Now you can make tropical cocktails at home almost as good as the ones at The Shameful Tiki Room, which was recently named the 2020 Nightclub & Bar Awards’ Best Tiki Bar in North America.
Sugar and spice and all things tiki
Pantone Colour of 2020 distilled into a true blue cocktail
Each year, the experts at the Pantone Color Institute pick a hue that they believe will best represent the year ahead; for 2020, the Colour of the Year is PANTONE 19-4052 Classic Blue, a deep blue that is at once classic, comforting and contemporary, evocative of both the dusk sky and the deep sea.
Distillery guide captures Canada’s spirited revolution
Another day, it seems another distillery opens in Canada. But that didn’t stop Davin de Kergommeaux, the award-winning author of Canadian Whisky, from trying to capture them all in a new book. Consider it barley- and juniper-scented lightning in a bottle.
JOEY’s Jungle Bird
In this updated tropical classic, Campari is swapped out for subtler Aperol.
• 1.5 oz Appleton Estate Signature Blend rum (formerly Appleton Estate V/X)
• 0.5 oz Aperol
• 0.5 oz lime juice
• 1.5 oz pineapple juice
• 0.5 oz cane or simple syrup
• Garnish: Fresh lime wheel
Drink like a critic with this new tour
If you’re going to Dine Like A Critic, you’d better drink like one, too.
Alexandra Gill is perhaps best known as the long-time Vancouver restaurant critic for The Globe and Mail, but she is also the new editor of Canada’s Best Bars. So it’s no surprise that she has put cocktail pairings on the menu of her new luxury food tour company.
Cosy up with a good read
Whether you’re looking for a new recipe or a great gift, these boozy books have you covered
Canadian Spirits: The Essential Cross-country Guide to Distilleries, Their Spirits and Where to Imbibe Them by Stephen Beaumont and Christine Sismondo (Nimbus Publishing, $29.95)
Two of Canada’s top spirits writers have compiled a comprehensive guide to the assortment of hooch produced from coast to coast to coast in this country. This is the essential book about the industry’s history and its future, covering more than 160 producers ranging from the behemoth Hiram-Walker in Windsor, Ontario, to Vancouver’s tiny Odd Society Spirits. Available October 31.
Cool Cognac: Felipe Pantone x Hennessy V.S.
If you like someone very much (especially if it’s yourself), this holiday season consider gifting them the latest of Hennessy’s famed artist collaborations, the Felipe Pantone x Hennessy V.S.
The limited-edition Cognac release is the ninth in in the Hennessy artist series—previous installations featured works by Vhils, KAWS and Futura, among others.
Flip for this frothy Halloween cocktail
Halloween is the most spooktacular night of the year for a party; it’s just too bad Halloween cocktails are almost universally frightful. Weird colours, creepy garnishes, far too much dry ice, dubious vessels—you might as well stick to the classic Zombies and Bloody Marys, right?
Not if Wyeth Maiers has his say. The bar manager at UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar has created a Halloween cocktail that is both clever and complicated and, most importantly, delicious.
Graveyard Flip
Created by Wyeth Maiers, bar manager at UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar.
Meringue:
• 3 egg whites
• 1 oz crème de cassis
Cocktail:
• 0.75 oz Evan Williams bourbon
• 0.25 oz Fernet Branca
• 2 tsp Laphroaig 10 Year Old single malt whisky
• 0.75 oz lemon juice
• 0.5 oz maple syrup
• 1 dash Angostura bitters
• 1 egg yolk
• Garnish: Grated chocolate, granulated sugar, (optional) brandied cherries
Seven fall and winter cocktail events you don’t want to miss
With so many exciting events coming up, you won’t have a moment of boredom all winter long.
Toronto Cocktail Week
Get your kicks in the Six this fall: The six-day festival of all things boozy returns
October 15 to 20, bringing together bars, brands and bartenders—as well as consumers, of course—to celebrate the city’s evolving cocktail scene. TCW will be shaking things up with a neighbourhood-focused bar guide, themed gala events, guided, seminars and pop-up bars featuring familiar faces from Vancouver. torontococktailweek.ca
Art of the cocktail
The Alchemist is pleased to sponsor Western Canada’s most important cocktail festival October 19 in beautiful downtown Victoria. Some 900 attendees will gather at the Grand Tasting to sip and sample cocktails and products from 40 exhibitors pouring more than 60 spirits. Plus there will be masterclasses, guided tastings and more fun than you can shake a cobbler at during this fundraiser for the Victoria Film Festival. artofthecocktail.ca