Name: Camp Lola Whiskey 2027
Start: 2027-08-26
End: 2027-08-29
Location: Timber Kove

Brandy old fashioned fountain at Camp Lola Whiskey in Hayward, Wisconsin — *Prepping the brandy old fashioned fountain at CLW*

Do you have to like great cocktails to attend Camp Lola Whiskey? Nope. Does it help? Absolutely.

Because summer camp is an all-inclusive thing where 95% of the drinks and food are included as part of the fun (as much as we’d love to help you pay your tab for the pontoon bar crawl, you’re on your own there, friend), it goes without saying: we supply the good stuff. No rail booze or questionable mixers here.

(The one exception—the Jungle Juice we serve during our CLW World Games competition. That’s a recipe that gets passed down from college student to college student, and the less you know about what’s in it, the better we’ll all be.)

With the help of our awesome sponsors, we’re able to create cocktail recipes that are tasty and local. Seek out these brands and give them a try if you haven’t already—we’ve got an incredibly cool beverage culture here in Wisconsin.

(We've got a pretty good Wisconsin summer bucket list out here too, if you're building a whole trip around any of this.)

Even if you didn't make it to camp this year, it can still be summer camp all year round with these recipes. If you want more where these came from, we've got a whole other round-up of the signature cocktails we've been making since camp started. Bottoms up!

This is the full 2026 bar list from Camp Lola Whiskey, the adult summer camp Laura Ericson runs through Type 2 Travel in Hayward, Wisconsin. Eleven cocktails, five flavored simple syrups, and one non-alcoholic build, all made with spirits and mixers from Wisconsin producers — Tattersall, 45th Parallel Distillery, Driftless Glen, La Crosse Distilling Co., Siren Shrub, Still Branch, and Klarbrunn.

First, the syrups

Basil, blueberry basil, thyme, lavender and cucumber simple syrups in jars — *Our homemade simple syrups are the secret to camp’s craft cocktails*

Five of the eleven cocktails below use a flavored simple syrup, and all five start the same way: equal parts sugar and water, heated until the sugar dissolves, then steeped with the flavoring off the heat.

Basil simple syrup: Immerse a large handful of basil leaves into the hot syrup. Steep for 30 minutes, then strain.
Blueberry basil syrup: Simmer a cup of blueberries into the syrup for about five minutes, crushing them into the side of the pan. Remove from heat and add a handful of basil. Steep for 30 minutes and strain.
Thyme simple syrup: Immerse eight to ten thyme sprigs into the hot syrup. Steep 30 minutes and strain.
Lavender simple syrup: Immerse two tablespoons of culinary lavender into the hot syrup. Steep 20 minutes only (anything after that starts tasting like soap), and strain.
Cucumber syrup: Let the syrup cool, then blend with half a peeled cucumber and strain.

Now, the cocktails:

*Brandy Old Fashioneds, the unofficial drink of Wisconsin*

Tattersall Brandy Old Fashioned

A Wisconsin brandy old fashioned is brandy with muddled orange and cherry, bitters, and a sweet or sour soda top — and Tattersall’s bottled blend does the first half for you.

All you need to do is:

Pour the Old Fashioned blend into a rocks glass over ice
Fill up with sweet or sour soda
Add an orange slice and a cherry

Go full-on Wisconsin by muddling your orange slice and cherry together at the bottom of the glass, then add ice and everything else.

You certainly don’t need an Old Fashioned fountain, but it does look pretty cool:

*Our Brandy Old Fashioned fountain was quite the crowd-pleaser*

If you’re looking for a more portable Old Fashioned variety, we’ve got you covered there, too. Another one of our camp sponsors, Still Branch, makes an Old Fashioned syrup packet with the bitters, orange, and cherry flavor already taken care of for all. All you need is brandy, rye, or whiskey (and you know our choice).

*Still Branch is the best way to bring our favorite drink with us around the world*

Some of our campers wanted to get their groove on minus the hangxiety, and for that we had Tattersall’s line of Functional THC tonics.

Uplift Peach Arnold Palmer

A THC-based, alcohol-free take on an Arnold Palmer using Tattersall's Uplift functional tonic, lemonade, and peach iced tea.

1.5 oz Tattersall Uplift
3 oz lemonade
3 oz of peach iced tea

Build in a pint glass over ice, stir, and finish with a lemon wedge.

Unwind Pomegranate Tonic

A low-key, alcohol-free highball built on Tattersall Unwind with pomegranate, lime, and tonic.

1.5 oz of Tattersall Unwind
.5 oz pomegranate juice
.25 oz lime juice
4 oz tonic

Build over ice in a highball glass, add the tonic last so that it stays fizzy, and give it a quick stir. Finish with a lemon wedge.

The Camp Lola Whiskey Bloody Mary

First of all, let’s get something out of the way: In Wisconsin, Bloody Marys aren’t “vodka and tomato juice.” They are an experience — an entire meal in a glass.

Wisconsin Bloody Mary with a full garnish skewer, made with 45th Parallel vodka — *We take our bloody marys seriously around here*

We break down the full Wisconsin Bloody Mary build, garnish architecture (again, if you can see liquid in your glass, you’re doing it wrong) in this guide, so start there.

We poured our Bloody Marys three ways at camp, all built on 45th Parallel Distillery spirits:

The classic, with vodka
The Ginny Mary, with 45th Parallel’s Midwest Gin. There’s something about the botanicals of the gin with the savoriness of the tomato juice and spices of the mix that just works
The Smokey Mary, with their rye whiskey

Also an underrated swap? Dill aquavit—a traditional Scandinavian spirit with caraway and dill.

