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.
Don your fancy chapeaux and hoist your glasses! The ponies hit the track once again on July 21 for the 10th annual Deighton Cup at Hastings Racecourse. Some 5,000 people gather at the track to gamble on the ponies while enjoying swish fashion, buckets of bubbly, fine cigars, gourmet cuisine and, of course, cocktails. The event includes an annual mixology competition, plus sweet summer sippers to enjoy trackside. deightoncup.com
We’re always excited to see a new patio in town, especially when it’s one that serves great cocktails. And so we’re thrilled that D/6 Bar and Lounge at Parq Vancouver has flung open the big glass doors onto its vast new patio space.
Located on the sixth floor of the DOUGLAS boutique hotel, the D/6 patio has great views of the city skyline and offers locally inspired cocktails like the Douglas Fir, which is made with Douglas fir-infused gin from Yaletown Distilling Company. (The gin is also available in all the guest rooms.)
Even better news: The patio is covered, so guests can enjoy the views and the cocktails come rain or shine.
• 1.5 oz Douglas Fir-Infused Gin from Yaletown Distillery
• 0.5 oz Cointreau
• 0.5 oz dry vermouth
• 0.5 oz sweet vermouth
• 3 drops of Bittered Sling Orange Juniper bitters
Stir ingredients over ice. Strain into a rocks glass over fresh ice. Garnish with a dehydrated orange slice and a Douglas fir tip. Serves 1.
BC Distilled is the biggest artisan and micro-distillery event in Canada and a must for anyone interested in spirits and cocktails. It is April 14 at the Croatian Cultural Centre, with a trade tasting from 2 to 4:30 pm followed by the public event, 6 to 9 pm.
The alcohol-free are no longer relegated to boring old cran-and-soda, not now that that Seedlip is available in our market.
After Royal Dinette’s Kaitlyn Stewart won Diageo World Class in 2017, all eyes are on the global competition whose winner is considered best bartender in the world. The 2018 round kicked off in January, with regional challenges being held in March and the Canadian finals scheduled for May 7 to 10. Good luck to all who dare enter.