The Dolomites’ Signature Cocktail Is Ready for Its Olympic Moment
“Have you tried the Bombardino yet?” my ski guide for the day asks in his charming Italian accent. I haven’t, though menus and handwritten signs promoting the drink appear everywhere I look, tucked inside warm “rifugi” and the sun-drenched slopeside restaurants the Dolomites are famous for.
Our ski group has just reconvened after a demanding day carving Alta Badia, many of us coming off the world-famous Sellaronda and Marmolada. At the foot of the Sella Massif, warmth, comfort, and muscle relief are the top priorities, as is celebration of the day’s accomplishment. While I rarely opt for a gimmicky après drink, or anything resembling dessert in a glass, at this particular moment, peer pressure wins. I’m glad it does.
In my first sip, the Bombardino gives me a “comodità” (Italian for “comfort”): It’s rich, velvety, sweet but balanced, and deeply warming. As the cocktail’s intensity builds slowly, it feels like a warm comforting hug, precisely what’s needed after what feels like an eternity in ski boots.
As I drain the last remnants of its silky texture through a straw, it becomes clear that the Bombardino is not just another regional curiosity. Despite my prior unfamiliarity with the cocktail — and its general obscurity beyond the Italian Alps — the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics are here. With the influx of international travelers descending on the region, it’s only a matter of time before the unassuming Alpine drink finally steps onto a more global stage.
Credit: Elenitsa – stock.adobe.com
What Exactly Is a Bombardino?
At its core, the Bombardino is a warm Alpine cocktail built on egg liqueur, most famously Vov, often fortified with brandy, whiskey, rum, or another warming spirit and topped with whipped cream. Its texture is thick and creamy and its flavor is indulgent, delivering skiers much-needed calories to stay warm at altitude, not to mention a dose of comfort.
To American palates, the Bombardino may recall eggnog or historic flips — classic egg-based drinks traditionally served warm — but that comparison only goes so far. While eggnog remains tethered to the holidays in the U.S., the Bombardino belongs to an entirely different occasion. In the Dolomites, it’s consumed throughout the ski season, a ritual that marks the beginning or end of a downhill day.
That distinction is not lost on Molly Horn, chief mixologist and spirits educator at Total Wine & More, who says the Bombardino remains largely unknown to American drinkers. Its structure may feel familiar, but its context is not. The drink’s richness and warmth, Horn says, make it especially suited to cold Alpine conditions, and appealing to curious drinkers who enjoy egg-white cocktails and are looking for something cozy and full-bodied. But above all else, the Bombardino is truly about ritual.
A Drink That Defines the Mountain Day
In northern Italy, the Bombardino is less a novelty than a marker of time. Luigi Baldino, bar manager at COMO Alpina Dolomites, describes it as “a must” for skiers, one that serves different purposes at different points of the day. Mid-morning, it restores warmth and energy. In the afternoon, it signals celebration. Either way, it’s something meant to be lingered over, not rushed.
That ritual, Baldino says, is precisely why the Bombardino has endured while other ski drinks, like Skiwasser and Jägertee, have come and gone. Visitors arrive already requesting it. Locals treat it as a signature event, one that belongs only to winter and to the mountains. Historically, the Bombardino is not something consumed elsewhere, which only strengthens its identity as a deeply regional tradition.
“It should be warm, but not boiling, alcoholic, but not too strong, and creamy, but not heavy,” Baldino says. “It’s wrong when it becomes either a dessert or is disguised as a shot. A good Bombardino is balanced and honest,” Baldino adds, noting that the whipped cream is optional based on preference.
The Origin Story and the Importance of Balance
Like many Alpine traditions, the Bombardino’s origin story is rooted in necessity. Lorenzo Antinori, co-founder of Bar Leone, traces the drink back to 1972 and a ski hut in Livigno, where a bartender mixed hot egg liqueur with spirits to revive skiers sheltering from a blizzard. According to legend, one skier exclaimed, “È una bomba!” — “It’s a bomb” — giving the drink its now storied name.
