| The Alchemist

Smooth Operator

January 29, 2018 No Comments

The Sidecar cocktail is a sophisticated, classy concoction, so why is it so often overlooked?

Ritz Paris bartender Frank Meier may have invented the Sidecar in 1923. Ritz Paris photo.

The Sidecar is one of the great Prohibition-era classics, a boozy-but-vibrant three-ingredient cocktail that fulfills our desire for both the depth of brown spirits and the bright acidity of citrus. It should be a rock star among cocktails, yet where Old Fashioneds, tiki drinks and even the horrible Gimlet have made their comebacks, the Sidecar has somehow eluded its just recognition amid the modern cocktail revival.

It’s time for that to change.

The Alchemist

A kinder, gentler cocktail culture

January 23, 2018 No Comments

Legendary bartender Jim Meehan, author of *Meehan’s Bartender Manual*. Contributed photo.

Legendary bartender Jim Meehan envisions a future where humanity is as important as the craft.

It’s not about the fancy glassware, or the high-tech centrifuge, or the exotic, impossible-to-source-spirit, not any more. It’s all about the people.

“Now that it’s no longer an arms race to assemble the cocktail, the other things matter more,” says Jim Meehan.

The Alchemist

Whisky raid leaves shelves empty, bar owners stunned

January 22, 2018 No Comments

Provincial liquor inspectors remove bottles of whisky from Fets Whisky Kitchen in Vancouver. Fets Whisky Kitchen photo.

It’s the story that everyone in the BC booze industry is buzzing about: On Jan. 18, the provincial government conducted four simultaneous Prohibition-style raids on establishments in Victoria, Nanaimo and Vancouver and confiscated tens of thousands of dollars worth of liquor.

Their target? Bottles of the Scotch Malt Whisky Society’s unique (and expensive) whiskies.

Their reasoning? Although the bottles were shipped to B.C. under proper channels and all appropriate taxes paid, the licensees bought them through private retailers instead of government stores, which is not allowed.

The Alchemist

From vermouth to high volume: Cocktail trends for 2018

December 29, 2017 No Comments

Some of Vancouver’s top bartenders give their thoughts on what’ll be hot next year

Glass straws will be seen more widely as bars strive toward more sustainable practices. The Last Straw Co. photo

Raise your glass to the end of 2017, a year that brought us one disaster after another, from raging wildfires to the near-daily perp walk of sexual predators. Between all that and the inescapability of frosé, it’s a year we’re mostly happy to forget.

And so we look forward to 2018. We checked in with some of the city’s top bartenders to discover what’s shaking for the New Year.

Home Bar, The Alchemist

The secret ingredient to a knockout party punch

December 15, 2017 No Comments

When life gives you lemons, add finesse to your festive fizz with oleo saccharum

All you need to make oleo saccharum, the secret ingredient that will take Champagne punch and other cocktails from merely good to simply extraordinary. Photo: Joanne Sasvari

The holiday season cries out for festive bubbles, for brunch-time mimosas and kir royales, for corks flying at midnight, for French 75s and Champagne cocktails just about any time.

But of all the bubbly concoctions, there is no more festive fizz than a grand Champagne punch.

Home Bar, Recipes, The Alchemist

Holiday Champagne Punch

December 14, 2017 No Comments

This festive elixir will happily serve a crowd. Just remember the golden rule of punch: The party isn’t over until the bowl is empty.

2 cups (500 mL) brandy
16 dashes Angostura bitters
½ to ¾ cup (125 to 180 mL) oleo saccharum (see method below)
2 bottles sparkling wine such as cava or Champagne

The Alchemist

The spirited gift guide for the cocktail lover on your list

December 8, 2017 No Comments

Repeat after me: You can never have too many cocktail tools. Or glasses. Or bottles of interesting spirits. Or cocktail books. Or …

Okanagan Spirits’ Ultimate Gift Pack, which includes its sold-out Coldstream Rye along with the Essential and Family Reserve Gin and Vodka and BRBN Bourbon-style Whisky, comes in at $295.

Well, you get the picture. Wondering what to get the cocktail aficionado on your holiday list? Start right here.

The Alchemist

Time to get into the festive spirits with holiday cocktails

December 1, 2017 No Comments

A roundup of seasonal drinks rolled out by Vancouver bars

Justin Taylor with his Candy Cane Fizz at The Cascade Room. Photo: Dan Toulgoet — Justin Taylor with his Candy Cane Fizz at The Cascade Room.
Photo: Dan Toulgoet

Fa-la-la-la! It’s beginning to taste a lot like Christmas at The Cascade Room, where the holiday cocktails are merrily flowing.

The Alchemist

Resurrection Spirits arises in East Van

November 23, 2017 No Comments

City’s newest craft distillery is focused on making ‘spirits for bartenders’

Resurrection Spirits co-owner Brian Grant got interested in distilling around a decade ago when, as a bartender, he couldn’t find the bitters he wanted and started making his own. Photo: Dan Toulgoet

A new artisan distillery opening up in B.C. isn’t exactly news these days. There are already 51 of them around, with another 13 in the works and as many as 80 licences floating around out there, according to B.C. Distilled founder Alex Hamer.

What is news, though, is when that distillery is co-owned and operated by one of Vancouver’s best bartenders.

The Alchemist

Smoke and spirits

November 17, 2017 No Comments

Mexico’s top bartender makes us fall in love with the smouldering complexity of mezcal

Mica Rousseau, head bartender at Four Seasons Mexico City and winner of Best Bartender at the 2016 World Class Mexico competition, pours out samples at a mezcal master class at the Four Seasons Resort and Residences Whistler during Cornucopia 2017. He is also hosting Mezcal y Maize, a series of “après” parties. Cornucopia continues to Nov. 19 in Whistler, www.whistlercornucopia.com. Hannes van der Merwe photo

“Twenty years ago in Mexico, mezcal was for poor people. Fifty years ago it was for poor people in the villages,” says Mica Rousseau. “Now it’s a super trendy spirit in the big food and cocktail cities. Now we are producing mezcal not for the Mexican market, but for the rest of the world.”