a boozy shake, but the Aspen Crud’s enduring year-round popularity and proud place in local history are what make it notable.
Ordering an Aspen Crud won’t necessarily out you as a tourist, either. The creamy concoction is beloved by locals, as well as visitors, says J-Bar’s head bartender, Derek Pace. The hotel and bar have long been a favorite of celebrities, hosting everyone from Gary Cooper and John Wayne to Bill Murray and Hunter S. Thompson, the latter of whom lived downvalley. Glenn Frey’s “Partytown” was inspired by nights spent at J-Bar by the Eagles co-founder, although it’s unknown if any Aspen Cruds were involved.
When Prohibition was repealed in 1933, the soda fountain remained, the only change being it became legal to supplement the milkshake with booze. Scott says the Aspen Crud was particularly popular with 10th Mountain Division soldiers in the 1940s, who visited Aspen on leave from their training facility, Camp Hale, located 72 miles away. (A handful of former 10th Mountain members went on to found some of Colorado’s most famed ski resorts, including Aspen and Vail, and are credited with developing America’s ski industry.)
According to Pace, bourbon has always been the default spirit for the Aspen Crud, its honeyed vanilla and caramel notes the ideal foil for the ice cream. Today, the bar uses Buffalo Trace, which is blended with housemade vanilla ice cream; Pace notes that guests frequently request alternate spirits, including his personal favorite, Grand Marnier. “The result tastes like an adult Creamsicle,” he says.
Aspen isn’t the only ski town to have a signature cocktail, but none are as enduring as the Aspen Crud. It may be just a spiked shake, but “it speaks to how adamant some Americans were about not following the laws of Prohibition,” says Pace. “Someone creative decided that they’d utilize a milkshake to disguise their public consumption of alcohol, and the drink has been popular ever since.”
