Ready, Sett, Go!

by Jess Allen

Queenstown-based Crimson Badger are ramping up for their busiest winter yet in their sixth year of operation. ey’ve been busy badgers over at e Sett as the business continues to grow and demand for their popular mulled products does too. is year, they’re introducing a new non-alcoholic o ering in addition to the mulled wine and mulled Ginger Bear, which will be o ered up the mountains and at various establishments throughout town.

Winter is the busiest season for the business thanks to their warm o erings. roughout season their mulled range has proven to be a favourite – starting out with mulled Ginger Bear before adding mulled wine to the mix and now, Humble 0% Mulled Apple Crumble.

“It started to grow slowly like everything else, we started to order more and more, and saw growing demand for the units. is year has been surprising in the demand we’ve had for mulled Ginger Bear, mulled wine, and Humble 0% Mulled Apple Crumble,” says founder Wesley McAllister.

e initial idea behind launching a mulled Ginger Bear was sparked when McAllister was approached by NZSki’s head of food and beverage at the time to create a warm version of the drink in an easy-to-pour unit. He went to work and came up with the mulled boxes you’ll now see.

“ is winter, we decided to try something new and build on the success of our existing mulled o erings,” says head brewer Harvey Hill. “We wanted to take a slightly di erent tack and appeal to a di erent corner of the market with our non-alcoholic o ering. It’s a break from the norm, and it’s delicious – it’s like sipping a lush liquid apple crumble.” e unique mulled units that pour their o erings are all hand-cra ed by the team. ese devices allow bars and restaurants to serve piping hot beverages from a standard keg, making them a desirable option for businesses.

“A lot of work goes into the preparation for these, whether that’s constructing new units, maintaining existing ones, or producing the winter-speci c products – it’s no small task. e vast majority of the units are installed within Queenstown and nearby surrounds, however, there are one or two lucky customers from further a eld that we have worked out arrangements with so they can have these options too, including Mt Hutt. As we continue to grow, we’re looking at ways we can branch out to more locations as demand is proving to be increasingly high.”

Crimson Badger has built a strong reputation within Queenstown and Wānaka, and both Wes and Harvey feel humbled to see how popular their o erings are. eir goal is always to innovate and make things as easy as possible. “ e convenience of just being able to order a standard keg of one of our products and dispense it through the unique system is the height of convenience for a lot of customers.

“ e fun thing about making these mulled products is that they’re di erent every year, and every year we take it as a new challenge to improve. We’ll take previous recipes, look at how we can tweak and build on them by modifying the additions in a way which complements the base product. For instance, the base wine for our mulled wine changed this year – there’s a lot of wine out there and we wanted to pick the perfect one, then we had to adjust the spices and modify the process to best suit what we’re working with – it really gets the creative juices owing,” says Hill.

McAllister and the team are looking forward to the future and continuing to grow. ey’re continuing to expand production at e Sett and are fortunate to have a small but strong team to keep up with demand. “We’re extremely lucky, and it’s awesome to have the crew that we do, so I really couldn’t have asked for more,” says McAllister.

You can nd out more about where to nd the mulled o erings at Crimson Badger’s social pages or at crimsonbadger.co.nz

Logan Lore - Digging in for charity

Fresh from assisting the latest in ux of high-end executives, including Australian corporates keen to push their mental and physical boundaries high in the southern snow-capped backcountry, Ben Logan is now looking to create a new programme that will raise the bar and generate funding for charities.

A former elite triathlete, health and survival specialist, Wānaka-based Logan and his highly quali ed team of instructors take individuals, business groups and families into the wilderness for some lifechanging challenges and bonding.

Logan’s business Logan Lore has been operating for seven years working with business teams and clients to teach high-performance, mental resilience, endurance and how to overcome challenges. Eating outdoors around the camp re is all part of the experience.

Clients come away empowered with a clear perspective, new purpose and new reference points of performance, says Logan. “ ey’ve discovered they can go higher than they thought they could.” e programme is aimed at company team building with each team having to raise a gure they set themselves for a nominated charity with the full sum paid out once they complete the performance and survival expedition with Logan Lore.

With corporate business courses, especially from the Australian market, taking o during the past year, Logan’s launching a new expedition aimed at raising money for much-needed charities.

A large chunk of his clients are men in need of a soul-searching escape into the mountains, many with tremendous net worth, says Logan. “ ese are fantastic people to work with all with drive and commitment to succeed, so we’re launching a new course with the aim of raising a substantial amount of money for charity,” he says.

“Teams will comprise mostly of people who can raise big money and they only partake in the course if they’ve raised the money prior to the courses commencement,” says Logan. “ at money can then be used to create change through those charities.”

by Sue Fea

e idea behind the concept is that those taking part will have to give something of themselves, demonstrating their commitment and passion for their chosen charity, he says.

“ ey’ll have to really dig deep for the cause, completing a challenging expedition, proving their dedication to that charity.

“ ey’ll have to work for it and be purposeful about nding those funds.”

He’s already talking to several corporates about the concept, both from NZ and overseas.

Logan’s hoping some of the charities will support kids.

“We want to create a tremendous amount of money for organisations, especially those that provide health bene ts or experiences for kids.”

His business has seen strong growth in top echelon corporates coming to do his expeditions, usually three days in the alpine backcountry, anywhere from Snow Farm to Glenorchy.

Expeditions for elite sportspeople like professional rugby teams, the NRL and Olympians are also popular with some high-pro le names who’ve undertaken huge challenges in the mountains.

While the courses are open to all, most clients are men, wanting to push the boundaries and discover a new empowerment as they overcome outdoor survival tasks set before them.

“We provide challenging experiences that have transferrable bene ts to personal, family and business life.”

Surprise scenarios can be extremely testing for teams. “If they’re from warmer climates they can nd themselves driving old school, manual four-wheel drives in snow. ese are people who drive expensive, upmarket vehicles on highways who have usually never driven in snow.” For some people these challenges will be more di cult, but the whole team works together to help them overcome, says Logan. “It’s about opening up and being vulnerable.”

Building a stretcher, snow cave or snow shelter, navigation, traversing are all situations that teams face, the biggie – icy cold water immersion is usually saved for the nale a er a long hike in snow.

Ice cold water immersion can be very confronting with most men believing they will last 10 to 20 seconds, but many emerging elated a er 10 to 20 minutes, says Logan. “If done properly this not only o ers tremendous health bene ts but builds great commitment and resilience, and develops critical thinking and mindset training, which all help manage stress.

“We take teams to hidden alpine lakes and it’s always a surreal and magical day, especially for Australians who despise the cold.”

He says it’s hugely rewarding seeing participants overcome challenges way outside their comfort zones and head away freshly-charged and empowered to take on whatever comes their way.