About The Alchemist

The Alchemist magazine is Canada's home for cocktail culture.

We tell the stories behind great drinks and the people who make them.

Founded in 2015, The Alchemist grew from a local spirits publication into a national media and events brand, reaching readers and festival-goers across Canada and beyond.

Through our editorial, festivals and partnerships, we celebrate exceptional hospitality, champion craft, and connect curious drinkers with the bars, spirits and people shaping cocktail culture.

Whether you're discovering a neighbourhood cocktail bar, looking for an educational and fun cocktail experience, or learning the story behind a favourite spirit, The Alchemist is your guide to the people and places defining drinks culture today.

Together, we work with an incredible network of writers, photographers, bartenders and industry experts who help bring The Alchemist to life.

The Alchemist is enriched by a talented community of writers, photographers and drinks professionals whose expertise and perspectives help tell the stories of cocktail culture.

Matthew Benevoli

Matthew Benevoli is an award-winning mixologist, beverage consultant and spirits educator. As a private bartender, he’s passionate about creating unforgettable cocktail experiences through storytelling. Find him on Instagram @mbenevoli.

Favourite new spirit? “Kota Pandan Liqueur from France: it has the potential to become the new ‘bartenders’ ketchup.’”

Max Chesnut

Max Chesnut is the founder of Cane & Co, a Vancouver creative agency for the spirits and hospitality industry. After bartending in Japan at 18, he fell in love with rum and now educates industry and consumers through his Rum Club.

Favourite bar city? “Mexico City. It has a life to the bars and streets like no other: you have to experience the Roma bar crawl.”

Janet Gyenes

Janet Gyenes is an editor who holds the WSET Level 2 in Spirits, and is the author of Vancouver Cocktails: An Elegant Collection of Over 100 Recipes Inspired by the City on the Sea.

Recently visited hotspot? “I recently cultivated an appreciation for Spain’s artisanal vermuterías and hope to head to Tokyo to linger in one of its listening bars.”

Blair Phillips

Blair Phillips is a lifestyle and spirits writer specializing in Canada’s growing spirits and distillery landscape. He co-authored the award-winning The Definitive Guide to Canadian Distillers.

Favourite new spirit? “Quebec Acerum: maple syrup is fermented and distilled into a spirit in which the sweetness is stripped away, leaving the mineral essence of maple syrup and beautiful orchard-fruit notes.”

Charlene Rooke

Charlene Rooke is Academy Chair, Canada West, for World’s 50 Best Bars, a wine and spirits journalist, and a WSET spirits and wine educator.

Favourite bar city? “Tokyo.”
Trend you love? “The mid-Martini, chilled-glass swap, or likewise, a bartender briefly re-chilling and replacing my cocktail, should I briefly vacate my barstool. Yes please.”

Joanne Sasvari

Joanne Sasvari is WSET-certified in wine, the editor of Vitis and YAM magazines and a writer covering food and drink. She is the author of several cookbooks, including 2023’s Okanagan Eats, and co-founded Vancouver Cocktail Week.

Recently visited hotspot? “I am in love with the Jerry Thomas Bar Room, a tiny, 12-seat, Orient Express-themed bar in Rome’s Trastevere neighbourhood that serves fabulous Champagne cocktails.”

Christine Sismondo

Christine Sismondo is Academy Chair, Canada East, for World’s 50 Best Bars, an award-winning writer and author of America Walks Into a Bar and Cocktails, A Still Life.

Favourite bar city? “Hard to beat Osaka!”

Doris Sun

Doris Sun is a social media contributor for the World’s 50 Best Bars and World’s 50 Best Restaurants. Follow her on Instagram @cocktailfiles.

Predict the Cocktail of the Summer 2026? “The highball, and I will definitely be ordering any creative rendition that’s force carbonated, served tall.”

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