*Our bloody mary display, complete with a pickle fountain*

On Saturday night of camp, Satiated Artists hosted a grazing table and cocktail hour, and we created three cocktails around three Wisconsin brands—Driftless Glen, Siren Shrub, and Klarbrunn.

Artful Admin

A Driftless Glen vodka sour finished with Siren Shrub Basil, served at the Satiated Artists cocktail hour on Saturday night.

2 oz Driftless Glen vodka
.5 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz blueberry basil syrup
1 oz Siren Shrub Basil

Shake the first four ingredients with ice, strain over a glass with fresh ice, and top with the shrub.

*Siren Shrub makes the perfect cocktail mixer*

Perfect Match

A watermelon-basil vodka cooler with club soda — so easy to batch for a crowd.

2 oz Driftless Glen vodka
3 oz watermelon juice
.5 oz lime juice
.25 oz basil simple syrup
Basil leaf garnish
Club soda to top

Shake everything but the soda with ice, strain over a glass with fresh ice, top with soda. Garnish with a watermelon cube and a basil leaf.

Inbox Zero (n/A)

The non-alcoholic option, built on Siren Shrub Basil, cucumber syrup and Klarbrunn sparkling water.

2 oz Siren Shrub Basil
1 oz fresh lime juice
.5 oz cucumber syrup
Klarbrunn on top

Shake the first three with ice, strain over a glass with fresh ice, top with Klarbrunn. Garnish with a basil leaf and a cucumber slice.

*Klarbrunn, the CLW MVP in our coolers all weekend*

For our 80s/90s dance party, we featured four drinks, all inspired by our friends at La Crosse Distilling Co. and two of our favorite decades:

La Crosse Distilling Fieldnotes cocktails at the Camp Lola Whiskey dance party — *Our Saturday Night Live party was absolutely epic*

Sussudio Collins

A Tom Collins made with La Crosse Distilling's Fieldnotes watermelon gin and thyme syrup.

2 oz Fieldnotes watermelon gin
1 oz lime juice
.5 oz thyme simple syrup
Seltzer to top

Shake the first three ingredients with ice, strain over a Collins glass with fresh ice, and top with seltzer.

If gin is your thing, you can go one step further and infuse your own with Indian spices.

Purple Rain Drop (Lavender Lemonade)

Three ingredients: Fieldnotes vodka, lemonade, and lavender simple syrup.

2 oz Fieldnotes vodka
3 oz lemonade
.5 oz lavender simple syrup

Pour all ingredients over ice and stir.

WAKE ME UP BEFORE YOU GO GO (Coffee Old Fashioned)

An old fashioned built on Heady Bella coffee whiskey instead of brandy or bourbon.

2 oz Heady Bella coffee whiskey
.5 oz simple syrup
2 to 3 dashes orange bitters

Stir over ice and garnish with an orange peel.

LIVIN’ ON A PRAYER (Whiskey Lemonade)

Buck Dancer bourbon and lemonade with a splash of seltzer — the simplest drink at camp and the one people kept coming back for.

2 oz Buck Dancer bourbon
3 oz lemonade
Splash of seltzer

Pour over ice and stir.

*Our SNL drink menu was a total crowd-pleaser*

If you make one of these bad boys at home, take a photo and tag @type2travelco on Instagram. If you make the Jungle Juice, nope you didn’t, because you don’t have the recipe. 😂

You know what’s better than making these cocktails yourself? Having us make them for you next year. That's how two campers who showed up alone ended up becoming each other's people.

Camp Lola Whiskey 2027 registration is launching soon—we’ll be back in Hayward, Wisconsin August 26-29, 2027. Everything you need to know is on the Camp 2027 page. Get on the waitlist here.

The Questions I Get Every Time I Post a Drink Recipe

How long do the flavored simple syrups keep?
Plain simple syrup holds about a month in a sealed jar in the fridge. The herb ones (basil, thyme, lavender) are more like one to two weeks before the flavor goes flat and grassy, and the blueberry basil and cucumber syrups are the shortest — use those inside a week. If it looks cloudy, moldy, or smells sour, it's done.

What does "sweet or sour" mean on a Wisconsin old fashioned?
It's how you finish the drink. Sweet means topping with lemon-lime soda, sour means a sour soda like Squirt or a sour mix, and press means half of each with soda water. Ordering "brandy old fashioned sweet" in a Wisconsin supper club gets you the sweet version without further discussion — it's the default question every bartender in the state will ask you back.

Can I get these Wisconsin spirits if I don't live in Wisconsin?

Some of them, yes — and the mixers are the easy part. Still Branch ships its old fashioned packets to all 50 states, Siren Shrub ships direct from its site (flat $10, free over $75), and Klarbrunn is at Costco, Kroger and Amazon, so any sparkling water covers you in a pinch. The booze is trickier, because spirits shipping is regulated state by state. La Crosse Distilling ships from its own shop with free shipping over $45, and is distributed in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois and Colorado. Driftless Glen ships bottles to "most states and D.C." 45th Parallel has an online shop as well. Tattersall runs on a retailer model — its site will point you to the closest shop carrying it, and the bottled Brandy Old Fashioned turns up at Total Wine and the national liquor shippers.

Is Camp Lola Whiskey worth it if you don't drink?
Yes, and we build for it. There's a non-alcoholic option at every bar service — Inbox Zero above is one of them — plus Tattersall's THC tonics for anyone who wants the vibe without the hangxiety. We also have Klarbrunn in the coolers all weekend long. Camp is 21+, over half of campers come alone, and nobody tracks what's in your cup.

What does camp cost, and are the drinks really included?
Camp Lola Whiskey 2027 starts at $1,300, with a non-refundable deposit and two further payments. That covers three nights at Timber Kove, eight meals, snacks, and drinks during scheduled activities — every cocktail on this list included.