B.C.'s only magazine dedicated to local distilleries and cocktail culture.
It began, as all good things do, with brunch, and wrapped with one of the best parties Vancouver has ever seen. Vancouver Cocktail Week 2023, presented by The Alchemist, has come to an end, so let’s raise a glass to the week that was, and to what’s ahead.
What do Irish whiskey and Pinot Noir wine from the Okanagan have in common? Until this week, not much, aside from both being aged in oak barrels. Regardless of if you’re a whiskey enthusiast, oenophile, local business supporter, or just want to pick-up a bottle of Irish whiskey for St. Patrick’s Day, there’s a new wine-cask finished whiskey now available that offers something for everyone; until it’s gone, that is.
Canada’s Best Bartender of 2023 is also a certified cheese professional with a refined palate and remarkable sensory appreciation. Congratulations to Ontario’s Jacob Martin, who won World Class Canada’s big prize at the closing gala of Vancouver Cocktail Week on Saturday night.
In World Class tradition, the trophy’s previous winners raised him on their shoulders in front of a cheering crowd, closing out months of preparation, three intense days of challenges and a hard-fought, high-stress speed-round final.
Those three days saw 10 national finalists converge on Vancouver from right across Canada. They were: from B.C., Kate Chernoff, Harry Tham and Emily Vey; from Alberta, Xavier Alba, Sam Clark, Steven Jorgenson and Adrien Roque; from Ontario, Martin and Benjamin Kingstone; and from Quebec, Daphnee Vary Deshaise.
Four of them—Chernoff, Clark, Martin and Deshaise—made it to the final speed round, with Martin placing first and Clark second.
It was a thrilling finale not just for the competition, but for Vancouver Cocktail Week, presented by The Alchemist. The festival’s second year saw nearly 60 sold-out events across the city, as well as dozens of busy cinq à sept happy hours and the glamorous closing night gala featuring live music, a DJ, food stations and some 40 cocktail stations at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver.
Martin now goes on to compete in the global event this September in Sao Paulo, Brazil. The winner of this will be considered the World’s Best Bartender, triumphing over 10,000 competitors from 60 countries to reach the podium.
And all eyes will be on Martin—in the 10 years Canada has been competing in Diageo World Class, this country has consistently placed in the top 12 and is one of only three countries to win the global title more than once. (Vancouver’s Kaitlyn Stewart was named World’s Best Bartender in 2017 and Edmonton’s James Grant in 2021.)
No pressure or anything, but another win sure would be a sweet way to celebrate Canada’s 10th World Class anniversary.
—by Joanne Sasvari
Winning a prestigious Global Gin Masters Medal—only a few months after they opened their doors—is just one of the exciting things happening at North Vancouver’s Copperpenny Distilling Co.
“Our key focus here is that we recognize, as a distillery, we are more than a maker of spirits, we are a purveyor of experiences,” says Jan Stenc, co-founder of the distillery along with his partner in work and life, Jennifer Kom-Tong. “The whole idea that it is a meaningful social interaction is super-important to us.”
Fort Beauséjour Peated Single Malt Whisky from Distillerie Fils de Roy in Petit-Paquetville, on New Brunswick’s Acadian coast, achieved the highest score of any spirit entered in the Canadian Artisan Spirit Competition (CASC) this year. It is the the 2023 Canadian Artisan Spirit of the Year and the first Canadian Whisky to win the award. “We’re thrilled that our eastern artisan distilleries are receiving some well-deserved praise,” CASC founder Alex Hamer said in a news release.
A cocktail is more than spirits and mixers and a pretty garnish. Every glass is filled with history and knowledge, and served with a side of genuine hospitality in a convivial atmosphere.
In other words, cocktails are all about the people who make, serve and enjoy them. So we couldn’t be more thrilled to welcome the national and international bar stars who are coming to Vancouver Cocktail Week presented by The Alchemist, March 5 to 11.
If given the choice, you’d pick potato chips over chocolate. You prefer your cheese well aged and a little blue. When you order sushi, you always need to refill your soy dipping bowl. You can’t wait for mushroom season. And you almost certainly have at least three types of salt in your pantry right now.
If you’re the sort of person who craves savoury and salty flavours, then the Dirty Martini is the drink for you. Luckily, it’s no longer the pariah of the cocktail set.
Well, sort of.
2.5 oz gin or vodka
0.5 oz dry vermouth
0.25 to 0.5 oz olive brine
Garnish: 1 or 3 olives on a skewer
• 1 oz Tanqueray No Ten
• 0.5 oz Campari
• 0.5 oz lime juice
• 0.5 oz cinnamon coconut syrup
• 2 oz sparkling wine
Think of cola and you likely think of Coke, Pepsi and the rivalry between them.
The two beverages were initially developed by pharmacists as patent medicines—one to aid digestion (Pepsi), the other as nerve tonic (Coke)—but today they are simply sweet, carbonated beverages with flavours of vanilla, citrus and spice, especially cinnamon.