Features

The happiest of times

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Afternoon, brunch, late night— why it seems like every hour is happy hour

It’s happy hour somewhere! Getty Images/E+/SolStock photo

It’s happy hour somewhere? These days, it feels a lot more like happy hour is everywhere, especially in Vancouver.

Hard to believe that, just a little over a decade ago, discounted day-drinking was still illegal in British Columbia, the only province in Canada that still maintained seemingly arcane regulations that banned these happiest of times. That changed in the summer of 2014, when B.C.’s liquor laws were revised to loosen up or eliminate a number of restrictions that prohibited things like alcohol sales at farmer’s markets and, of course, bars and restaurants offering time-specific drink specials.

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Features

Spirits in da house

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How the rotovap is creating a flavour revolution

A rotovap is used to separate out compounds to create flavour-packed extracts from raw ingredients. iStock/Getty Images Plus/ surasak petchang photo

The first cocktail I had the pleasure of trying in the recently revamped Library Bar at Toronto’s Fairmont Royal York was the Sacred Beast, a spirit-forward lowball made with bourbon, mezcal, verjus, lapsang souchong tea and habanero.

Before you get to sip, though, the drink puts on a little show. Atop the glass is a slate coaster that entirely covers the cocktail and supports a small nest of steel wool that the bartender ignites to create a “cinnamon explosion”—sparks sprinting through the threads to create a mini-pyrotechnic display and a puff of baking spice smoke.

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Baijiu’s moment

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Or is it? This soaringly popular Chinese spirit is as loathed as it is loved

Baijiu, a Chinese spirit made from sorghum, is tapped to be the next big thing. Some say it already is. Getty Images photo

There are a few spirits that are often called the “next big thing,” but, for whatever reason, never seem to quite make it to the major league.

Rakia, aquavit and even rum are all often pegged as promising new future “it” spirits. After you hear their names thrown around for a decade or so, though, it starts to make sense to take the trend forecasters with a grain of salt.

These days, an oft-cited “one to watch” is baijiu, a spirit from China with a lot of different personalities that a few prominent bars are going all in on. The most notable are Laowai in Vancouver and Toronto’s Hong Shing, both of which have built a cocktail program around baijiu. In addition, several bars and restaurants in Toronto feature baijiu in cocktails or straight up, including Chinatown’s Big Trouble and the acclaimed restaurants MIMI Chinese and Sunnys Chinese.

Montreal’s Poincaré Chinatown also sells a Baijiu Caipirinha and there’s an entire venue in Edmonton named Baijiu—although it’s worth noting that they only currently have one cocktail with this divisive spirit on the menu, the Baijiu Sour.

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