Hi-De-Hic: Warners launch alcoholic ice creams via mobile bar

Warner Leisure Hotels launches The Ice Cream Bar serving intoxicating treats including ‘IcePA’, ‘Jäger Bombes’ and Bacon & Bourbon chasers exclusively for grown ups.

“Our guests may predominately be over 50, but they love a bit of mischievous fun. After the huge success of Anti-aGin – the first ever anti-ageing gin launched in April – we wanted to keep the fun going, and The Ice Cream Bar is ready to do just that.” – Mat Finch, Marketing Director at Warner Leisure Hotels

Warners, founded by Harry Warner in 1932, have come along way since their earliest days; the company was originally launched as a family friendly holiday camp empire which included the long lost Dovercourt Holiday Centre in Essex – made famous to millions of telly viewers as the exterior location for BBC sitcom Hi-De-Hi and its fictional Maplins Crimpton-on-Sea Camp. Times however change and as the 1980s became the 1990s the group went ‘adult only’ – nothing saucy missus – simply changing direction by saying farewell to the children-friendly camps in order to concentrate  on a range of upmarket hotels which entertain grown-up holidaymakers exclusively.

Now progress has taken place once more as the UK hotel group launch an adult only ice cream van, dubbed as a ‘bar on wheels’, which is travelling around the country this summer serving an array of boozy ice creams free and exclusively for adults. Warner Leisure Hotels, just for grown-ups, has also sent a doorman with the van to make sure customers are old enough to be served a beer infused Mr.Whippy in a pork scratching cone or an Ice Cream Jäger Bombe.

The bespoke menu of intoxicating iced treats was created by New Forest Ice Cream for the grown-ups of the UK needing a sweet treat. The menu includes:

• IcePA– A Beer Mr.Whippy poured out of a classic bar pump into a pork scratching cone.
• The ‘Jäger Bombe’– a grown up twist on the classic Ice Cream Bombe! Jäger ice cream in the middle, covered in a layer of energy drink flavoured ice cream.
• Bacon and Bourbon- Bacon flavoured ice cream with a crispy bacon garnish and shot of bourbon to chase.
• Vodka Martini- Vodka sorbet with olive flavoured hundreds and thousands.
• Tequila Sorbet- Tequila flavoured sorbet served in a martini glass with a rim of salt.

The Ice Cream Bar was devised after new research from Warner found that the over fifties are still very much young at heart. Respondents’ top three favourite childhood holiday memories were being at the seaside (75%), having ice cream (53%) and going to fun fairs (43%). The ice cream menu was inspired further by the research, which saw that men over 45 would choose beer as their top tipple (33%) resulting in the IcePA, and women would go for a cocktail (15%), helping the Tequila Sorbet and Vodka Martini make the cut.

“The van has already visited four hotels and people have been queuing up to try the adult friendly flavours. Our guests were giddy with delight trying all of the different ice creams… you may think Jäger is a ‘young’ drink, but our Bombes were devoured within minutes! We can’t wait to visit the rest of the hotels and give the country a gloriously grown up summer.” – Mat Finch, Marketing Director at Warner Leisure Hotels

To see where the Ice Cream Bar will be stopping this summer and to try the ice cream for FREE, keep an eye on the Warner Leisure Hotels Facebook and Twitter pages where the next stop will be announced each morning using the hashtag #GrownUpIceCream.

For more information on Warner Leisure Hotels visit: www.warnerleisurehotels.co.uk