B.C.'s only magazine dedicated to local distilleries and cocktail culture.
When you’re surrounded by wild bounty the way Tofino is, it only makes sense to use it however you can. And so Wolf in the Fog’s bar manager Hailey Pasemko transforms huckleberries into bitters, infuses gin with salal or spruce tips, and fat-washes vodka with salmon.
Now she’s looking beyond Tofino, to the great spirits being produced across B.C., for her new “Local Legends” cocktail program.
• 1 oz Sheringham Seaside Gin
• 1 oz Odd Society Bittersweet Vermouth
• 1 oz Legend Distilling Naramaro
With Christopher Enns’ recent win in Montreal, that’s four times Vancouver bartenders have taken home the prestigious title of Diageo Reserve World Class Canada champion since the competition started in 2013.
Enns, who mans the shakers at the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s Lobby Lounge, also recently won the Woodford Reserve Manhattan challenge in New York. “It’s been very busy, that’s for sure,” he says.
Now we’re all wondering: Will lightning strike again?
After all, last year’s World Class Canada winner, Kaitlyn Stewart of Vancouver’s Royal Dinette, went on to win the global competition, beating out 10,000 talented bartenders from more than 50 countries to do so.
Enns is already preparing for the world finals in Berlin this October. “We won’t get the lineup for a few months, but I’ll start researching Berlin and working within the seasonal produce,” he says.
It helps that he’s got a strong team of previous hometown winners helping him prepare, including his colleague, Grant Sceney, the Fairmont Pacific Rim’s creative beverage director and World Class Canada 2014 winner.
“I’m going to see a lot more of him than I do already,” Enns says with a laugh.
For more info, follow @WorldClassCa on Twitter, @WorldClassCanada on Instagram, use the hashtag #WorldClass or visit Facebook.com/WorldClassCanada.
For its ninth Private Edition series, the venerable Highland whisky house Glenmorangie has released its first single malt aged in American ex-rye whisky casks. In the late 1990s, Dr. Bill Lumsden, Glenmorangie’s Director of Distilling, Whisky Creation & Whisky, travelled to the United States, where he was inspired by the elegant cinnamon and clove notes of rye whisky. “I have always loved American rye whisky’s spicy character, and I believed our Distillery’s smooth house style would perfectly complement the nuances of ex-rye casks,” he says.
This refreshing cocktail recipe from Odd Society Spirits makes an ideal patio sipper.
INGREDIENTS:
• 1.5 oz Odd Society Elderflower Liqueur
• 1 oz Odd Society East Vancouver vodka
• 1 oz fresh lemon juice
• 0.3 oz simple syrup
• 1 egg white or 1 dash of Ms. Betters Bitters Miraculous Foamer
Looking for something refreshing to enjoy this sultry summer weekend? Get yourself down to Odd Society Spirits and you could be one of the lucky few to enjoy their just-released Elderflower Liqueur.
Bright, airy and colourful, with a contemporary design that embraces both mid-century and Art Deco motifs, H Tasting Lounge at The Westin Bayshore, Vancouver, is certainly one of the city’s most elegant cocktail spaces.
But its beauty goes far beyond plush pastel furnishings and dramatic crystal chandeliers.
• 2oz The London No. 1 Gin
• 0.5oz Pierre Ferrand Dry Curacao
• 0.75oz Lemon Juice
• 0.5oz Pazzo Chow Lavender Tonic Syrup
• Egg white
Dry shake, then shake with ice. Serve neat in a coupe. Garnish with lavender.
It’s rare to find someone who describes their job as “fun,” and even less so if they’ve been in the same business for more than 38 years. But then not everyone has Drew Mayville’s job.
Mayville is the master blender at Buffalo Trace, the world’s most award-winning distillery. He was in Vancouver recently to chat about all things whisky and bourbon.