For Antinori, when it comes to the Bombardino today, what matters most is balance. Egg liqueur brings significant sweetness, so quality spirits and proper temperature are critical. At Bar Leone — the No. 1 bar in the world on The World’s 50 Best Bars list, which is Antinori’s love letter to Italian drinking culture and traditions in Hong Kong — the Bombardino may incorporate Italian brandy, Jamaican rum, or even fortified wines like Marsala to add structure and complexity without overwhelming the drink’s comforting core.
“It should be warm, but not boiling, alcoholic, but not too strong, and creamy, but not heavy.”
That philosophy echoes across Italy’s cocktail culture. Alessandro Iacobucci Vitoni, bar manager at Park Hyatt Milano’s Mio Lab, frames the Bombardino as a natural extension of Italian gastronomy rather than a standalone cocktail trend.
“In Italy, cocktails didn’t develop separately from food and wine; they evolved alongside them,” Iacobucci Vitoni says. The Bombardino is a perfect example of this: Born in the Dolomites, it reflects local Ladin and broader Alpine cooking traditions, where eggs, dairy, and warming spirits formed the backbone of sustenance for mountain communities long before après-ski culture even had a name.
Tradition First, Variations Second
Despite occasional modern interpretations like an espresso-spiked version known as a Calimero, pistachio-infused Bombardinos, or other refined restaurant adaptations, most bartenders agree the classic Bombardino remains the reference point.
Licia Sabatelli, a bartender at Milan’s Doping Club who also works in Champoluc in the Aosta Valley, views the Bombardino as a winter mountain classic that resists easy reinvention. Egg liqueur, she says, is rich and fatty, requiring a high-proof spirit to cut through the sweetness and keep the drink balanced. When done correctly, each sip should naturally lead to the next.
Kristine Bocchino, an Italy-based beverage consultant and co-founder of The Ada Coleman Project, emphasizes the importance of ritual over refinement. “This is a cocktail that should be enjoyed coming in from the cold, settling by a fire, chatting with friends, and sipping to take the chill off any winter day,” she suggests. For Bocchino, simplicity is part of the Bombardino’s appeal — and like many of Italy’s classic cocktails, it’s a drink that doesn’t need fixing.
The Olympics Effect
With the 2026 Winter Olympics unfolding across Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo, global attention is poised to amplify the Dolomites’ rituals like never before. Several industry voices expect the Bombardino to benefit from that exposure, particularly among international visitors seeking authentic, regional cocktail experiences.
Iacobucci Vitoni notes that events of this scale heighten curiosity around how Italians drink, not just what they drink. Baldino agrees the increased visibility of the Bombardino is imminent. “The Bombardino risks being seen as just another unusual drink, but with the right storytelling, it can become an international symbol of the Dolomites,” he says.
Brands are already preparing for its moment to arrive, too. Vov is getting in on the action by launching a new Bombardino ready-to-drink cocktail that can be enjoyed anywhere around the world.
“In Italy, cocktails didn’t develop separately from food and wine; they evolved alongside them.”
The Bombardino’s appeal lies not in spectacle, but in its sincerity. It is warming without being flashy, indulgent without irony, and deeply tied to place. As Olympic spectators, bartenders, and beverage professionals encounter it slopeside in 2026, many will return home eager to recreate the experience.
Unlike eggnog, which remains tethered to the holidays, the Bombardino offers something more adaptable: a winter drink with a sense of purpose, one that fits in just as well in ski towns as it does fireside bars or paired with Alpine or other cold-weather cuisine.
The Olympics may introduce the world to the Bombardino, but its staying power will come from the same qualities that have sustained it for decades in the Dolomites. It tastes like recovery, like reward, like winter done right, and once discovered — I can confidently say from personal experience — it’s hard not to order another.
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