B.C.'s only magazine dedicated to local distilleries and cocktail culture.
Stephen Goodridge built G&W Distilling’s Delta-based distillery himself. From scratch.
“I’m a mechanical engineer by training. I wanted to do it myself,” he says, as if nothing could be easier.
At “Upstairs” at Campagnolo, the intimate restaurant and bar above Campagnolo’s Main Street location, you don’t have to reach for the top shelf to find a choice selection of spirits.
At the grand old age of 11, Okanagan Spirits is the oldest craft distillery in the province. That may make it a relative newbie on the international scene, but it hasn’t stopped the world from paying it serious attention.
Since its inception in 2004, the family-owned and operated Okanagan business has twice been named Distillery of the Year at the annual World Spirits Awards, and two years ago became the first and only one of its kind in North America to be given a “world class” rating.
Cocktails have always been serious business at Chambar. The trend-setting French/North African restaurant burst onto the Vancouver scene just over a decade ago, and has been leading the pack ever since.
Charles Tremewen loves gin. So much so, he hocked his house to start making it himself. He launched Vancouver’s first micro distillery, Long Table, in February 2013, and hasn’t looked back.
Leading the beverage program at the Donnelly Group keeps Trevor Kallies on his toes.
With responsibility for lists across the group’s pubs, cocktail taverns and nightclubs, his 15 years of experience behind the bar—10 as a serious cocktail contender—are invaluable.
In the mood for a Sazerac? How about a Negroni punch bowl mixed with local gin and vermouth, or a playful spin on Arctic Ungava with a dash of citric acid and spritz of Laphroaig perfume? Whatever your poison, it can be found in Vancouver, home to one of the most vibrant cocktail scenes in North America.
Gin, sweet vermouth, Bénédictine and orange bitters. It sounds simple, but so do many of the world’s legendary cocktails. And the Vancouver Cocktail deserves to be recognized among the classics.
What’s that, you say? Never heard of YVR’s hometown cocktail? You’re not alone. The Vancouver Cocktail joins a legion of forgotten drinks that have recently been rediscovered by dogged cocktail historians. In this case, that historian was bartender-turned-consultant Steve Da Cruz.