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• 2 oz chili-infused Okanagan Spirits BRBN (see note)
• 1 oz peach and mint purée
• 1 oz mint syrup (see note)
A sparkling goblet filled with golden elixir revolves lazily in mid-air, twirling a couple of inches above the vapours of dry ice billowing from a wooden platform. It looks like magic, and it is, sort of.
• 1.5 oz Bols Genever
• 0.75 oz dry vermouth
• 0.75 oz cold-pressed white tea
• 0.25 oz BOLS Maraschino
• 1 barspoon peated Scotch whisky
• 1 barspoon salt water (5%)
Mint, rum, soda, lime, ahhh: Cuba’s classic highball makes us think of Caribbean breezes and sandy beaches. Forget the naysayers; the Mojito will always be the quintessential drink for sunny days.
It won’t take long, once you’ve landed in Barbados, before someone presses a glass, sparkling with condensation and filled with an amber elixir, into your hand. Welcome to the famous Barbados rum punch and the taste of island life.
In Barbados, rum punch is enjoyed by everyone from farm workers to property tycoons to pallid newcomers from wintry climes. And it’s enjoyed everywhere from the verandas of grand plantation houses to the tailgate of a jeep in the jungle.
How rum punch came to be the national drink is unknown, but not exactly surprising.
• 0.5 oz freshly squeezed lime juice
• 1 oz simple syrup (see note)
• 1.5 oz dark rum (such as Barbados’ own Mount Gay Eclipse, or older)
• 2 oz water
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• Freshly grated nutmeg
• 2 oz Ampersand Gin
• 0.25 oz Imperative Dry Vermouth
The first World Gin Day was held a decade ago in Birmingham, England; last year saw events in 30 countries, with 200 million people participating on social channels. This year, dozens of gin-soaked events are being held everywhere from London to Tokyo to Sydney and perhaps to your own back yard.
• 1oz Victoria Oaken Gin
• 1oz Martini Bianco Vermouth
• 1oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters
• Ms. Better’s Quina Bitters
• Lemon Zest
Jeff Savage is standing on top of the world. Literally.
On June 4, after three days of competition that took the finalists on a cocktail-themed scavenger hunt, through world history and deep into the spirit of the mountains, the head bartender of Vancouver’s Botanist Bar won the Diageo World Class Canada final in Whistler, B.C.