by Charlene Rooke | Jan 30, 2025 | Still Life
How restaurants and bars collaborate with craft distillers to create custom sips Vancouver hotspots like Osteria Elio Volpe and Caffè La Tana are authentically Italian, down to the tomatoes in the sugo. Yet your after-dinner limoncello might come from Esquimalt and...
by Charlene Rooke | Jan 12, 2024 | Still Life
A top 10 list on how to be a great guest on a distillery tour or tasting-room visit Distillery tasting rooms are hotspots in any city’s drinking scene. Author Janet Gyenes naturally included some in Vancouver Cocktails (new in October from Cider Mill Press; a Toronto...
by Charlene Rooke | Jul 21, 2023 | Still Life
Look for these savoury spirits on your travels If you like seaweed-kissed Sheringham Seaside and Isle of Harris gins, try maritime-inspired U.K. bottles like Bullard’s Coastal Gin, Fishers Gin, Da Mhile Organic Seaweed Gin and Mermaid Salt Vodka, as well as North...
by Charlene Rooke | Jan 6, 2023 | Still Life
Make your own bespoke gin at artisan distilleries around the world—and right here in B.C. If you’re planning a trip to London, don’t just settle for a taste of London Dry gin at one of the city’s fine bars. Blend your own during a three-hour Ginstitute...
by Charlene Rooke | Jan 28, 2022 | Still Life
“Terroir” spirits define B.C.’s flavours, culture and sense of place Comparing B.C. craft spirits from a decade ago to today is like comparing 1970s drip coffee to artisanal, fair-trade Chemex pour-overs. While B.C. has a long distilling and even rum-running history,...
by Charlene Rooke | Apr 3, 2020 | Still Life
Meet some of B.C.’s women distillers, a group so small it begs the question: Why are there still so few? March 8, 2020, likely passed in a blur for Shelly Heppner. Around International Women’s Day, she was firing up her brand-new stills to produce Virtue Vodka and...
