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It burns on the inside.

​Dateline: Lake Tahoe
One of the great things about Lake Tahoe, aside from the perfumed forests and rampant wildlife and crystal-crisp oxygen and the jewel-toned lake itself, is the great preponderance of creatively conceived hot cocktails. The region's alpine climate and winter-playground ambience have created a milieu ideal for après-ski fireside quaffing of soul-stirring, body-warming beverages more or less unknown in more or less snowless San Francisco.

Nepheles (1169 Ski Run Blvd. at Tamarack, South Lake Tahoe) is a warm and cozy option for sprawling and sipping against the High Sierra chill. Nestle into the cushiony lounge area and wrap your lips around a Siberian Snuggler (hot chocolate spiked with Absolut vanilla and peppermint schnapps), a Skier's Broken Leg (hot cider, Maker's Mark, and a cinnamon stick), the Chip Shot (coffee, Tuaca, and Bailey's), the Chocolate-Covered Cherry Café (coffee with vodka, Chambord, and amaretto), or our favorite, the Hot Apple Pie, a simply satisfying concoction of hot cider and Tuaca with a Matterhorn-like crown of whipped cream. Forest-green sweater with little blue grizzly bears de rigueur.

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cocktails