Let’s play the word association game: What’s the first thing that comes to mind when you hear the word mudslide?

If you live in the Sea to Sky area, it’s likely the massive Mount Meager landslide of Aug. 6 was your first thought. For visitors and chocolate lovers, however, the term perhaps conjured an image of the popular milky cocktail featuring coffee and Irish cream liqueurs.

Now, thanks to a few local businesses in Pemberton, about 65 kilometres downstream from the Meager landslide, both answers are relevant and related. Residents and visitors alike are invited to take a Meager Mudslide Tasting Tour of Pemberton through the month of September, enjoying chocolate and coffee creations and supporting Pemberton Search and Rescue along the way.

When you think about it, with all those post-landslide photos of Meager and Capricorn creeks looking like so much chocolate milk, someone was bound to come up with such a sweet idea sooner or later.

Local writer Lisa Richardson said the “fun” concept of a local tasting tour in the name of Meager came about through some “buzz” on Twitter. She helped spread the word to some local establishments, and at least four are on board to offer their original Meager Mudslide creations to the masses.

Even tastier? A portion of sales of all Meager delights will go directly to Pemberton Search and Rescue (SAR), a group of dedicated local volunteers who were involved in the landslide aftermath.

“They need all the support we can give them, and we really feel like it is important,” Raven Burns, owner of Pemberton’s Blackbird Bakery, wrote in an email to The Question. “It is always important to support all things local. We strive to help the community however we can.”

Burns said she initially approached the idea of a Meager Mudslide Tasting Tour as a “bit of fun.” But it’s also a way to help promote tourism to Pemberton and support SAR, she added.

Blackbird’s tour stop includes a hazelnut and chocolate layer cake, paired with a hazelnut espresso drink made with Pemberton Valley Coffee. Burns said her aim was to create “something worthy of Pemberton.”

Fescue’s restaurant at Big Sky Golf and Country Club is also offering a dessert and drink as its Meager special. Chef Aaron Russell Smith has taken the mudslide theme to the extreme with a bittersweet chocolate lava cake, which is meant to resemble an actual mudslide on the plate as gooey chocolate oozes out after you dig in.

Smith is calling it the “sweeter side to the Meager Creek mudslide.”

The accompanying Meager mudslide martini features espresso, vanilla liqueur and Amarula liqueur.

At the Mount Currie Coffee Co., owner Chris Ankeny has named a new espresso blend Mount Meager. It’s a blend of coffee from Costa Rica and El Salvador that has a “sweet, smooth” flavour that’s a “touch mellower” than the coffee shop’s Epic Espresso, Ankeny wrote in an email.

He said he’s “always had a fascination” for Mount Meager, and he thought it was a “cool idea” to put together a local tasting tour. Ankeny decided to donate $2 to Pemberton SAR from every bag “because of the amazing service that they provide for the residents of this valley.”

Over at Pemberton’s Schramm Vodka Distillery, visitors can sample the Meager mudslide shooter made with Schramm’s potato vodka, Pemberton Valley Coffee espresso, cream and shaved chocolate. Take a tour of the distillery while you’re at it — tours and tastings are offered this Thursday through Monday (Sept. 2 to 6) from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Raise a glass to Pemberton and indulge your sweet tooth on the Meager Mudslide Tasting Tour, offered through September. Visit choosepemberton.com for more info on the tour and to access a map of participating locations.