A divine take on one of the seven deadly sins at Hail Mary’s.
• 2 oz bourbon
• 0.75 oz simple syrup
• Splash of peach schnapps
• 2 oz fresh lime juice
• 1 egg white
• Dash of Angostura bitters
Lust
Ginned up
The evolution of terroir-driven made-in-B.C. gin
When news arrived that Sooke’s Sheringham Distillery had scooped Best Contemporary Gin in the World at the prestigious World Gin Awards, I, like so many others, was truly thrilled. After all, what an achievement for the relatively neophyte distillery perched on Canada’s wild and westernmost edge.
But there was also a personal connection, as the awards were judged at London’s Honourable Artillery Company, right across from where I used to stay at my Uncle Ricky’s apartment.
Sheringham Cherub
With elderflowers as early harbingers of summer, Sooke meets St-Germain in this house recipe from Sheringham Distillery.
• 1.5 oz Sheringham Seaside Gin
• 0.5 oz St-Germain elderflower liqueur
• 0.25 oz maple syrup
• 0.25 oz lemon juice
• 0.5 oz loganberry or strawberry purée
• 0.75 oz sparkling elderflower juice such as Bottle Green
Garnish: Lemon peel
Cool Canadiana
At Timber, Jonathan Dennis plays with flavours that hail from coast to coast to coast
As an all-Canadian pub-style restaurant, it’s no surprise that Timber has a pretty great beer selection. “But with the Canadiana theme, you can do so much more,” says restaurant manager Jonathan Dennis, who also oversees the bar program. “There’s a lot of people who want to have a killer Canadian cocktail as well.”
And that’s just what he is serving up at this friendly neighbourhood hangout on Robson at the gateway to Vancouver’s West End.
Some like it hot
Canada’s artisan distillers are bringing their own spiced heat to the party
Don’t look now, but Canada’s distillers have been gently plotting to spice things up for all you unsuspecting folks out there.
For instance, did you know that Fireball Cinnamon Whisky—which has taken off in a big way in the U.S.—has replaced Jägermeister as the masochistic shot of choice? It just doesn’t seem to be what you’d expect from a laid-back kind of land like Canada. But it turns out we Canucks were dabbling in pyrotechnic tippling well before its propulsion into pop-shot culture.
Spicy Moscow Mule
Sons of Vancouver Distillery turns up the heat with their spicy take on the Moscow Mule
• 1 oz Vodka Vodka Vodka
• 0.5 oz Spicy Chili Vodka
• 5 oz Dickie’s Ginger Beer
The New Ice Age
Oversize cubes, spheres, sticks, flakes and pebbles: It’s not just frozen water anymore—artisanal ice is a full-fledged cocktail ingredient
The artisanal iceman cometh, and he’s not at all cold. With a short reddish beard, bright blue eyes and a friendly face, Dex James is downright warm, as he performs what looks like a magic trick. In the Dang Good Ice storefront in the Fraserhood, he pours water on a mammoth, crystal-clear, square-sided stick of ice in a highball glass and…it disappears.
Artisan ice can be the nearly invisible ingredient that helps deliver cocktail perfection—including king cubes so beautifully clear, one of the tenders behind the Fairmont Pacific Rim lobby bar tells me that imbibers of its white Lucky Negroni frequently ask, “Where’s the ice?” Juleps with flakes or pebbles from a Scotsman ice machine, rocks drinks over chunky Kold Draft cubes or cocktails crowned with a flawless diamond or sphere are just a few of the signs of the new ice age in B.C. bars.
Painkiller
This tiki-style cocktail is Earls restaurants’ version of the classic originally created by Pusser’s Rum. It uses two different styles of ice—regular cubes and crushed.
• 0.75 oz coconut milk
• 0.75 oz passion fruit syrup
• 1 oz Bacardi Superior white rum
• 1 oz Mount Gay Eclipse Rum
• 1 oz pineapple juice
• 1 oz orange juice
• 0.25 oz lime juice
• Dash Bittered Sling Kensington bitters
Blonde Negroni
There are numerous recipes for a white or blonde Negroni, but this is the variation preferred by Andrew Kong, bartender at H Tasting Lounge. What makes it stand out is the perfectly clear king ice cube.
• 1.25 oz Long Table Distillery Dry Gin
• 1 oz Luxardo Bianco Bitters
• 1 oz Lillet Blanc or Cocchi Americano
Treebeard
“The drink is intended to be a Canadian highball, that is, a drink that is spirit forward, but is also balanced and refreshing,” says Jeff Savage, Botanist’s head bartender, who created the cocktail. The large, crystal-clear ice cubes are precisely measured to fit the glassware and are cut with a band saw. They are also adorned with the Botanist logo: The custom metal stamp is placed on top of the cube and gravity does the rest.
• 1.5 oz Canadian Club Rye Whisky
• 0.5 oz gin, preferably St. George Terroir Gin
• 1.5 oz birch water
• 1 oz Smoked Tea Syrup (recipe follows)