Canada's only magazine dedicated to distillers, spirits and cocktail culture.
Jason Redmond expected to be impressed by many things about Spain, but he couldn’t have guessed the biggest takeaway from his trip last summer would be a new take on a humble highball.
“I was really surprised at the big signs outside all the little cafes and bars claiming they were selling the best ‘Gin Tonic,’” the bar manager of Whistler’s Spanish-influenced Bar Oso recalls.
“It was a really big deal, and one I had no idea about beforehand.”
The concept of “farm-to-table” isn’t new for B.C. restaurants. What’s served from behind the wood is now also joining the sustainable locavore movement for a more complete offering. Brad Holmes, owner and executive chef at Olo in Victoria, has long been a vocal proponent of this movement, and his cocktail program reflects that. “Our whole restaurant is seasonal; the menu changes with what’s available on any given day and season. I always wanted to bring that to the bar. And now, with all of the great gins and vermouths and other local products, we can offer something that was grown in B.C., produced in B.C. and served in B.C.”
The relationship between cocktails and food lacks commitment in many people’s minds. Sure, a good Martini with a plate of freshly shucked oysters is a sexy start to any date, but is it the basis for a long-term love affair?
Spirit-based drinks have more success at the brunch or lunch table, either adding a bit of fizz to eggs Benedict, or providing a restorative hair-of-the-dog to the morning after the night before. The Mad Men-style three-Martini “business meeting” of old fashioned expense accounts has largely become a thing of nostalgia, and few ladies who lunch appear to have the same determination to drink as heartily as did their predecessors.
• 2 oz bourbon, infused with coffee and makrut lime leaf*
• 0.75 oz makrut lime leaf simple syrup
• a dash of fresh ginger juice
• 1.5 oz of tamarind water
• A dash each of pomelo bitters and old fashioned bitters
Sabrine Dhaliwal didn’t have to join UVA Wine & Cocktail Bar—with her bartending pedigree she would have had her choice of bar manager positions in this town. So why sign on to run the room that had, to date, been defined by Vancouver’s cocktail queen Lauren Mote?
“Why not?” Dhaliwal counters, with a playful smile. “I’ve known Lauren for about five years, so I’ve been fortunate enough to see how she built her cocktails and what avenues she goes in. I’m fortunate in that way to have an insight into that realm.”
For a drink so simple, the Negroni is one impressively complicated cocktail.
It contains only three ingredients—equal parts gin, sweet vermouth and Campari—but those three ingredients comprise a world of flavours and aromas: bitter, sweet, citrus, floral, herbal, spicy, medicinal. It has a sexy backstory, except that it isn’t true.
When Okanagan Crush Pad opened in 2011, it was the first custom-crush facility of its kind in Canada. With a focus on showcasing the fresh minerality of local grapes, OCP allowed small growers to make and market their own wines. Since then, the facility has grown by leaps and bounds. “We’ve graduated about 12 different wineries and have our own two labels, Haywire and Narrative,” says Matt Dumayne, OCP’s chief winemaker. The famed concrete eggs that replaced the traditional oak barrels for aging have been so successful that the facility has now phased out oak and invested in even more of the space-shaped vats over more concrete tankings totaling 60,000 litres.
Now, Dumayne gets to add another title: that of chief distiller. “I’d done some distilling previously in New Zealand, which is the only country in the world where it’s legal to distill in your own home,” he laughs. “I’d played around with brandies and grappas, and other spirits.”
The turning point was when OCP started looking into making a fortified, port-style wine. “We wanted to use our own wine, instead of a grain-based spirit from elsewhere,” explains Dumayne. “We received our license last October, and started by bottling a brandy-style grape spirit, made from seven different varietals. Each varietal makes for a different flavour profile, so there was a lot of experimentation at first.”
The result is the first release under the winery’s Narrative label, Spirit of the Vineyard, a triple-distilled spirit with a clean, fresh profile. And, while Dumayne states that vodka is not in the plans, he’s quick to point out that Spirit of the Vineyard can be used as a substitute for vodka. “It’s clear and very pure,” he explains. Nor is that the only spirit that OCP is launching.
In November, barely a month after the license was granted, Dumayne was contacted by Vij’s Restaurant Group about creating a handcrafted gin to celebrate the launch of the new location on Cambie Street in Vancouver. “We worked very closely with Vikram, Jay Jones and Mike Bernardo to create something very distinctive. It was a rush, but we had it bottled and ready for the opening,” noted Dumayne.
The result was Vij’s Bolly Water, a London Dry-style gin, savoury and a little spicy, with hints of fennel and anise—both ingredients that are heavily used in Vij’s kitchens. And with Vij’s Bolly Water under its belt, OCP is now working on its own Narrative gin, called 12 Botanicals, which leans more toward the fresh, citrus-driven style.
As for the future, Dumayne is working on some longer-term projects. “I’m aging some grape spirit in old wine barrels. It’s all experimental at this point. It will be at least three to five years before we have anything, but we’re aiming for something lively and fresh, with subtle French oak notes.”
Brandy, anyone?
Okanagan Crush Pad, based in Summerland B.C., is open for tours, tastings and has a retail centre that offers their full line of spirits and wine. The winery is located on Switchback Organic Vineyard, home to roaming sheep, chickens and ducks.
THIS POST IS SPONSORED BY:
Okanagan Crush Pad,
16576 Fosbery Road, Summerland,
250-494-4445
okanagancrushpad.com
Though his reputation preceded him, I first met Ken Winchester, fittingly, in a winery. Back in 2005 he was growing grapes and making wine at Vancouver Island’s only certified organic vineyard, at Saanich Peninsula’s Barking Dog Winery. Welcoming, travelled, and unpretentiously smart, he became a quick and easy friend, and was an early advocate for drinking and supporting local.
Glamour is in the Hotel Vancouver’s bones. From its early years as the jewel of Canadian Pacific’s hotel empire, to its current position as one of the Fairmont’s luxury destinations, the iconic Vancouver hotel understands what it is that makes customers feel special.
And that commitment to customer service has recently been boosted once again, with the arrival of Philippe Grandbois as General Manager of the hotel’s swish Notch8 Restaurant & Bar.
Kaitlyn Stewart slides a mason jar filled with a disturbingly yellow liquid across her bar at Royal Dinette in downtown Vancouver. I hope it’s not what it looks like.
“Milk liqueur,” she says, beaming proudly. “Double strained after sitting on the shelf for 10 days.”